BENGALURU: Bengaluru Smart City Project Limited (BSCPL) is expected to officially complete its work in three weeks. Of the 32 roads in Central Business District that were taken for upgradation under the project, 31 have been completed and thrown open for public. Now, only 20% work on the last stretch of Avenue Road is pending.
According to Rajendra Cholan, MD, BSCPL, the Commercial Street incident in which roads which were repaired were damaged following heavy rain last year was a learning experience for the agency. It took up the work on drains and roads in neighbouring streets with precautionary measures to avoid flooding of water.“The tender for the project was called in 2019 and it got delayed for a year as many contractors were not sure about the execution as this was new.
The works began in 2020 and now it will be over. The biggest challenge was work on Avenue Road as the buildings are very old and traffic density is huge. The pipes are very old and are four meters below the earth,” said Cholan, adding, “Everything is transparent and if at all there is any damage to roads or other amenities, there is a three-year liability period and the contractor concerned will have to fix it.
Vice President of Textile and Garments Association who is also a trader at Avenue Road said that firstly, the project will not be completed in three weeks and secondly, the neighbouring roads like Tagaru Pete, Bandimot roads should be upgraded or else Avenue Road area will be flooded with water and infrastructure will go for a toss.
Expressing doubts over the project, Ashish Verma, Professor, Transportation System Engineering and Convenor, IISc, said,”The Smart City’s goal was deviated. The latest survey (Global Livability Index) shows Bengaluru scoring poor while the Smart City project was still on and completed in many areas. The core issue or key parameter of the city remains mobility which is still not addressed.”