Work on upgrading 70-km stretch of 45 important roads in the city under the TenderSURE project is estimated to cost Rs. 600 crore. The work on the 9.15-km stretch of seven roads will commence from January 2014.
Unlike normal roads that would cost the Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BBMP) about Rs. 1.5 crore a km, under the TenderSURE project, it would cost Rs. 4.5 crore a km.
“Work on seven roads will start from January and will take about 12 months to be completed. Though most works would be undertaken in the night, traffic will be diverted,” BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana, on Saturday, told a gathering of residents likely to be inconvenienced when the work is taken up. “Tenders have been invited already for 11 roads to be taken up under Phase 2. These 18 roads (including the seven in the first phase) are estimated to cost Rs. 200 crore,” he added.
Under TenderSURE, the works include uniform carriageway and footpaths, utility ducts, cycle tracks, bus bay shelters, parking and hawking zones. The road once completed will not be damaged by any kind of road cutting since utility provisions would be made on either side of the road.
In the first phase, Cunningham Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Museum Road, St. Mark’s Road and Commiserate Road would be upgraded. Eleven roads, including, J.C. Road, K.H. Road, Nrupatunga Road, K.G. Road, Church Street, Commercial Street, Koramangala 20 Main, Jayanagar 11th Main, Basaveshwara Nagar Main Road and Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road would be upgraded in the second phase.
More demand expected
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson and managing director of Biocon, recalled the efforts to convince the government to agree for TenderSURE, and said the demand for such roads will come from other parts of the city once the work on the first phase is completed. “The first round of tender did not get any response, but later National Asphalt Products and Construction Company came in. Though the capital investment and inconvenience to public are higher during the construction of these roads, the benefits that accrue are long term,” she added.
Earlier, Swati Ramanathan of Jana Urban Space Foundation, spoke.