Rs. 800-crore work to be completed by December

Tuesday, 05 September 2017 10:12 administrator
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The Hindu          05.09.2017 

Rs. 800-crore work to be completed by December

Delay was because we followed due process: George

As parts of the city drown during the rain, the much-touted Rs. 800-crore work on reinforcing stormwater drains, which was expected to be completed before this monsoon, will now be completed by December. Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Sunday attributed the delay to the time taken to get all approvals under ‘due process’.

RCC drains

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had tendered 408 works to construct reinforced cement concrete (RCC) drains of 192 km at a cost of Rs. 800 crore after the July 2016 floods. On Sunday, BBMP officials admitted that work started as late as May.

Mr. George announced that an additional Rs. 300 crore proposal would be placed before the Cabinet on Monday. Once these works are completed, citizens would not have to worry about the aftermath of rains.

Currently, tenders for 70 works for flood damage correction have been approved under the Chief Minister’s grant.

This includes for repair and construction of drains in areas, which suffered the brunt of rains this year, he said.

On August 5, a review by Mr. George revealed that only 54.66% of the works had begun and just 5.3% had been completed.

Robot excavators

The BBMP has submitted a Rs. 2 crore proposal to get robot multi-purpose excavators for dredging and cleaning of drains. “With the use of such machines, we will be able to complete dredging in vast stretches quickly,” said Mr. Prasad.