Zip to BIA on six-laner soon

The ambitious plan of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to construct a six-lane road from Hennur to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), seen as a massive relief to the traffic on NH-7, has taken a major step forward with the Palike making a proposal to the airport management.

The Palike has completed 80 per cent of the work and the road should be open in a couple of months. It made its first proposal to the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) seeking an entry point towards the eastern side of the airport, without which the purpose of the road will be lost.

The road, the Palike says, will connect East Bangalore –– Whitefield, K R Puram, Indiranagar and so on, leading up to Hennur Ring Road Junction –– to the airport through Bagalur and Mailanahalli, where it wants BIAL to bring down its compound and create the second entry point for the airport.

The road that cuts through Bagalur, Kanoor, Chagalatha and Mailanahalli would shorten the distance by 10 km for the commuters, said Ravindra, BBMP Major Works Standing Committee Chairman. The location at which the Palike is seeking an additional entry is already being used by the contract labourers of the airport.

A senior official from the project section of the airport said: “Employees park their vehicles on the other side of the compound and get into the airport by jumping the wall. Although this is not an authorised entry, we have not closed it to avoid inconvenience to the employees.”

After closed-door talks, BBMP and BIAL have decided to set up a joint committee to conduct a feasibility study which will be out in the next 10 days. BBMP officials said that the entry point has to be incorporated into BIAL’s masterplan that has been prepared for the expansion of the existing and building of the second runway. The entry point also has to comply with all security requirements of the airport.

A BBMP official, soon after the talks, said: “They may suggest that we extend the road further around the compound and create the entry about 1.5 km away. But nothing is final.”

In case of extending the road for this sake, the Palike will incur an additional expenditure of Rs 4.6 crore. Currently, the project is estimated to cost about Rs 46 crore, of which
Rs 31 crore has already been spent. It has acquired 56 acres of land through transfer of development rights (TDR) at Bandikodigehalli, Kanoor, Bagalur, Chagalatha and Mailanahalli and has issued TDRs for 24 lakh square feet of land.

Also, the Palike has rehabilitated people from the Dalit Colony in Bandikodigehalli, where it acquired land under the 22.75 per cent housing scheme, for the road project.

Toll-free road

While the alternative road planned by BBMP brings the much-needed relief for East Bangaloreans, who have often cribbed about the long travel to the new airport after the HAL airport was closed, the road will also mean a toll-free travel to the airport.

With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) set to collect toll for travel from Hebbal to Doddaballapur on NH-7 and the toll booths being present just ahead of the trumpet bridge leading to the airport, fliers will have to shell out some money for using the road. However, after BBMP’s alternative road is completed, airport-goers can skip paying the toll.