Tender process begins for white-topping of roads

Work on white-topping of roads is set to begin and around 30 roads stretching 93.47 km will be white-topped in two phases. The tender process for the project, which has been divided into two packages, has been completed.

The first package has been handed over to NCC which involves six roads and six circles. The second package involves 24 roads and the contract has been handed over to Madhukan. The companies have been given 11 months to complete the project.

“Roads will be white-topped on the lines of Nrupathunga Road. Work will start by October,” said Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner N Manjunath Prasad.

He also said the stretch along Mysuru Road-Sumanahalli Junction-Goraguntepalya-BEL Circle-Hebbal-KR Puram will be taken up soon since the traffic here is heavy. “We are trying to reduce the inconvenience caused to motorists as much as possible and hence we have instructed the contractors to complete the project within six months,” said Prasad.

“We need to completely bar vehicular movement during the project. We will create alternative routes during this period in consultation with the traffic police,” said K T Nagaraj, BBMP chief engineer, (projects).

He also said work will
be taken up according to the availability of the paver machines which are used for white-topping.

Around six circles are being white-topped in the project. The circle near Ramakrishna Ashram, Lalbagh West, North and East gates, near Siddapura Teacher’s College and Bhashyam Circle will be white-topped. A total of Rs 21.24 crore is being spent on this. “These works come under Package 1,” said Nagaraj.

White-topping, or concretisation, gives roads a life of up to 25 years and results in fuel savings of 14%. The Centre for Smart Cities (CSC) Research had recommended that white-topping helps in reducing traffic and increasing the lifespan of the road. The state government has allotted Rs 2,000-3,000 crore under the Nagarothana scheme for this project.