The latest realistically estimated date for the opening of the Whitefield railway overbridge is June 1st 2010.
On February 19th, a new contractor, Banashankari-based KPR Constructions took over the unfinished project. KPR Constructions, which takes on Railways contracts along with sister concern Balaji Builders, is headed by N Kumar, Managing Partner.
A steel girder segment at the Kadugodi yard next the Whitefield Railway Station
has been painted as part of readying for launch. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent.
Speaking to Citizen Matters from Hubli on the telephone, Vijay Kumar, Chief Administrative Officer, South Western Railway, said the bridge will be ready "in April". Another top official at the South Western Railway, Bangalore, aggressively set the launch date as April 15th. This official requested that he not be named.
As earlier reporting has shown, estimates for the completion of this project have proved wrong each time. Kumar of KPR was more realistic than the Railways officials in his assessment. He first estimated May 2nd week, and moved that cautiously to June 1st in a second conversation.
The good news is that the scene at the Kadugodi yard next to the Whitefield Railway Station comes as a pleasant surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with the crisis that brought work to dead halt last year. The 42 metre steel girder is being assembled here. From a silent, almost dead yard with the massive steel girder segments lying around, the place now has a loud, clanking buzz with workers moving around and KPR engineers and as well junior Railways engineers walking around.
Such is the delight the restarting of work has created in commuters, that a Citizen Matters reader Sudipto Bose wrote this on February 22nd after visiting the yard: "Yes, they are working on the girders that have been made by Soham. I see that the work area has been cleaned, the girders now have some serial numbers. They have removed the covering in front and have a temporary genset for the welding power supply".
Bose did not stop there. "I think we should still do some movement with children – like carry lunch/flowers and hand them over to the workers from KPR. Make them conscious of the responsibility. Sounds crazy?" he signed off.
This sort of action was missing for several months at the yard, and many
commuters who take a brunt of the traffic gridlock every day are now hoping
to see the bridge launch soon. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent
Some of the reddish girder segments, built long ago by the previous contractor before that firm ran into a financial crisis, are now being sandblasted and painted in grey colour at the yard.
Kumar confirms that when KPR took over, welding issues (at the over 150 joints on the girder) remained and claims that his firm is fixing them. A team from the Welding Research Institute (WRI) in Trichy has already visited and is expected to give their report this week, he says, confident of getting their approvals.
Citizen Matters could not independently confirm the status with WRI at the time this report went live. Kumar says he is targeting the girder installation across the 6-track 42-metre span for the end of March and completion of the two ramps (roads leading up the girder) in April. "We are under pressure to finish on time, and are spending money on our own", he says. He also confirms that Aravind Limbavali (BJP MLA, Mahadevapura) and Minister of State in the Central Government for Railways K H Muniyappa have been pressing for this project to be finished.
In December 2009, SW Railway had terminated the earlier contract with Soham Engineering Constructions, the Hyderabad-based firm that had been struggling to complete the bridge. A new tender was floated the same month for Rs 2.8 crores, which the Railways awarded to KPR last month. The contract has been tendered in a mode where the Railways are going to pay only after project is finished, so KPR is now shelling out funds to finish the project.⊕
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This has been long pending. It will be great to see this get done!
Great Reporting.
Major credit goes to Citizen matters for following this up so closely.
It will be a great relief if the bridge opens in june.
Saw a notice that the railway crossing will be closed from 25th March. No mention of duration though. The sandblasting looks complete. The props in the middle are complete. The heavy duty Crane is there. Last suffering before salvation 😉
I spoke to Kumar, MD of KPR/Balaji. He says they have asked for 6-days of closure to launch the girder which will start tomorrow midnight.
In reality he says morning traffic will be blocked for the first two days of the 6-days and after that for peak hours they will open the line.
During blockage, the Channasandra RoadHope Farm is the alternative route.
Great news, subbu!
I saw today that they have place one full length of girder already.
good progress. But the road construction is not progressing as fast.
