Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will spend Rs 9.45 crore to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the 18-km tunnel road between Hebbal and Silk Board Junction.
Namma Metro prepared a similar report covering the same stretch — Sarjapur-Hebbal line (37 km) — for just Rs 1.58 crore.
Last month, the BBMP hired Rodic Consultants Pvt Ltd for preparing the DPR for the tunnel road project. Only two bidders participated in the tender. As the BBMP has already engaged Altinok Consulting Engineering INC for the preparation of a feasibility report for the same project, it rejected the second bid. Rodic Consultants Ltd emerged as the lone bidder.
The BBMP went ahead with the decision as it had originally estimated the DPR cost at Rs 15 crore — 0.1% of the total estimated project cost of the tunnel road.
Early this year, the BBMP invested Rs 4.7 crore to prepare an infrastructure plan to decongest Bengaluru’s traffic. Private company ALTINOK Consulting Engineering Ltd has suggested building tunnel roads to connect the city's northern and southern parts.
The DPR cost for Namma Metro is much lower than the BBMP’s estimates.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) spent only Rs 1.56 crore for the preparation of the DPR for the 37-km Sarjapur-Hebbal line, which will pass through Agara, Koramangala and Dairy Circle. Similarly, Namma Metro will spend Rs 1.2 crore for a feasibility study connecting the metro to Tumakuru. A similar feasibility study for a double decker (road-cum-rail) corridor along metro lines will cost Rs 78 lakh.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath defended the huge cost for the DPR, saying construction of the tunnel road is not only a complex work, but the first such project in Bengaluru. "Not many consultants participated in the tender. We went with the lowest bidder in the second attempt. What was quoted by the bidder was less than our estimates."
The construction of the tunnel road in Bengaluru is the pet project of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who believes it will decongest traffic. The proposal was approved by the state cabinet recently. The BBMP will invite tenders for the civil work after firming up funding for the project.