BENGALURU: The elevated corridor project by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) along Jayamahal Road and other localities is estimated to be built at a cost of `18,500 crore within five years. While the three main corridors will have six lanes, the other three connecting corridors will have four lanes. As per sources, these corridors will be tolled.
While over `10,000 crore is estimated to be spent for the execution of the project, over `8,000 crore will be required for land acquisition. BDA was initially supposed to implement the project, but later KRDCL took over.
An American engineering firm AECOM is preparing the Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR), which will soon be submitted to the government that will analyse the vehicular traffic and land acquisition beside the technical aspects. The present survey is going on for the North-South Corridor which will connect Central Silk Board to Hebbal.
The project might be a joint venture between the state government and a private firm or a ‘build, operate, own and transfer model’. However, so far there is no clarity on that. The government will call fresh tenders for the project once the Detailed Feasibility Report is completed.
Transport expert M N Sreehari says, “The government wants to dictate and build some elevated corridor project. If not the steel flyover, then it is the elevated corridor project. Soil testing and other things are a back-up plan. There seems to be a lot of discretion in the manner the government is functioning with these projects.”