Subbu,
I walked up to the shed last night and talked to one of the supervisors. Wanted to know how long the level crossing would be closed. I got a different and interesting story. He said that the LC is closed for good. The commute in that route will only start once the bridge is really complete. He added that there will be footbridge connecting the bustand to the other side and that the platforms of whitefield station will be extended to the point where the LC is there right now.
The Bridge in his estimate is May end/June for deployment.
I however agree that it does not make sense to keep this LC closed for more than a week or so. They have to put one more girder ; after which they can do the slabbing job with the LC open. This is also something that the person explained. He said that the majority work after the joint riveting is laying the slabs between the girder.
Maybe we should talk to the SM and MD of KPR to open the LC once the second girder is up.
At least the work has started after months of inactivity.
Although the travel is a bit harrowing, but hopefully not for long.Thanks to citizenmatters for campaigning this issue.
But then whenever I see the number of newly constructed or under construction apts in that area, I wonder, will the newly constructed flyover be able to meet the traffic load?
Sudipto and others, I know people have been worried about when the LC will open again because originally we were told it was going to be six days.
KPR’s Kumar told me today that it was delayed because they prefer to finish off the installation of the second girder also, and then opening up the LC. He says they will have finished the second girder by next Sat. (None of these are dates are hard ones, as we know.)
Kumar says he is going to assess by Wednesday Apr 7th evening and let us know. If the second girder is going to be further delayed, he is open to discussing with the Railways and opening up the LC for two/three days and closing it when they are about to launch.
He is asking me for what citizens want. I told him I will relay citizen feedback on Wednesday evening when I call him next. Please check with others and post your comments, if any here.
And yes, once the bridge is finished and operational, as per the contract, the LC will be closed permanently.
Subbu,
First, let me thank you for setting up the communication channel with KPR. Really helps.
I can relay the feedback of the residents of Golden Blossom and a few people I know in Samarpan. The LC being open is any days a better option than the FCI route. The FCI route cannot really take the truck/bus and the 4 wheeler traffic the way the turn near the other LC is. The “bigger” issue is the folks who commute by bus now face a lot of trouble to come to this side. With the LC closed the goods train now block the way for a long time and you will see the pedestrians trying to cross around or sometimes below the stationary train.
I believe that KPR should try to complete the second girder hoisting work and open the LC. The rest of the work can happen in parallel.
Thanks a lot Mr. Subramaniam for continuously following up on this issue. The second girder seems to be up now; does it mean that the LC can be opened in a few days?
I meant to put this in yesterday and missed it.
KPR’s Kumar told me last night that they are on track to finish the second girder by Friday night. So, the LC will be opened by Saturday, according to him.
As always, even though this contractor has been working away, please take all date committments with a pinch of salt. As long nothing surprising comes in the way, it should open!
Atlast, respite…I have bought a flat in Whitefield opp. to 10 Downing…Now I can heave a sigh of relief since I don’t have to worry about people bumping my car in the LC. Also, the FOB on Whitefield LC would be the icing on the cake. It is better than crossing the LC to the other side to board Chennai trains.
It’s now over 20 days since the railway crossing at Kadugodi is closed. As per earlier conversation in this thread, the KPR Constructions were supposed to open the gate, last week. It’s a daily ordeal to cross through the Channasandra crossing. That road is not equipped to handle so much traffic.
Is there any further update on opening of the gate. Can somebody share the contact details of KPR guys. We need to have a conversation with them.
I somehow feel the railways playing foul here. For those who commute by bus it had become a virtual nightmare since the LC has closed. The railways are taking advantage of the closed LC and the goods trains are blocking the pathway. People are trying to go under the trains in order to cross.
Subbu,
Do you want to meet sometime this weekend and talk to the station master at whitefield so that at least the poor bus commuters and pedestrians get some breather.
