BENGALURU: After some delay, work on the Road Underbridge (RUB) for the eight-lane Okalipuram Corridor, will start soon.
BBMP is all set to give the green signal to the Railways this week to start construction of the RUB near the Bengaluru-Chennai railway line. The civic body already gave its nod for the RUB on the side of the Bengaluru-Tumkuru railway line a couple of months ago.
“We are planning to hand over a cheque for Rs 60 crore to the Railways on Monday (September 21) for construction of both the RUBs,” said a BBMP official.
Work on the 6.6-km signal-free corridor between Okalipuram Junction and Fountain Circle is estimated to cost over Rs 200 crore. Ground work on the project began on June 15 and is expected to be completed by December 2016.
The corridor with loops, underpasses and RUBs, will ease traffic movement from Rajajinagar, Magadi Road, Dr Rajkumar Road and Nagarbhavi to Okalipuram. Commuting between City Station and Malleswaram will also become a smoother affair. Kolkata-based Simplex Infrastructure Limited is carrying out the work.
On the reasons for the delay in granting permission for the RUB, the BBMP official said, “We were looking into issues like crossing of tracks and were trying to minimise land acquisition for the project. A few technical issues too needed to be figured out.” They have been sorted now and we will ask the Railways to begin the work, he added.
Railways Await Clearance
Railways were entrusted the task of constructing two RUBs and then handing them over to the BBMP. “We received Rs 10 crore for each of the RUBs sometime ago. Tenders have been called for the Tumkuru Road RUB by the construction wing of the South Western Railways, but we have not received clearance from the BBMP to go ahead with the other RUB even though we have submitted a blueprint for it,” divisional railway manager, Bengaluru Railway Division, Sanjiv Agarwal said.
“If they give us the clearance, we can commence work,” he added.
The state government has also handed over to the Railways its land in Binny Mill area in exchange for 3.16 acres of railway land taken for corridor-related work. The BBMP is also bearing the cost of constructing a Running Room for the Railways which had to be demolished for the corridor project.
On the status of the work, the official said, “We have completed 12 per cent of the work. We are a little behind schedule due to land acquisition issues, but we will ensure that the corridor is completed within the 18-month stipulated deadline.”