TenderSURE work on Avenue Road will get over by October: BBMP

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad and Bengaluru Smart City Limited Managing Director Rajendra Cholan inspect the TenderSURE works along Avenue Road on Friday. Credit: Special arrangement.

TenderSURE works on the busy Avenue Road will be completed by October 2021, the BBMP has said.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad and Bengaluru Smart City Limited Managing Director Rajendra Cholan inspected the stretch on Friday along with other engineers. The TenderSURE roadwork has been going on for nearly two months as part of the ambitious Smart City project.

Soon after the inspection, Prasad said: "We (BBMP) have taken up the roadwork along Avenue Road after the traffic police gave permission on January 18, 2021. We have directed the contractors to complete the work on the entire stretch by October 2021."

Local traders who have extended cooperation to the work have urged the BBMP to complete it at the earliest, Prasad added.

Elaborating further, Prasad said: "The length of Avenue Road is about 1.8 kilometres. The traffic police, keeping in mind the inconvenience to the traders, had allowed us to take up the work in three phases covering about 300 metres in each phase." Already, work on the first 300 metres has almost been completed, officials said.

"We have already completed the underground drainage (UGD) work along the 300-metre stretch. We need to facilitate the laying of 26 Bescom cables and create a space for a 900 MM stormwater lane. A total of 11 ducts, including six Bescom cables and five OFC cables, will be laid," Prasad explained.

Flooding of shops

Afraid that raising the road height might flood the shops, traders and shop owners urged the BBMP commissioner not to raise the height of the road.

"As per the traders’ request, I’ve directed the contractor to keep the road’s height much below the floor levels of the shops,” said the BBMP commissioner.

Prasad also said he directed the officials to sprinkle water on the surface of the road twice a day to avoid dust getting whipped up.

Already, shops and other establishments on the stretch have to deal with the issue of dust settling over everything.