BENGALURU: Commuters travelling between Sarjapur, Whitefield and Varthur will soon get some relief as the ongoing construction of Varthur Kodi bridge, which was progressing slowly owing to non-arrival of parts, can now pick up pace. Reason: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has recently got 120 bearings for the bridge delivered from Kolkata.  

BBMP had started the construction of the 87-m-long bridge at Varthur Kodi in September 2018 and had already completed up to 85% of the works. However, a delay in the arrival of bearings from Kolkata, for which it had placed an order late in 2018 was affecting the project.

Nandeesh J R, Executive Engineer (road widening), BBMP, said, “Finally, the bearings have arrived and we will complete the work in three months.” Along with the bridge work, the BBMP is also taking up the proposed road widening project between Varthur Kodi and Sarjapura via Gunjur at a cost of Rs 30 crore for both projects.   

The work was supposed to be completed by February 2019 but was delayed due to various reasons, including land acquisition, unavailability of material and the alignment of the elevated corridor.
Though BBMP had issued work orders to the contractor in early 2017, construction was delayed owing to property acquisition issues. The  proposed elevated corridor by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited will cut through the area. The BBMP later changed the alignment of the bridge and constructed two separate bridges, both ways, to make way for the elevated corridor.

The 1.4-km stretch where the road is currently about 21 feet-wide, will be widened to 160 feet (six lanes of main carriage way and two lanes of service roads on either side).

BBMP started the work in November 2017. However, the work was delayed as 63 property owners along the identified stretch did not agree to the Transfer of Development Rights initially. BBMP has convinced most of the property owners for the land acquisition in exchange of TDR.