BENGALURU: Hardly three weeks after resuming work on the much delayed 2.5 km Ejipura flyover, workers of the new agency BSCPL Infrastructure Limited that is working on the Ejipura flyover, are finding it difficult to carry out the work, and are claiming that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is being non-cooperative.
The workers at the site said that the BBMP has not handed over 50 segments lying at the Sakalavara casting plant near Bannerghatta Road to the agency. Despite reminders, the Palike has also not yet paid them for the work done in May, which amounts to Rs 7.01 crores. The agency has asked over 135 workers to resume the flyover work.
The agency also alleged that as per the agreement, Engineers form the Palike Project department visited a plant in Kolkata, to check the bearings that would be used for the pillar works on the flyover. Materials worth a few crores have already arrived in Bengaluru, and yet, the BBMP is not cooperating and clearing the bills, the agency alleged.
“The agency has billed Rs 11.5 crores for work carried so far, in addition to the pending bills for the month of May. In all, Rs 18 crores is due, and since the BBMP in not co-operating with clearing the bills, the work will be affected,” said a senior engineer from BSCPL. The engineer also said that the BBMP is also yet to pay rentals of over Rs 1.28 crores to the land owner Vinay Babu Reddy at Sakalavara, where 69 segments laid by the previous agency - Simplex are lying. “If these segments are handed over to us, work can be resumed,” he added.
A senior manager pointed out that the last time Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the site, BBMP officials made the agency a scapegoat and blamed the delay on them. “In reality, the fitness report to resume the work, was handedover to BBMP, and the agency by the Civil Engineering Department of Indian Institute Of Science, in May this year. Blaming the agency is not right,” the engineer said.
Reacting to the development, senior BBMP official from the Projects Division said, the BBMP has no role except periodical inspection of work. If there are any issues, the matter will be escalated to the Chief Commissioner’s level and he will take a call. Earlier, Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath has stated that the palike made the mobilisation fund available to the agency, and the pending rentals are expected to be cleared by the agency itself.