The civic body, which earlier announced that it would open the steel bridge at Shivananda Circle to the public by November last year, is now planning a design change due to land acquisition issues. This will be the third time the design of the flyover will be changed.
As per the existing design, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) needs to acquire seven private properties of a total of 500 sq.m towards Sheshadripuram railway underpass. However, property owners have questioned the acquisition in the High Court. “We were unable to convince the owners, so we decided to drop acquisition of these properties. It will help us save ₹40 crore and finish the project early by making small changes in the design. We will submit our plan in the High Court when the case comes up for hearing,” said Lokesh, chief engineer, projects, BBMP.
The BBMP’s decision to change plans so late has come under severe criticism. “This essentially shows there is an absolute lack of planning. How can they start a project before securing the land? This is not the first time plans have been changed. Hennur flyover and Byappanahalli flyover had similar trajectories,” said V. Ravichandar, former member of the BBMP Restructuring Committee.
The civic body has built a skeleton of the down ramp towards the Sheshadripuram railway underpass with a gradient of 5.5. However, as per the new design, this will be extended. The down ramp will start much earlier with the gradient increasing to 6.6, which is the maximum gradient allowed as per Indian Road Congress guidelines, Mr. Lokesh said.
Ashish Verma, convener, IISc. Sustainable Transportation Lab, said increase in the gradient within the IRC guidelines was not an issue. “But care needs to be taken to ensure no design flaws creep in. When the gradient increases it may affect the visibility for vehicles, if there is a sharp turn or other design flaws are factored in,” he said.