Home Minister K J George has attributed delay in completion of Hennur flyover project to works taken up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board and the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited.
During an inspection on Saturday in Hennur and Lingarajapuram, the minister directed the officials to expedite the work to facilitate completion of flyover project. He also directed the KPTCL officials to increase the height of high-tension transmission tower near Hennur flyover. The minister was told that it was being planned to increase the height to 18 metre using Chinese technology.
The Home minister also noticed that Rs 48-crore project on the underground drainage (UGD) at Hennur and the neighbouring Nagawara ward has been delayed for more than a year due to rains and also because of contractors. “About 75 to 90 per cent of the UGD works in the two wards are completed. Once the UGD work is over, asphaltation and other related work will be taken up,” George said.
However, the residents were not happy with the minister’s inspection. Muniraju N, secretary of the Hennur Residents' Welfare Association, said the minister should have paid more attention to problems such as water shortage and bad roads among others. “We thought that with the Cauvery Stage IV project, all our water woes would come to an end, but to this day we are struggling to get a single drop of water. The roads are also in bad shape and are dotted with potholes. I wish the minister had addressed these issues,” he said.
BWSSB chairperson M S Ravishankar, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner M Lakshminarayana and Bangalore Development Authority officials accompanied the minister.