Commuters heading towards North from South Bengaluru are worried over the demolition of the Jayadeva flyover. A significant part of south Bengaluru traffic has been affected due to the diversions. Authorities will start demolition work on the loop of the flyover that connects Bannerghatta Road and Silk Board junction with effect from this week, resulting in the closure of both the service roads on either side of the flyover. Local residents will however be allowed to use these service roads. The demolition of flyover will also add to congestion at Silk Board and Banashankari besides impacting business and real estate sectors negatively.
"Jayadeva flyover will add to the suffering of commuters for the next 4 years till the completion of the hyped multi-level flyover. Travelling by road around Bannerghatta Road, JP Nagar, BTM Layout will be a nightmare during the next 4 years as there are no intermediate solutions during construction. Most of the arterial roads of Bannerghatta Road will see bumper to bumper traffic. Residential areas will face chaos. Pollution level will go up and the productivity of working people will be badly affected on account of increased travel time," says Shashi Kumar C, a regular commuter.
Temporary halting of diversion is not a solution. Enough number of alternative roads must be provided. Patients heading to Jayadeva will be a lot distressed. Rumours were afloat that hospital management will provide for a different entry to the hospital. But Jayadeva Hospital Chief Dr CN Manjunath clarifies saying "BMRCL MD himself visited the hospital many times and collected the information. They have helped us to open the median near the two main gates itself from the Jayanagar East-end side and the Bannerghatta Road side. So the gates will remain the same as before. Also, the BMRCL has only acquired 12,000 sqft of our premises, So nothing will be changed".
With the commencement of the demolition work, vehicles travelling towards Silk Board Junction from Bannerghatta roadside will have to take left from JD Mara crossing and pass through 9th Cross Road, before exiting through East End Road or Marenahalli Main Road. Another alternative route, devised by the traffic police, include taking a right from 6th Cross Junction on to the 29th Main Road and left at 6th Main Road to exit at Marenahalli.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle BMRCL official says “We have to take all precautionary measures and study traffic patterns before the work commences. We have stopped vehicles from using the loop from Bannerghatta Road towards Central Silk Board from this week and hand over the work to the contractor. Also, the demolition work is being taken up by the Delhi-based agency. They will use advanced crunchers to demolish the structure and these instruments will be pressed into service for the first time in the city. So the public has nothing to worry about as the work is expected to be completed quickly thus allowing free flow of traffic for the public.”
Commuters are worried about the traffic nightmares that they are likely to face. They are now demanding among other things quick introduction of six-coach metro trains to run at a frequency of every three minutes on the North-South line "During the next 4 years, BWSSB should ensure not to take up any major works around Bannerghatta Road and BBMP should ensure that all arterial roads are well maintained. Big IT companies around Bannerghatta should deploy company hired buses and discourage staff from driving their private vehicles" says Gauthan C, a resident of BTM Layout.
Plan for the future: Road-cum-rail flyover
The technical team of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) decided that the demolition of Jayadeva flyover was the only solution to build the Metro interchange station on the RV Road-Bommasandra line (Reach 5). The BMRCL swung into action by holding meetings with the joint action committees including 10 resident welfare associations of BTM Layout and Koramangala before deciding on going ahead with the demolition plan.
Jayadeva flyover is paving the way for the metro project that is going to take about four years for completion. As per BMRCL’s plans, the flyover has to be demolished to facilitate construction of two new metro lines: R.V. Road to Bommasandra, and Gottigere to Nagawara.
An interchange station will be built at Jayadeva junction with six levels of infrastructure, which will include a road-cum-metro rail-flyover for motorists going from Ragigudda to Silk Board. As of now, there will be no change in the traffic movement at the Jayadeva underpass both ways.
“A massive road-cum-rail flyover at this junction that supports metro lines and road traffic at multiple levels, will come up in the next three to four years if the plan chalked out by the BMRCL comes to fruition. The project is being funded by international institutions and this construction will be unique in the country,” says BMRCL official.
The new 2.84 km flyover is estimated to cost Rs 133.54 crore as per the tender documents. In 2006, Bangalore Development Authority spent Rs 21crore to construct the flyover to reduce congestion on Bannerghatta Road and in Jayanagar. The BMRCL is employing the services of a Delhi-based company to demolish the 12-year-old flyover.
