The story so far
Bengaluru and its civic bodies are notorious for delays in completion of infrastructural projects. Arguably the most infamous among such projects is the Ejipura flyover, which has been dragging on for the past seven years. Intended to connect the southeast part of the city to its east and west regions, it has faced numerous delays since its commencement in 2017.
Initially undertaken by Simplex Infrastructure Limited, the project has been stalled multiple times due to funding issues, changes in government, and contractor disputes.
As of 2024, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has re-tendered the project, now under the supervision of Bollineni Seenaiah Company Private Limited (BSCPL). According to officials, it might be another 15 months before the completion of the project.
In 2021, the BBMP blamed the company in charge for the delay and called for fresh tenders. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
When did the project start?
Construction of the Ejipura flyover officially began in 2017 under the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government, with the contract given to Kolkata-based firm Simplex Infrastructure Limited. When the coalition collapsed in 2019, Simplex had completed only 30% of the work.
In 2021, the BBMP blamed the company for the delay and called for fresh tenders.
“The project is currently on hold as the termination process is happening. The company which took up the project is not showing interest anymore in continuing with it,” Ramesh N., who was then the BBMP’s Chief Engineer (Projects), was quoted saying.
“It will take about two to three months for the BBMP to find the right contractors. Work will resume after this, and the flyover may be ready by mid-2022,“ he then said.
Amid growing traffic concerns caused by the delayed project, a public interest litigation was filed in the Karnataka High Court in 2021, prompting BBMP to issue a fresh tender in August 2022. This, however, was later recalled due to technical issues.
A subsequent tender in January 2023 received the necessary technical approval. Hyderabad-based B Seenaiah & Company (Projects) Limited (BSCPL) was issued the contract to complete the remaining work.
The total cost to finish the project was quoted around ₹142 crore. On top of it, BBMP owed Simplex Infrastructure an additional outstanding pay of ₹15 crore.
War of words
With the Congress government coming to power in 2023, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who represents BTM Layout constituency, expressed optimism about the flyover’s completion and guaranteed that the construction would be expedited.
Reddy criticized the BJP for diverting funds to constituencies ruled by their MLAs and cited it as one of the reasons that contributed to the delays.
Nevertheless, since January 2023 the work seems to be moving at snail’s pace. On top of the inconveniences, the delays also caused the cost of the project to shoot up.
In September 2023, the state government agreed to revise the project cost to ₹307.96 crore during a cabinet meeting. In November 2023, the BBMP once again announced that BSCPL would take over the project, this time with a hard deadline of 15 months as reportedly mentioned in the tender.
Hurdles adding to the halt
In November 2023, the project ran into another hurdle. A proposal was introduced to remove 67 trees to make way for the structure and BBMP removed nine trees on December 1, 2023. This was met with severe opposition by residents and environmentalists.
However, in the context of protests from environmentalists, a special order was issued by the deputy conservator of forest (DCF), BBMP, bringing the work to a grinding halt. The DCF claimed that since some of the environment associations had taken the legal route, the BBMP would have to wait until a direction from the court was issued to resume work.
The BBMP also observed that the construction of the compound wall, which began in December 2023, had made little progress. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
CM orders BBMP to issue to notice to contractors
In May 2024, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who was on Bengaluru city rounds, pulled up the contractors for the delay.
“The contractor should be served notice as per law. If they do not respond, terminate the contract,” he told BBMP officials.
Nearly a week after the CM’s orders, the BBMP issued a notice to the contractor. In a notice dated March 24, the BBMP’s Chief Engineer (Project Central) emphasised that the civic body had previously issued multiple instructions to ensure the project’s timely completion. The notice pointed out that the contractor had failed to deploy the required number of engineers, establish a casting yard, and provide necessary machinery, such as launching girders and shuttering materials.
The BBMP also observed that the construction of the compound wall, which began in December 2023, had made little progress. “You have failed to remove debris from the site, and no barricades have been provided,” the notice stated. The BBMP warned it would act according to the contract terms, including imposing liquidated damages if the company did not address the mentioned issues within seven days.
Pending work of Flyover. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
To be completed in 15 months
Speaking to The Hindu, Lokesh M., Chief Engineer, Projects, said that the agency has agreed to speed up the work and start at the earliest, however, the completion of the project would take another 15 months.
“We have served a notice to the agency as per the CM’s order and also held a meeting with them instructing to speed up the process. The agency has agreed to establish the requirements in the next 10 days.”
“At ground, work has already begun by the agency, only the super structure requires our attention and planning, which we are looking into. It would take another 15 months for the entire project to be complete”, he said.
How will the completion of Ejipura flyover help?
The road connecting Madiwala, Koramangala, Ejipura, and finally linking the Inner Ring Road which leads to Indiranagar is expected to bring down the travel time to just 20 minutes. Currently, severe traffic congestion has been causing inordinate delays, so much so that at peak traffic hours people spend close to an hour covering a 6-km stretch of which the flyover is a part. The flyover is expected to help avoid jam-packed traffic junctions like Srinivagilu-Ejipura, Sony World Junction, Koramangala BDA Complex Junction, Madiwala-Sarjapur Water Tank Junction, Kendriya Sadan Junction, and later connect southeast Bengaluru to the western and eastern parts of the city.
