Will Bengaluru’s much-delayed Ejipura flyover get completed? D K Shivakumar says yes

According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the flyover work commenced in 2017 but was stopped after 35 per cent completion. Later, a revised BBMP estimate did not match any bidder’s demand, as they asked for additional 19 per cent funds.

The delay in the project has led to several road accidents, with construction debris being dumped below the flyover. (Express file)

The construction of a 2.5 km flyover to ease the traffic congestion in the Koramangala area was decided in 2014, and a tender was awarded in 2017 with a 30-month deadline. The project was supposed to be completed in November 2019. The BBMP then extended the deadline to December 2020.

Last year, the Urban Development Department (UDD) directed the BBMP to float a fresh tender per the norms of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act and said that the project cost would be Rs 204 crore. The tenders floated last August saw two contractors participating in the bidding, but they were not awarded the project due to technical reasons.

The delay in the project has led to several road accidents, with construction debris being dumped below the flyover. In 2019, a man sustained serious injuries after a huge hydraulic bolt from the under-construction flyover fell on him while riding a scooter. The family then approached the court demanding compensation.

In March this year, anonymous users marked the Ejipura flyover project as a “monument” on Google Maps. Named the “Bangalore Stonehenge” on Google Maps, the location marking highlighted the slow pace of the project.

In July, a few lamps were seen on the pillars of the flyovers. Arnav Gupta, a Twitter user, shared a picture of the lamps on the flyover and wrote, “Since the flyover will never be built, we are using the pillars as lamp posts now.”