Second revamp of Commercial Street won't cost more, say officials

The Bengaluru Smart City Ltd (BenSCL) — which faced criticism for the shoddy makeover of Commercial Street — has said that the overall project cost will not go up from the Rs 5.5 crore sanctioned initially.

Commercial Street was first repaired by providing paver blocks but the engineers had to dismantle the entire work after rainwater started gushing out of the footpath post inauguration. It was then decided to use cobblestones by replicating the design of Church Street.

After inviting the wrath of the public, especially traders, in July when rains nearly washed away the low-grade work, BenSCL has now come up with a new design by incorporating disabled-friendly granite stones on the footpath and white-topping (concrete) of the main carriageway into the project. The renovated stretch is expected to be fully ready on January 14.

The design has now been changed, with the BenSCL deciding to white-top less than one kilometre stretch, which is the city’s popular shopping destination.

The footpath will be paved with granite stones, officials said. Part of the plan includes installing modern LED streetlights.

Officials said the project cost will not go up as the Smart City will not be paying money for the substandard paver blocks provided by the contractor. “We will be able to complete the project by spending less than what was estimated initially,” Rajendra Cholan, managing director of BenSCL, said.

He said the white-topping work would be completed by January 4. “We need another 10 days for curing. Simultaneously, we will complete some beautification works, too.”

The work of connecting utilities of all the buildings to the underground duct, which has a separate chamber for OFC cables, electricity lines, and sewerage and water lines, is complete, officials said.

Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad was disappointed that the engineers did not consult the elected representatives before shortlisting the final design.

“Commercial Street could have been redone using the best practices of what is done in other cities. Officials took a unilateral decision without consulting different stakeholders,” he said.

Some were also of the view that the entire street could have been pedestrianised or at least the footpath space could have been widened to accommodate more people.

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