Now it is expected that Railway Overbridge at Kadugodi will be completed soon. It is the time to think about extension of Volvo bus service at least upto Safal Market as lot of residential layout are upcoming in this stretch. Kadugodi bus stand can be relocated somewhere near Safal Market where the land prices are definitely cheaper as compared to the existing location of bus stand.
If the service is extended beyond Kadugodi Depot / Stand It would be beneficial for the resident who will use the buses more which will also generate more revenue for BMTC
That’s an excellent point. Currently, to come till the railway station from Safal, we need to rely on a bus service that is not too consistent. This would definitely be a good news.
Quick update: KPR’s Kumar says the girder milestone they were waiting for has been completed – they have sent a message to the Rlways to open the LC.
Railways now has to inform traffic police et al and then open the LC. Kumar says it will open by Sat Apr 24 afteroon. History has not borne this out, it might happen Sunday or Monday.
Great news, Subbu! BTW, do we know if they are on track to finish by June 1st week? With the current status of the work, does not look like they will be able to finish on time. Even the monsoon which will start later next month might further delay the work.
Thanks
Satish
This is good news but do I doubt the bridge will open by June 1. Anyhow lets hope we the bridge will open soon
June-july seems to be very unlikely technically.
Aug-sep may be a reasonable target.
Railways seems to be in no mood to open the gate. Their trains are getting good signal clearance and reaching majestic on time. So I really doubt if they will open the crossing.
Just curious to know if any work is happening at all now or it has again come to a stand still.
Aug-Sep finish is defintely acceptable as long as it is this year 🙂
i’m concerned on the delay to open up the LC, esp since the bridge does not look in any shape to open up soon. Once the schools start in a month, it is going to be crazy with the LC closed. We may need to talk to the concerned Railway folks to convince them to open up the LC.
A new chief engineer G P Costa has taken over from the previous person T Kalimuthu who was transferred to Salem. I just spoke to him (it took me extra attempts to get his number).
Costa says that he visits the site once a week (Thursdays) and they did not take the decision to open the LC since it was unsafe. I then told him that KPR told us that his firm is ok with the LC being opened because the part of the work that required the LC to be closed was over, at least for now.
After listening to me about the nightmares people are having at the Channasandra line and the Hoodi lines, Costa agreed to ‘look into’ re-opening the LC during the morning peak hours and evening. I told him I will call him up two days from how.
Those of you who wish to call the Chief Engineer, Railways CAO Vijay Kumar (Above the Chief Engineer) KPR’s Kumar, and Traffic Police, please send an email to editors@citizenmatters.in.
Best to call over the next two days so that the CE takes a smart decision.
Thanks for following up, Subbu! Do not want to pester the KPR folks on a regular basis, but do we know the current estimated date of completion of the bridge?
The most recent estimated date of completion is June 15 from KPR’s Kumar. He said on Friday May 7th that there was a ‘delay’ because “they were waiting for some material to come, which had come finally”.
Kumar says the main work pending is the concrete segment over the girders and curing time (about 15 days). Asphalting the ramps is only two-three process, he maintains.
My sense is that June 15 is a push. Any date is worth talking about only AFTER we have seen the concrete being laid over the girder.
Subbu, any updates on whether the new chief engineer has taken a decision to open the LC?
There is some serious bad news I discovered yesterday evening. After talking to me last week, the Chief Engineer Costa had issued a letter last week to reopen the LC. He was going to send a copy to the Whitefield station manager Naickam (on the latter’s insistence).
Costa then ‘found out’ that the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Akhil Agarwal had already issued an order to permanently shutdown the LC and that is why his letter is not going to be honoured, he says.
The DRM is the head of SW Railway’s Bangalore division, and he is above the Chief Engineer (who is overseeing bridge construction on the Railways’ side) on these matters.
The LC was going to be permanently shut down anyway, but this was only supposed to happen when the bridge was complete.
My office is trying to reach the DRM to ascertain how ‘hard’ this order is, but Agarwal is out till 14th.
