Contractor told to speed up work on Benniganahalli flyover

By Govind D.Belgaumkar

BANGALORE, JULY 25. While the motorists crossing the Benniganahalli railway level crossing (K.R.Puram) on the Outer Ring Road would have to bear with the bottleneck at the spot for five more months, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has directed the contractor to speed up the already delayed work on the flyover, that is being constructed.

If things had gone as planned, the Rs.27-crore flyover at Benniganahalli should have been completed in the middle of next month. The work on it began on August 18, 1999. The contractor -- Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) and its joint venture partner, East Coast Constructions and Industries Limited (ECCI) -- was given two years to complete the project.

The BDA has asked the contractor to complete the work latest by the year end.

Mr. Thirumeni, project manager of the ECCL, claims that the delay was on account of failure of the BDA to finish soil testing in time. There was a delay of over one-and-a-half years in this. The BDA had cleared soil testing only recently. It was only after that that the work commenced on a war-footing.

But the BDA sources point out that the joint venture contractors were attempting to compromise on quality in a hurry to finish the work. ``It was not to their liking that we insisted on quality.''

It points out that the Indian Road Congress regulations clearly say that the piles of the flyover should not only stand on hard rocks, but also they should be socketed in hard rocks to make the flyover strong enough. This had been clearly mentioned in the tender document as well.

However, the joint venture partners had come up with a theory that this was not required and that ``nobody'' does so now, according to the BDA sources. But the BDA stuck to its stance.

The BDA also declined to accept the design of the pile caps being constructed by the NCC. ``Because of our insistence (to adhere to the IRC standards), the joint venture partners were losing some money, and naturally, they did not like it,'' the BDA sources say.

The BDA does, however, admit that it had taken some time to approve soil tests. This was only to ensure quality in construction. The test reports were scrutinised by no less an organisation than the Indian Institute of Science, the BDA says.

The joint venture partner, ECCI, says that it will complete the work much ahead of the deadline fixed by the BDA. Mr. Thirumeni says the flyover will be ready by October-end.

The BDA has given about Rs.5 crores to the Railways to construct a bridge over the railway track, and work on it is in full swing.

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Section  : Southern States
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