[ad_1]
BENGALURU: Karnataka has seen six chief ministers since BBMP tendered work for Ejipura flyover in 2017 – Siddaramaiah, BS Yediyurappa, HD Kumaraswamy, Yediyurappa again, Basavaraj Bommai and now Siddaramaiah again. As the work meandered, the government last year terminated the contract.
However, BBMP is now gearing up to resume construction through another company. A Palike official said a work order will be issued to the new contractor within a week. “The work will begin within 15 days,” said M Lokesh, chief engineer for projects (BBMP).
BBMP had awarded the tender for constructing the 2.5km flyover to Simplex Infrastructure in 2017 when Siddaramaiah headed the Congress government. Facing financial distress, the firm could not complete the project as per terms and conditions of the contract. The work ground to a halt after close to 50% of it was implemented. Attempts made to revive the project were futile; in March 2022, the government decided to terminate it.
“The new contractor will carry out relevant tests to do with structures through Indian Institute of Science. There is no modification in the previous alignment,” said a BBMP official. The new contract for the pending work is worth Rs 176 crore. Earlier, BBMP had spent Rs 75 crore on the half-done project. Due to inordinate delay, there is a cost escalation of Rs 93 crore. Officials said Hyderabad-based firm BSCPL will carry out the pending work.
Irked by the prolonged delay, sections of citizens had demanded that the government shelve the project and use the stretch to build light rail or bus rapid transport system, which will help people in a big way.
Social media posts on the project had become common. Netizens asked the authorities when they could expect its completion, doubted structural stability of the pillars, raised concerns over the road median turning into a dumpyard and called the flyover a ‘heritage structure’.
After the new government proposed building a 109km tunnel network to ease congestion, many citizens ridiculed the government for coming up with unreasonable mega projects when the authorities were buying years of time to complete the small Ejipura flyover.
Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “It is not a feasible option to build a mass transit system using the existing structure. As per the previous plan, the flyover will be constructed on this stretch. The project will be completed in one and a half years.”
However, BBMP is now gearing up to resume construction through another company. A Palike official said a work order will be issued to the new contractor within a week. “The work will begin within 15 days,” said M Lokesh, chief engineer for projects (BBMP).
BBMP had awarded the tender for constructing the 2.5km flyover to Simplex Infrastructure in 2017 when Siddaramaiah headed the Congress government. Facing financial distress, the firm could not complete the project as per terms and conditions of the contract. The work ground to a halt after close to 50% of it was implemented. Attempts made to revive the project were futile; in March 2022, the government decided to terminate it.
“The new contractor will carry out relevant tests to do with structures through Indian Institute of Science. There is no modification in the previous alignment,” said a BBMP official. The new contract for the pending work is worth Rs 176 crore. Earlier, BBMP had spent Rs 75 crore on the half-done project. Due to inordinate delay, there is a cost escalation of Rs 93 crore. Officials said Hyderabad-based firm BSCPL will carry out the pending work.
Irked by the prolonged delay, sections of citizens had demanded that the government shelve the project and use the stretch to build light rail or bus rapid transport system, which will help people in a big way.
Expand
After the new government proposed building a 109km tunnel network to ease congestion, many citizens ridiculed the government for coming up with unreasonable mega projects when the authorities were buying years of time to complete the small Ejipura flyover.
Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “It is not a feasible option to build a mass transit system using the existing structure. As per the previous plan, the flyover will be constructed on this stretch. The project will be completed in one and a half years.”
[ad_2]
Source link