Very likely, a strong representation is going to be needed from citizens to revoke the LC shutdown. I will post some phone numbers here tonite.
QUICK UPDATE ON THE BRIDGE STATUS
Railways has pushed their informal estimate to end of July.
Oh boy! How do we go about this? Do we do a signature campaign or something? Since the bridge itself is getting delayed, we badly need to open the LC at the earliest. Especially once the monsoon rains start, I doubt they would be able to get it done in the time frame.
As a side effect of the LC closure, Deens has decided to run the school bus earlier than last year (last year ~7:30AM) since the traffic on the Channasandra road has increased.
The railways are playing foul here. I guess they are waiting for someone to die while crossing the lines in front of the bus stand.
Subbu,
We can do a signature campaign and even talk to the local councilor if needed. I can get signatures from Golden Blossom.
Can you please let us know what you should do to put a strong representation in front of DRM to open the LC until bridge is not complete.
As I am writing this, they are already welding members perpendicular to the main beams.
Better not give SWR one more chance to delay the ROB by opening LC!
Rather, let us push for repairing of the alternative road – through Kadugodi, Kumbhena Agrahara, Sadaramangala, Hudi – and split the traffic.
I don’t agree with this. The SWR opening/maintaining the LC and the construction work are done by two separate entities (1st by SWR and the 2nd by KPR). SWR is in no way related to completion of the ROB as of now, as KPR is in charge of completion. They might pitch in to do all the checks, etc.
Repairing of the alternate roads is by no means going to happen any time soon. Even getting tenders done itself is a time consuming affair and then the implementation.
So does anyone know whether the railway crossing is going to be opened or is the plan to permanently keep it closed.
Also is there any idea when the flyover will be open.
As mentioned by many people here, once the school starts it is going to be a nightmare for the kids since the buses will have to take a circular route. Also the general public also finds it difficult because the roundabout route is bit long and roads are narrow.
So does anyone know whether the railway crossing is going to be opened or is the plan to permanently keep it closed.
Also is there any idea when the flyover will be open.
As mentioned by many people here, once the school starts it is going to be a nightmare for the kids since the buses will have to take a circular route. Also the general public also finds it difficult because the roundabout route is bit long and roads are narrow.
Please call Akhil Agarwal, the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Bangalore. His office issued the order to shutdown the LC, according to the Railways own Chief Engineer (construction).
Akhil Agarwal
080 22871498
drmsbc@swr.railnet.gov.in
Citizen Matters has not been able to reach him for sometime now. We will keep trying and post updates here as soon I can get something.
It’s best citizens – those impacted – call the DRM’s office during the day and enquire about why the LC is being shutdown permanently two months ahead of time, when the contractor KPR himself is Ok with it being open while the rest of the work completes.
I called Akil Agawal’s office and I was given the number of Sr DM Office number-22873383, when I called that number I was given another numner of Mr Mohanan- 9731666201, and he said he is not the right person and so on…
I am not sure we will have any releif by talking to Railway officials. The approach can be through Political or local carporator representation and or some siganute campaign
Where do these Railway Engineers live?
I think we could even go to some of the TV channels and Newspaper coverage. I see News 9 doing a lot of similar stories.
I am placing below the Kadugodi ward corporator contacts.
Kadugodi Ward Corporator
K N Anjaneya Reddy
98450 08072
080 28452102
Thanks Subbu for another lead, yet again… Being Sat, suggest we all call corporator and sensitise the gravity of this issue.
Let them wake up and realise this pain we are going thru’
How about the suggestion of a signature campaign? That will probably show how many people are affected daily due to closure of the gate permanently.
The bridge is progressing well. Another 2, 3 they will open I guess. the main part left now is concreting above the girder and side wall completion in asharam side.
Laying the road is not major work I think.
i don’t railways can be moved by anything other than a powerful politician influence. So, best is to be patient and wait. 🙁
Narayanan,
Just curious. Did you mean to say 2-3 weeks or 2-3 months. Either way, it is OK as long as it gets done this year.
