BBMP weighs terminating contract as Ejipura flyover faces continued delays

Bengaluru: The trouble with the 2.5-km Ejipura flyover continues to persist. Unhappy with the slow progress, the BBMP has recommended terminating the contract with the city-based company after it completed less than 10 per cent of the work in the past year. As the project deadline is set to expire in February, the civic body has asked the state government to decide whether to continue with the existing contractor or engage a new firm.

Officials believe the flyover — which connects Kendriya Sadan in Koramangala and Ejipura — will “never be completed if the current company is allowed to continue.” “We’ve been hearing excuse after excuse for the delay. The company has failed to meet any of the monthly targets. So far, we’ve paid around Rs 20 crore, but less than Rs 10 crore worth of work has been completed on the ground,” an official said.

The civic body has informed the state government about the project’s status well in advance, as it doesn’t want to shoulder the blame for the contractor’s failings. The development comes about six months after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during the city rounds, reprimanded the BBMP for the slow progress on the Ejipura flyover. He had directed the BBMP to issue a notice to the construction company or terminate the contract without hesitation.

The BBMP had initially engaged Kolkata-based Simplex Infrastructure Ltd in 2017 to build the flyover at a cost of Rs 204 crore. After the company faced financial difficulties, the contract was re-tendered abruptly. Following multiple attempts, the civic body roped in BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd in November of last year. The company was expected to complete the remaining 50% of the civil work within 15 months.

By May of last year, BSCPL Infrastructure had completed just 4% of the work. In the past six months, it has managed another 6%. The BBMP now believes that if the current contractor continues, it could take another five years to finish the project.

BTM Layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy, who is also the transport minister, remains confident the contractor will complete the work by December 2025. “The work hasn’t stopped. The company is showing progress, but some officials are being overly negative. The BJP did nothing for four years, and now the new company is doing good work,” he said. Interestingly, Reddy had previously claimed the flyover would be completed in one year back in 2023.

Revathy Ashok, of the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), felt that  the project is moving at a slow pace. She noted that it took several petitions to both the local MLA and the BBMP to have debris cleared and streetlights installed, even though these tasks were part of the original contract.