Bengaluru: There has been uncertainty in the implementation of the 16.5 km tunnel road from Central Silk Board to Hebbal. An expert committee constituted by the government has identified 121 shortcomings in the project.
The government is reconsidering the continuation of the tunnel project as an expert committee has identified issues in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the tunnel.
Although the tunnel project planners claim to have addressed the concerns of the committee, not all the shortcomings have been properly explained. Most notably, the expert committee stated that the proposal to provide an entry-exit facility for the tunnel road near Lalbagh lacked comprehensive geotechnical studies.
The committee stated that all types of acquisition processes should be completed in 90 per cent of the area, where the project will be implemented. This can avoid increased time and cost, but this has not been followed by the planners so far.
When the deficiencies were found in the DPR, the government had constituted an expert committee in April this year under the leadership of S Heggareddy, Executive Director (Civil) of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
Tunnel expert Vinod Surak, Road Safety Expert B Ashwath Kumar, and retired chief engineer of the Public Works Department Madhava are the members of the committee.
The expert committee submitted an 89-page report to the government, detailing 121 deficiencies in the DPR in 50 pages. It mainly raised concerns about the project area, alignment, land availability, traffic, and several issues at entry and exit points.
We have also conducted a geotechnical survey. It is a normal process for contractors who win tenders to conduct a similar survey before starting work. All the questions asked by the expert committee have been answered satisfactorily, said BS Prahlad, Technical Director, B-Smile.
