200 km, Rs 1,000 crore: TenderSure gets into second phase

Bengaluru: Come November and work could kick off on the second phase of the TenderSure project, that will see M.G Road, Lavelle Road and Nrupathunga Road among other areas get a makeover on the lines of Cunningham Road and St. Marks Road, that have become a walkers’ paradise with their wide pavements.

BBMP commissioner, Manjunath Prasad, says the detailed project report (DPR) for the second phase being prepared by the JSUP Foundation, could be ready by September.

“It will take us another two months to award the tender for the project and we hope to start work  by end of November,” he said. Although Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recommended extending the project to 50 roads under the second phase of TenderSure, the BBMP has decided to confine itself to 25 roads to begin with to avoid inconvenience to the public.  Eventually, however, all 50 roads spread over 200 kms could see a similar makeover at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Expression of Interest (EOI) will be invited for the next 25 roads as soon as the tender is awarded for the first 25, according to Mr Prasad.

Assuring there would be no delay in the project, he said the necessary funds had already been sanctioned by the state government and he did not anticipate any friction among the agencies involved to hold it up.

“Work on some of the roads in the first phase was delayed for various reasons. Although we had the design, plan and  funds  it was held up due to unforseen problems. But this time we are taking precautions  to see the project is not delayed,” he added. The work could begin initially on Jayanagar 11th Main, K.G Road, Vasanth Nagar Main Road and a few other  roads. Meanwhile, the traffic police seems miffed at  being kept in the dark over the BBMP’s plans for such major roads in the city as they could impact vehicle movement. DCP Traffic (East), C.K Baba said  BBMP officials had not called for a meeting with the traffic police on the second phase of the TenderSure project.

“It will be a challenge for the traffic police when work begins on M.G Road. There were several complaints on Richmond Road when the work was delayed and vehicular movement was  affected. We are willing to co-operate with the BBMP to ensure the public is not too inconvenienced,” he added.

It’s not clear however, how the TenderSure work will affect the Rangasthala and the Art gallery on M G Road, which attract hundreds of artists and art lovers every day. There’s also concern it could prevent people from enjoying the boulevard, which  has some interesting artefacts made by  students of the Chitrakala Parishat on display.