The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BBMP razes part of Bangalore Turf Club’s compound wall

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Saturday, Sep 22, 2007
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BBMP razes part of Bangalore Turf Club’s compound wall

Staff Reporter

It is part of the palike’s plan to widen Racecourse Road

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Razed: A part of the compound wall of the Bangalore Turf Club that was brought down on Friday as part of road-widening work.

BANGALORE: Going ahead with its plans to widen Racecourse Road, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started work on demolishing the compound wall of the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC). The demolition that began on Thursday night continued till early Friday morning.

The turf club, which is required to give up 6,500 sq metres of its land for the project, wanted to postpone the demolition till November and had also made a representation to the State Government. But after a series of meetings with the club authorities, BBMP officials took up the demolition with the consent of the club president Marilingaiah and secretary Nirmal Prasad.

BBMP Chief Engineer (Major Roads) K.S. Krishna Reddy told The Hindu on Friday that nearly 250 metres of the wall had been razed. “Now, the club authorities have assured us that they will demolish the remaining 600 metres on their own within a week,” Mr. Reddy said.

Work on widening of the road that began in May had slowed down after the club refused to part with the land. That apart, the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), which had been entrusted with the task, refused to take up work citing cost escalation.

It is because of this that the work that was supposed to be completed by August will now be finished only by January.

The BBMP has now withdrawn work from KRDCL and has invited fresh tenders. “We have allotted work on laying utility ducts to local contractors and they have already started digging. The tender process for widening is on,” Mr. Reddy said.

Though the proposal is to widen the stretch from Anand Rao Circle to Basaveshwara Circle by 15 metres on either side to make the road 100 ft wide, the civic body is adjusting the road alignment to make land acquisition a cost-effective process. After completion, the width of the six-lane corridor (road, sidewalk and utility duct) will be between 24 and 30 metres. The width ranges between 7 and 12 metres now.

“Cables passing through the road are too old and are being removed. We will set up utility ducts which can be used by BESCOM, BWSSB and BSNL for their cables,” he said. After KRDCL returned the proposal citing cost escalation, the project cost has gone up from Rs. 14 crore to Rs. 17 crore. “KRDCL had quoted 22 per cent above the schedule of rates (SR) fixed by Public Works Department (PWD). We are now allotting to contractors at only 10 per cent above SR,” he added.

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