Thanks,
Venki
2-3 months. This is my estimate. Also, some information from local autowalas.
Had a chat with a couple of engineers from Balaji yesterday. They are expecting to complete the bridge by July end. They said they will start laying the concrete over the steel structure in a week’s time. once the concrete is laid, the curing will take about 3 weeks. After that they’ll start asphalting the road.
Hi all, Do the latest developements mean: 1.) Railway LC at Whitefield is permanently closed and hence is it safe to assume that once the OverBridge is operational as per our estimates, only LMV and School Buses will be allowed to use the overbridge? In that case where will trucks and other heavy vehicle go to Kannamangala from? Will they continue to use the current temporary arrangement? I am new to the area and I think this site is a perfect example of how effective a people’s initiative can be . Kudos to all participants of the discussion. Thanks, Amit
I finally got to talk to Akhil Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager today. He called back after my repeated attempts to reach him. I told him KPR was ok with the LC being opened, and was going to ask for a time – for residents of Chaithanya Samarpan, Golden Gate Appartments, et al, to meet him.
He cut me short said that merely because the contractor (KPR/Balaji) is OK with the LC being opened does not mean that the Railways must open it. The responsibility for safety while work is going on lies with the Railways and not the contractor — that is the reason behind the LC shutdown through the last phase of the project.
Having heard my over-dramatic description of the nightmarish situations at Channasandra and Hoodi crossings during peak hours, he said he was going to talk to the CAO (another top official) and get back to me if something can be done.
He seemed serious, so I expect a callback. I will call again on Thurs/Fri if he does not.
article in THE HINDU on Saturday – June 12 about the bridge:
Please note the Engineer says 4 MONTHS now… as quoted by the writer.
A bridge too far?
K. C. Deepika
The long wait has only got longer. Commuters who use the Kadugodi-Whitefield railway junction were hanging by the thread of hope that the bridge connecting Whitefield and Hoskote would obviate arduous detours and long waits at the railway crossing. The bridge was to have been completed by the first quarter of 2009 but there are little signs of any progress.
Regime change
Work came to a standstill three months ago as the Hyderabad-based Soham Engineering Constructions, the contractor entrusted with the construction work by the Railways and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), pulled out citing funds shortage.
A new contractor, KPR Constructions, which took over, also was unable to meet the fresh deadline of May 31, 2010.
Work seems to be progressing at a snail’s pace. When The Hindu visited the site, there were just a handful of workers. To add to the confusion, the contractor and the Railways are speaking in different voices regarding the “new” deadline.
Giving the reason for the delay, S. Vijay Kumaran, Chief Administrative Officer-Construction, South Western Railway, said: “This bridge requires high-quality steel and the fabrication is complicated. But it will be ready in a month.”
On the other hand, Abhilash Chandran, Project Engineer from KPR, suggested it will be ready only in four months’ time.
More article here:
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Bangalore/article453716.ece
Though the Hindu article says, another 4 months to complete the work I see the same the other way. The photgraph shown in the article dated back about 2 months, when the KPR guys were putting the gurders.
Though the work is progressing at snail’s speed, I see we can have the bridge ready before the Independence Day.Let us be bit optimistic.
Venkatesh, Many thanks to you for the relentless follow up with the authorities.
Hope is what we all are alive for.
Thanks again for your updates…
Guys, the article on June 12 was published due to the efforts of residents from Surakshaa Fairview who sent many mail to The Hindu.
Around 8 months back there was another article following which a Tender was published.
There is direct connection, being optimistic will not resolve anything, Unless matter is not continuously highlighted in media, we cannot hope for the bridge.
Emails of Dailies / Emails of Railway officials are available here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/adityaselect/BridgeToNowhere#
If you are not clear Email me at adityaselect@gmail.com
I guess the Hindu article is a little “out of time”. Even the photo is old. Today morning, I see that the reinforcements are in place and they should concrete the area in another 2-3 days.
