BENGALURU: An infrastructure project that would come to the rescue of the residents of Malleshwaram and Yeshwantpur, by eliminating a Railway Level Crossing (LC) gate, has been in a limbo for over six years now. Sanctioned in the financial year 2014-2015 by the Railway Board, the project shows no signs of taking off.
The project in question is a Road Over Bridge in front of Brigade Gateway (Mysore Lamps) between the railway stations of Yeshwantpur and Malleswaram. It was later changed to a Road Under Bridge by the Railways due to land acquisition issues, but Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is yet to give its clearance.
A senior official said, “Removal of any LC gate will offer major relief to the public. With trains running between Yeshwantpur and KSR railway station, the gate needs to be closed at regular intervals. Bearing this in mind, we had proposed the ROB initially on a 50:50 cost sharing basis with the state government.”
While the main bridge would be constructed by the South Western Railway (SWR), the approach roads needs to be readied by BBMP. “There was a need for 3491.69 square metre of land in thickly populated areas, which would involve demolition of residential buildings. Due to these land acquisition issues cited by BBMP, we decided to change it to an RUB in 2018.”
Railways had submitted its proposals for building two RUBs on January 5, 2018. “A joint inspection was done two years later on February 14, 2020 and the BBMP had agreed in-principle with the move. However, the schematic plan is yet to be approved,” the official said.
“It has come to a standstill completely now. Unless BBMP approves the General Alignment Drawing, we cannot go ahead and prepare even an estimate for the project,” he said.
No one at BBMP was able to respond to the queries.
Flyover additional lane project to begin soon
Meanwhile, another infrastructure project at Yeshwantpur, which will widen the existing four-lane flyover to a six-lane one, is finally set to become a reality. “BBMP has given us the go-ahead and we will be calling for tenders shortly,” said another railway official. BBMP Chief Engineer, Major Roads, B S Prahalad, Chief Engineer, Roads and Infrastructure told TNIE that work on it would start soon.