Nine years on, Jakkur rail bridge still hangs fire

BENGALURU: Even as commuters to and from Jakkur take a jam-packed, circuitous route of over 5 km to reach Yelahanka Main Road, a rail over bridge (ROB), which began work in 2012, is still in limbo. The half-done work by Railways had to be stopped as BBMP was unable to complete the land acquisition process. The 6,515-sqm land in contention is owned by four families who have taken the BBMP to the High Court over it.

“They insist on a much higher compensation than what has been offered by the government and claim ownership of additional land than what is shown in records,” said a BBMP source.

The cost of the bridge has shot from `13.71 crore to over `25 crore over the years. The Railways and BBMP were supposed to share half the initial cost. “The sudden move to convert the proposed two-lane flyover to a four-lane one on the insistence of the then MLA also required more land and delayed it more,” said another source. “The additional cost incurred was to be borne fully by the BBMP,” he added.

A top railway official said that SWR has completed work in all parts where it was possible to do so. “We have built the bridge above the railway track, two spans on the Approach Road and even the pedestrian underpass here. The precast girders are ready and we can put up four more spans when the land is made available,” he said.

The official said it would take six to eight months to finish the project after the land acquisition is complete.With the matter pending before the court, no one knows when it will be resolved. Among those who have suffered in their daily commute to work is Gayathri, a resident of Nehru Nagar, a software professional at Manyata Tech Park. Explaining her commuting woes, her husband Joshua told TNIE, “If the flyover is readied, she will be able to reach her workplace within 20 minutes. There have been many days (pre-covid) when she travelled nearly an hour via Hebbal and Veeranapalya to reach her office.”