The BBMP, which otherwise hardly completes any project on time, has achieved a rare feat by white-topping 100 kilometres of roads within just two years.
This is significant considering that the civic body had taken nearly three years to white-top just seven roads. So far, the civic body has completed nearly 75% of the first and second phases of the white-topping project (137km).
Much of the credit for completing the white-topping of roads on a war footing goes to BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, during whose term the civic body white-topped nearly 60 km of road. He reportedly conducted a series of meetings with the officials concerned, inspected sites on a regular basis and ensured the timely release of payments to construction companies. Insiders, however, say that he did not show the same zeal in ensuring the completion of other pending projects such as the Ejipura flyover and the signal-free corridor works along Old Madras Road.
The 103 km of road that have been white-topped include the Outer Ring Road from BEL Circle to Benniganahalli (11 km), ORR from Tumakuru Road to Mysuru Road (9 km), Thanisandra Main Road (8.65 km), Kanakapura Road (4 km), Banaswadi Main Road (1.7 km) and Mysuru Road (3.27 km).
The BBMP hopes to complete both phases of the white-topping project by coming March. “We are close to completing the work on most roads. In some places, the main carriageway has been opened for traffic but the footpaths and road edges are still not complete. We are confident of completing the entire project in about four months,” M Lokesh, Chief Engineer (Projects, Central), BBMP, said.
Some of the roads where the works are incomplete include Hosur Road, Sarjapur Road, Magadi Road, Koramangala 80 Feet Road, Goods Shed Road, Gangadhar Chetty Road, Tumakuru Road and a stretch from the Rajajinagar metro station to Goraguntepalya.
Both the first and second phases of the project have come at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore, or nearly Rs 12 crore per kilometre. While this is nearly three times the cost of asphalting, the project was approved on the grounds that white-topping roads have a life of 20 years.
On November 28, DH reported that the government was keen to approve the third phase of the white-topping project that’s estimated to cost Rs 1,154 crore (121 km). The tenders have been kept on hold since 2019 due to a change of chief ministers.
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