Kerala firm to build three underpasses in Bengaluru

A construction company from Kerala will build three underpasses in northern and western Bengaluru under the RR Nagar assembly constituency.

The underpasses will come up at Jalahalli Circle (on the intersection of Tumakuru Road and Subroto Mukherjee Road/Peenya Industrial Area Outer Ring Road) at a cost of Rs 57.22 crore; HMT Road and Pipeline Road junctions (Rs 17.27 crore) and the intersection of Kengeri Outer Ring Road and Ullal Main Road (Rs 28.22 crore). The deadline is 18 months.

The contract has been awarded to PJB Engineers Pvt Ltd, which previously won the contract to build Package-4 of the white-topping project (Rs 83.97 crore), widen the stretch from Varthur Road to Sarjapur Road via Gunjur (Rs 35.62 crore) ad construct an underpass on Sarjapur-Haralur Road (Rs 23 crore).

The RR Nagar assembly constituency will get another underpass — on Annapoorneshwari Nagar Main Road at a cost of Rs 22 crore.

The BBMP has invited the tenders and is awaiting approval from the state government to award the contract. The lowest bidder remains unknown.

The four underpasses, the BBMP says, will benefit the residents of Peenya, Jalahalli, Kengeri and the surrounding localities, reducing the travel time on the Outer Ring Road between Mysuru Road and Tumakuru Road by 15-20 minutes. While the civic body has completed one part of the task, the projects aren’t free from hurdles. The BBMP needs Rs 100 crore for acquiring 39 properties for the underpass near the Jalahalli metro station. It had set aside a mere Rs 10 crore, hoping property owners would accept the TDR (transferrable development rights). For the underpass on HMT Road, the civic body has made some progress on acquiring properties, both government and private.

It, however, needs the approval of the tree expert committee to axe trees. This apart, the BBMP has already started work on constructing an underpass on Ullal Main Road, which also falls under the RR Nagar assembly constituency. It has acquired the properties of Bangalore University and started transplanting trees. Officials say another 20 trees may have to go for the work to start at full scale.

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