JOIN USMetro Block at Vani Vilas Hospital in 18 months
With the tunneling work having progressed beyond Vani Vilas Hospital on Namma Metro’s underground stretch, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has invited tenders for construction of the ‘Metro Hospital Block’on the hospital premises.
Sources said the BMRCL has already floated the tender inviting bidders for the construction of the block.
“We are planning a three-storey block measuring a total of 1.35 lakh sqft,” said a senior BMRCL official. The estimated cost is Rs 12.6 crore, the official said, adding interested bidder will have to deposit bid security amount of Rs 12.6 lakh.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, BMRCL Managing Director N Sivasailam said: “We are only building what the hospital had lost due to the Metro work. We have a budget of Rs 13 crore. We will construct a three-storey block but the foundation will be laid to hold at least seven floors, which the hospital can utilise in the future.”
Asserting that the corporation is not indulging in creation of any new facility, Sivasailam said the same procedure was followed on SV Road, where Isolation Hospital had lost some structure due to the Metro work. “Even there, the foundation is laid to accommodate five floors. We have constructed one floor but the hospital authorities can use the same foundation in the future,” he said.
Another official said the construction of the block in Vani Vilas is expected to be ready by end of next year. “We have a target of completing the project in 18 months. We have invited bidders already and the process of selecting a vendor should be completed by end of June or early July. And, about a year-and-a-half from there, we should have the block inaugurated,” the official said. Vani Vilas had lost its facility to the underground stretch of Namma Metro’s Phase I, which BMRCL will now replace with Metro Block.
Underground stretch
The underground stretch, which forms the most crucial part of the project acts as link to various reaches — has been a challenge for the contractors, given the tough geological conditions in the City.
“Now, the work is on a brisk pace with most of the tunneling underway, but there were some areas that were extremely challenging,” a source from the joint venture, CEC-Soma, which has got the contract for tunnels on the East-West Corridor said.
The source said that as many as 300 diamond-tipped cutting blades, each costing around Rs 45,000 had to be replaced while work was in progress near Central College on underground stretch-2.