Rain leaves stretches of road damaged

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 7. Dubbed an architectural marvel, the Sirsi Circle Flyover, said to be India's longest, has not actually solved the traffic problem it was supposed to. Bearing testimony to this unfortunate development is the potholed road beneath, reportedly a point of contention between the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and L&T, the project implementors.

That a recent survey had indicated a low usage of the flyover by motorists is only part of the problem. The under-developed surface road beneath has instead developed potholes galore, a signature of the recent showers. Now, the Mahanagara Palike is back on the L&T track, arranging a spot-visit by the company officials on October 8.

In the words of BMP Engineer-in-Chief, Mr. R.Jayaprasad, stretches of the surface road would have to be redone. The surface had to be dug at least by 30 m, before relaying. This, he said, would be taken up soon after the monsoon and would be completed in a fortnight.

Showers and the subsequent flooding of the road in many parts have already hit the road-users hard. Potholes have only become bigger. The commuters' hardship is only going to worsen once the repair work is taken up. ``The traffic will have to be re-routed. The Mosque Road will have to be widened for this purpose. No doubt, the travelling public will be affected,'' Mr. Jayaprasad told The Hindu.

Although he maintained that most of the 2.5 km stretch of the surface road was in good shape, he admitted that the ``Subgrade'' metalling at some stretches had failed.

The BMP's reported non-payment of the final bills to the project implementors had created a controversy. The bills are now said to be under ``preparation.'' Monday's spot visit by the L&T representatives is likely to smoothen things out.

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