Considering 15 days of curing, July end seems realistic to me. Provided they don’t stop work. And, As someone said if they start the road work as soon as concreting is over then things should be on track.
Walked up the bridge today morning.
The ramps are done. Only thing left is the asphalting.
The concrete laying work has been done on the actual bridge/girder. I could actually walk and cross if I chose to 🙂 but then there were workers present. Wish I had my camera.
They are doing the sidewalls of the girder now.
The only thing left is the curing and the tarring.
Let us keep fingers crossed for sometime in July.
it is still early to celebrate.
Although the the structure looks near complete, but other small small things will take time.
@Narayanan – I was happier to see the slightly older photo in TheHindu.
I am just hoping for another writeup in TOI !
Manish, can you please do the magic once more.
Aditya,
Can you or someone please share the latest photographs and then we can try to again start the Media Campaign like last time.
One thing we need to highlight is that even after delay of 4 years we are getting a bridge which is singel lane and will be a bottleneck in near future.
Will they allow school buses to go over the bridge? Else it will be very painful for smaill kids.
How will they stop Trucks and other heavy vehicle movement? Will there be someone monitoring the vehicle movement?
Cheers
Manish
I understand everything can go. No restrictions. I guess it is 2 lane. Of-course, 4-lane is better.
I have visited the site today. The road work has started. Looks another month or so for completion.
15 Aug can be seen as a very decent date.
Thanks Manish, I will take one tomorrow and Email you.
It can also be mentioned that a Sky-walk with provision of ramp for trolley bags is required for ease of commuters.
I met a railway person who says the bridge is designed for heavy vehicles.
True, crawling trucks will cause bottle neck but we can think of alternatives after completion 🙂 .
However in the mean time we can call for,
1)Short halt for Trains at Whitefield Station
2)Fleecing Auto rickshaw
3)Bi-cycle parking facility at Kadugodi Bus station
Hello Manish,All,
I have emailed you the pictures. If they dont reach you, try
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/adityaselect/BridgeToNowhere#
Thanks.
I visited the bridge on Sunday and found out that the ‘tar-like’ layer being added to the concrete over the steel span is water proofing. This will complete this week, the workers there said. (S B Enterprises is the firm that has undertaken this part of the project from KPR/Balaji)
Updates on the status:
The good news. Both the Railways Chief Engineer overseeing the project and KPR’s N Kumar (contractor) are concurring that completion is set for next week.
The dicey news: The chief engineer says he has written to the Chief Minister Yeddyurappa asking for three possible inauguration dates. He expects a reply “soon”. Based on his he will get the Minister of State of Railways at the Centre to give his preferred date and then the Railways will set the inauguration for that day.
My response: I told him people are very tired of driving across the Channasandra and Hoodi routes and at this stage adding a wait-time for VIP availability will not sit well with the residents. He said he was sure they would get dates and open the bridge formally this month.
To my question on whether informally traffic can pass through while waiting for the inauguration, he declined first and then said “perhaps in the night”.
Added development: Railways says they are “not getting cooperation from BESCOM” to get electrical poles on either side of the overbridge to be installed so they are planning to do it themselves. Contractor Kumar says that the tender did not include electrical poles and lighting, so they will handover the bridge in finished mode without this. (15 poles on either side.)
Next week, fingers crossed.
Great news Subbu. Once this is complete, I think people should just follow the Gurgaon expressway / Wheeler bridge route. Move any barricades and start driving on this bridge.
Alternatively, we should tie a ribbon and have somebody dressed as RK Lakshman’s common man cut it.
Better than ever before news. I think instead of waiting for BSY or KHM or “Adarneeya Didi” they should just dress up a local guy as BSY and have the dang bridge open up. Enough of this VIP business. Or are they buying time because work is still pending?
