The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : BRTS corridor work at snail's pace

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Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

BRTS corridor work at snail's pace

Ramesh Susarla

It is attributed to delay in release of funds from the Central and State governments

Overall progress of work on the flyover put at 54 per cent
Contractor blames rains for delay in subway work

A view of the half-finished flyover from Aseelmetta to DRM's Office in Visakhapatnam.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Traffic congestion at NAD Kotha Road junction, Hanumanthawaka and RTC Complex junction has become the order of the day mainly due to wrong planning and delayed execution of works related to the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor.

A flyover across the NH-5 at NAD junction as part of the Pendurthi – Dwarakanagar transit corridor was not proposed, making this and the Hanumanthawaka junction the most congested ones in the city.

In the latest proposals to the State Government, the NHAI proposes to take up this flyover along with two others on the NH 5 at Satyam junction and Lankelapalem.

The flyover from Vemana Mandiram to the DRM office, which is to be completed by December, might be ready by August next if everything goes well.

The progress of work on the crucial Aseelmetta junction subway from the GVMC office to Manikanda Bakery side is tardy, according to GVMC Chief Engineer B. Jayarami Reddy.

Overall work progress on the Rs. 68-crore 1.2-km flyover is estimated at 54 per cent by the GVMC Engineer with 10 of the 19 spans tackled so far. The tardy pace of work on the BRTS project is attributed to delay in release of funds from the State and Central governments. A whopping Rs. 250 crores and Rs.119 crores is due from them respectively. Contractor M. Venkata Rao told The Hindu that unusually heavy rains during the Southwest monsoon and equally bad conditions during the Northeast monsoon inordinately delayed subway ‘duct' work. He, however, was confident of completing basic subway works with three leads out of it by February next. “Only after the subway is completed, the flyover span at this junction can be taken up,” he pointed out.

Only when traffic is normalised at Aseelmetta, the flyover span at RTC Complex-Dwarakanagar road junction can be taken up. The first span from the DRM Office side will not be taken up now till a final decision on the 476-metre extended portion up to the railway station was taken. The bidding for this Rs. 22-crore portion is under way.

Land acquisition

Railway land acquisition for the portion from Sangam-Sarat to railway station, private land from Dwarakanagar Andhra Bank up to Institution of Engineers was yet another challenge that would determine the speed of laying service roads along with drains. Shifting overhead power lines, underground BSNL cables and water pipelines were also delaying the process, observed Mr. Venkata Rao.

Funds flow from the government was linked to implementation of reforms with regard to property tax and recovery of costs in solid waste management, which were also tardy.

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