The infamous Ejipura flyover in Koramangala is infamous for the inordinate delay in its construction. Now, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has invited bids for a tender worth ₹144 crore to complete the project.
In March 2022, the State Government had cancelled the tender awarded to Simplex Infrastructure Ltd. for construction of a flyover between Ejipura Main Road and Kendriya Sadan in Koramangala as per the directions of the High Court of Karnataka.
BBMP officials said that the new tender was floated after its engineers undertook a joint measurement and assessment exercise with the project consultant and Simplex. “We have conducted an assessment of the work done so far. The remaining work should be completed by the new company. We hope the flyover will be ready by March 2023,” an official said.
UDD directs BBMP to float fresh tender within project cost of ₹204 crore
In 2022, while cancelling the tender given to Simplex, the Urban Development Department (UDD) had directed the BBMP to float a fresh tender for the remainder of the work within the project cost of ₹204 crore as per norms of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act.
Construction of the 2.5-km-long flyover was taken up in May 2017 and work was to be completed in November 2019. The company failed to complete the project even after the BBMP extended the deadline till December 2020 by imposing a penalty for the delay.
The BBMP had issued several warnings and even served two notices to the contractor for failure to adhere to the revised deadline. For more than a year, work on the flyover had come to a standstill. This had prompted the local MLA and former Minister Ramalinga Reddy to stage a protest along with local residents, who were greatly inconvenienced by the incomplete work.
BBMP officials said that two contractors had participated in a new tender floated in August 2022. However, the tender couldn’t be awarded due to various reasons.
Incomplete project poses threat to commuters
The incomplete flyover poses a threat to residents and motorists with construction debris being dumped below the flyover. Motorists fear that the metal barricades and debris lying on the road are posing a danger to two-wheeler riders, other vehicles and pedestrians.
Local residents say that despite complaining to the BBMP about the risk from the debris, the authorities have not taken action so far.
“It’s been years that construction of the flyover has stopped. However, the civic body has not removed the construction waste under the flyover, which poses a risk to motorists. During the night, motorists are at risk as large stones and cement materials used for construction are not visible,” complained Ruchi Srivatsva, a motorist in Koramangala.