Latest update from the Railways. The Chief Minister and Minister of State for Railways/New Delhi have agreed to July 15th Thursday to open the bridge. Exact timing is not fixed yet.
More good news. They are erecting the poles now, and also concreting the left out areas. The road is completely done.
The bridge is almost complete.
I think we should not give time beyond July 15th. It will be ridiculous to wait for a VIP to inaugurate a project that has failed so badly in terms of deadline.
So we should barge in.
Seems celebration time is not far away and I wish to thank Vincent(specially) for the efforts put thus far in providing us an update over this fight literally with the authorities as well as being at the frontline many a times to understand status of this important project.
Thanks a tonne Vincent and 3 Cheers in advance to Whitefield (Kadugodi) residents !!
🙂
Great show by all the citizens in making the govt sit up and look and complete the task. good show. i request if anyone could put a snap of the completed bridge
Hi,
Pls see some snaps, taken over the last week (2nd July).
http://picasaweb.google.com/suryakamal/BridgeJul02#
Regards….Surya
hello All,
Thanks a lot to all the people who helped in tracking, following up and bringing regular updates to us. I have an appartment on the other side of the bridge near ten downing and the opening of this bridge means so much to me and many more people like me. Thanks.
Any update on the opening date.
Is there any official confirmation?
One of my staff journalists called the Railways this morning. It looks like July 15th (having confirmed it to us earlier) has now become ‘iffy’. The same official now says they are waiting for a ‘confirmed time’ from the CM’s office.
KPR’s Kumar says there are some minor works (like paint touch ups) pending that are getting finished now. They won’t be able to do this if traffic starts running over the ROB.
In effect traffic can start using the bridge by weekend, it seems by all indications. If it is not inaugurated by this weekend, it won’t be a contractor issue any more.
Citizens will simply have to pressure the Railways to open it up informally.
I hear the CM is not in town & dont think he will be back by 15th. He is on some conference. So if they are waiting for the CM to open the bridge, then there will be delays.
“AAshada Maasa” has set in; CM may have to visit 10 more temples before deciding on a bridge! Our CM won’t do any work for the next month. Why not have the “bridge warriors” here,led by Mr. Vincent open the bridge? Why wait for this BSY who did nothing to speed up the work?
why don’t we gather in front of the bridge on 15th late evening?
I think we should barge in on Saturday morning.
Also, we can plan a small inauguration ceremony. But we need at least 100-200 people and some reporters.
I think BSY is in town (saw him on TV in the Assembly yesterday), with the opposition leaders deciding to sleep-over in the assembly!
BTW, soon after opening this, I read (this weeks TOI) that work will start on the Hopefarm circle underpass later this year, stretching our pain 🙁
I just crossed the bridge in my bike. Asharam side of the bridge is open but there is a barricade in the hope farm side. But the bikes can pass through.
Latest (formal update) : I spoke Bangalore Traffic Police Commissioner Praveen Sood. Sood is a straight talker and is not known to mince words. He says he visited the ROB two days back and the moment he gets a note/signal from BBMP Commisioner Siddiah that the bridge is ready (safe) he will allow traffic. He does not have any ‘inauguration’-blocks in his mind, as far as I could tell.
I called the Railways Chief Engineer after that. He says the bridge is ready, and the Railways says it is ‘safe’, no further load tests or any other tests are needed. On my request, the Railways CE is sending a letter to BBMP Commissioner today (to ensure no communication gaps happen between the three ends of the triangle).
No one seems to be talking eagerly about any ‘inauguration’ right now. Railways say they will look the other way if people ride over the bridge – they understand the pain. Traffic Police needs a go ahead from the BBMP. My staff is talking the Commissioner Siddiah on some other matter and we will check this.
The Kadugodi BBMP corporator’s Anjaneya Reddy (98450 08072, 080 28452102) is coming engaged. One of you please call him and ask him to talk to the BBMP Commissioner.
