BENGALURU: It is highly unlikely that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) will be able to meet the December 2021 deadline for the completion of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL). Reduced workforce due to the Covid surge and the acute shortage of raw materials earlier has impacted the pace of work in this layout.
The layout, located between Mysuru Road and Magadi Road, was proposed in 2010. Allotment of sites began in 2015 and a total of 10,000 allottees have been given sites here in two phases. It was to be fully ready by March 31, 2018. After a series of delays, allottees had taken the BDA to the state’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) court, which had fixed a deadline of December 31, 2021.
A senior BDA official told TNIE that though the issue has been resolved now, the non-availability of raw material has severely impacted work in the last two months. “The gelatin blasts in Chikkaballapur district and in Hunasodu, both of which resulted in deaths, brought in stringent rules for operating quarries. The shutdown of quarries caused a huge shortage of raw material for us in March and April. We have only recently started receiving raw materials,” he said.
The layout needs to have at least 6,000 manholes to be ready for the sewerage network being proposed. “All of them need jelly and other material for pre-cast work. We need to keep the cast ready before laying roads. Hence, the shortage of material had slowed down the infrastructure projects planned,” he said. The BDA was doing its best to ensure the deadline could be met. “A good chunk of labourers too have left for their hometowns and there is a shortage of skilled labour right now,” he explained.