After missing many deadlines, parts of Avenue road are still under progress.
Mohan Lal owner of a utensils shop at Avenue Road, said that, he has stopped counting the number of times he has complained to the contractors about repairing roads.
He added that during the recent rains in the city, there was a mini flood in front of his shop. “Forget roads, even the footpaths are not proper. My business is getting hampered because of them. It stinks badly.”
Traders and pedestrians have also complained about the uneven footpath and roads of Avenue Road and the officials of Bengaluru Smart City Limited (BenSCL) said that the work is halted due to rains and will be completed soon.
Seema, a pedestrian, said that she visited Avenue Road last week and did not see any ongoing work. “Roads are not good. They are too dusty and footpaths are uneven and not well constructed.”
Mahaveer Singh, another pedestrian, said that the construction work is still going on.
He added that it becomes tough to visit Avenue Road post-heavy rains. “Although, the roads are somewhat done. The footpath construction is still going on.”
The project began in January 2021. After missing multiple deadlines, BenSCL chairperson announced that the contractors will have to wrap up the work by March 31, 2021.
Gopal Reddy, Assistant Engineer of BenSCL said that they have completed the concrete laying of the main roadway. For now, they have been successful in installing proper streetlights. “We are working on the footpaths. If the rains do not obstruct our plans, we hope to complete the work by this month.”
The Avenue road project costs Rs. 19 crore, and it covers one kilometer. On public demand, there was an increase in the cost of the project because the initial black-topping plans have now changed to white-topping.
However, officials said that the sudden rains delayed the continuity of the work.
A report mentions that Rakesh Singh, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahapalika (BBMP) administrator, and BenSCL chairperson has set a new deadline of May 13, 2022, for completion
Shivanand S M, a civil engineersaid that, Avenue road is the busiest place in Bangalore. In this case, there are many reasons for the delay in work. “Scheduling of work and execution of work are two different things. Firstly, it is important to understand the services work like cable and pipe line of that road,” he said.
He also said that the work needs support from locals. People who have their businesses depending on Avenue road should coordinate and support. “A proper planning which can match the benefits of traders will help BenSCL to draft a better plan of success.”