I happen to visit the bridge about half an hour ago as mentioned by Raghuraman Mariappan they are allowing bikes to pass through but not cars. I spoke to a person (he does not want to reveal his name and said he is a supervisor from the contractor’s side)who said the opening is confirmed for this Sunday (In his own words “pakka opening ho jayaga”). Apparently the CM is back today and have given the dates for ‘inauguration’ this sunday. I am keeping all my fingers crossed!!!
I just spoke to Mr. Anjaneya Reddy and he said that he has been trying to reach Mr.Shukla (CE of Railways) without success. Apparently, the Railways has to formally hand-over the bridge to BBMP. The latter will then initiate action to allow traffic. The inauguration does not seem to be the blocking thing now, but rather the Railways handing the bridge over to BBMP.
I see two notes on the Chaithanya Samarpan layout’s mailing list posted this afternoon, to the effect the bridge will be open to all traffic on Friday. So much for high officials saying one thing to mediafolks and local people at the ROB saying something else to citizens. 🙂
It is very very likely now that people will start attempting to ride over the ROB anyhow through Thursday (15th) and Friday (16th) till we have a ‘defacto’ open situation!
Happens only in India!!!
Its interesting to see, more than one official entity not keen on “inauguration”! We should just ask local corporate to do the “act”. More teeth to the local governance!!
I wish the three people involved (the Commissioner, CE Railways and ACP Sood can get on a conference call and decide on opening the bridge immediately. Get a secretary also on the line to take notes for the record.
An even more interesting idea- how about email? Sood is fantastic with emails. He responded to one I sent as an aggrieved citizen within the hour and then another person followed up that evening!
It’s possible that BS-Y will use this to get back at UPA (Muniyappa)and delay the whole thing. Maybe we should ask the Reddy brothers to ride over it.
From today morning, car’s were passing.
I also used it.
I see the barricades are being removed by people themselves.
In case it is closed, we should just get down and remove the barricades.
After 4 – 5 times they will get tired and stop putting them.
As expected four-wheelers have followed two-wheelers over the bridge this morning.
This morning’s headline on the Chaithanya Samarpan mailing list is: “Hurray We just drove over the bridge”.
One couple crossed over and then others. Another resident told me several officegoers from Golden Blossom crossed over. Most people have done S-curves around the barricades.
Hurray, finally we got it. Thanks to everyone who put up the fight with the officials.
I crossed the bridge in the morning 10 am without any issues, however, one of my friend crossed it by 12 noon by removing the barricades.So finally it is open keep crossing it whether the barricades are there or not doesn’t matter.
Thank a tone Subramaniam Vincent for all the effort in communication to us on latest update
Missed to mention, me and my friend crossed the bridge by Car.
So now, informally it is open for everyone. Happy Driving
Crossed the bridge by car today morning. The tractor kept as a barricade was still there, but the orientation had been changed by some good Samaritan to make way for 4 wheelers 🙂
So long Channasandra road!
Kudos to citizen matters for having tracked this matter relentlessly.
CM (Citizen Matters, not BS-Why) deserves great deal of credit for pushing this issue upfront. This is the only way our democracy can work with media and citizen passion for civic issues.
Looks like we will need traffic spike system to regulate the traffic very soon.
These spikes prevent access in one direction while allowing access in the opposite direction.
Otherwise it is going to be a big mess at the enterance of the bridge.
Vehicles especially bikes and autos are entering the bridge from the wrong direction
Any unpdate on if they inaugurated the bridge?
I could see lot of new posters today.
Some of them even replacing the new sign boards :-(. So they are going to close it soon for opening again I think
Can anybody tell me what is the status on Bridge Inaugaration , Is it still not done ?
At last the bridge is open !!! BMTC/School buses/LMV are plying thru it, but they have not allowed Trucks thru it.
Updates on the question of accidents on the bridge as well as the Hope Farm intersection underpass work is in our latest story here.
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/2209-whitefield-railway-bridge-opening