Probably in a year, the stretch between Mahatma Gandhi Road and Byappanahalli will be “white-topped” (concreted). The 7-km stretch will be developed and upgraded jointly by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL).
According to a senior BBMP official, the detailed project report (DPR) for the Rs. 64-crore project is being prepared by Bangalore City Connect Foundation. The DPR is likely to be submitted to the BBMP on Friday.
The official said the project would include concreting the road and upgrading of the pavements and drains. The project cost would be shared between BBMP and BMRCL on 50:50 basis. “Once the DPR is submitted to the BBMP, we will float tenders if the project has the government's ‘in-principle administrative approval'. The work orders will be issued to the selected contractor within three months after that,” he said.
He also said the work would be taken up in phases. “M.G. Road being an arterial road, we cannot close the entire stretch. The work will be taken up on one part of the road [at a time]. Vehicular movement will be diverted for at least 20 days during the curing process,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the BBMP has identified 45 roads (a total of 73 km) in the core city area to be developed under Tender SURE (Specification for Urban Road Execution). The city connect foundation is preparing the DPR for 12 roads, while the civic body has entrusted six agencies to prepare the DPR for the remaining 33 roads.
In October 2011, the government and the city connect foundation, in a public-private initiative, brought out two volumes on Tender SURE as a single-point reference for design, procurement and execution of urban roads.
