BANGALORE: The first phase of the `200-crore TenderSURE project, involving redesigning and re-development of urban roads to wards global standards, may have taken off on three of the seven major roads in city, but it has been bogged down by delays in the central business district (CBD).
The `92-crore Phase 1 of the project was inaugurated in November last year. While the work on Cunningham Road will spill into 2015, works on St Mark’s Road and Vittal Mallya Road are going on according to the schedule. Plans for the other four roads are yet to be finalised.
Maintaining the integration of networked services under the road — water, sewage, power, gas and storm water drains — presently, 40-50 per cent of the ground work has been completed. On St Mark’s Road and Vittal Mallya Road, work on one side is over while on Cunningham Road, the work has been delayed because the road is old and mired with live and defunct cables. It also has sewer lines at a depth of just two metres.
Jana Urban Space Foundation, which is re-designing the seven roads, says that utmost care has been taken to ensure that every bit of the road — from the tree pits and street furniture to kerbs and pavers — have been painstakingly designed and detailed to achieve the best possible results.
Nitya Ramesh of Team TenderSURE says, “We have done our best. The delay in the project is not surprising as a lot of existing cables have to be moved. Existing lines like power, water and optic fibre cable have to be moved and that is taking time. Apart from this, there are no proper records on existing facilities on these roads and this makes the work laborious.”
Since the Bangalore Traffic Police have not given permission to work on the entire stretch of the selected roads, the work is being taken up on stretches of 500 metres on one side. Once this is completed, work will be taken up on the other side so as not to cause traffic jams.
BBMP assistant executive engineer Sathyanarayana claims that the work is progressing well and it will be completed as per schedule — by December-end. “About 40-50 per cent of the ground work is over and it will be completed before the monsoons. There are a few hurdles as a number of sewer lines that have to replaced are messy. Further, a lot of tree roots have to be trimmed but no tree will be felled. At one or two places, existing bus shelters have to be realigned as we do not want any issues after the completion of work. It is a very complicated exercise as various departments are involved.”
The contractor of this project, NAPC Ltd, hopes to finish the project within the stipulated time of one year, as delays may invite penalties. NAPC manager Ganesh Kamath, who is responsible for implementing the work on the seven roads, says both St Mark’s Road and Vittal Mallya Hospital Road will be ready by December-end. Work on Cunningham Road, taken up at a cost of `18.42 crore, may be completed only by March next.
Kamath says, “We have taken up work only on three roads as the design for the other roads is yet to be given to us. There are complications on Cunningham Road as some live cables that are 30-40 years old have to be shifted. This may take another week. Sewer lines that are at a depth of two metres have to be changed, new water lines will also be laid and four ducts for optic fibre cables have to be put in each of these roads.” He added that the stretch between Mount Carmel (Avinash Petrol bunk) and the underpass will be completed in the next two months.
The highlight of the TenderSURE project is that all the utilities will come under the footpath and at every 20 metres, inspection chambers will be provided. Proper cabling and ducting will ensure that the road is not dug up for the next 10 years.