Delay at C N R Rao Circle underpass

BANGALORE: Its nearly three years since work on C N R Rao Circle underpass started. Yet again, the story is same. The work is far from completion with the physical progress not exceeding even half the project.The underpass was conceptualised to ease the flow of traffic from Sankey Tank and Mekhri Circle towards Yeshwantpur. And to enable the work, traffic towards Yeshwantpur was diverted making accessibility to Yeshwantpur an issue. Further, Indian Institute of Science became unreachable from the city for those fearing the serpentine traffic through the narrow lanes of Malleswaram.The “under construction” site was also posing a threat to the public. IISc student Srinivasan Kalale said that the contractors dug up the area but did not raise a safety wall, or at a bare minimum, install barricades at the construction site. “It is dangerous especially when it rains. Authorities seem least bothered about public safety. Will they wake up before any accident happens at the spot.” he questioned.A senior BBMP official said that work on the underpass has been delayed for many reasons including delay in land acquisition. “There was a delay in getting permission for tree felling. The residents and activists, who opposed tree cutting, opposed the move. One should understand that with no space, Palike or the contractor has no choice other than cutting trees,” he said.However, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) levied around Rs 70 lakh penalty from the Madhava Hytech Engineers private limited (the contractor undertaking work for the project) for the delay.