Commuters at Central Silk Board junction wait atleast 20-30 minutes to cross the signal during peak hours and atleast 10 minuets during non-peak hours. Plans to make it signal-free have been in the works for the last 2.5 years, but the first tender failed to get a response from enough bidders. And now, the second bidding has also failed. It’s back to square one for both Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and the commuters who will have to suffer more.
The Silk Board junction is also the most congested and polluted junctions in the city. And if the status quo remains for some more time for lack of bidders, HSR residents are as much affected, pollution-wise as well. The 2.84 elevated corridor planned at the junction isn’t getting enough bidders because while the BMRCL estimates that Rs 133.54 crore is just enough to build the flyover, the bidders don’t want to build it for anything less than Rs 223 crore.
Who will plug this Rs 90 crore gap? Perhaps if commissions go away from the system, the corridor can be built with just Rs 90 crore and not even Rs 133 crore, say some insiders. But will it? Who will bell the corrupt cat when the cat happens to be the entire system?
