Flyover turns unsafe in 11 yrs!

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

There is no end to the woes of motorists and commuters travelling in North Bengaluru with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stating on Tuesday that the elevated Peenya Flyover, built in 2010, is of poor quality and would be able to carry only Light Motor Vehicles and that too, only after clearance from experts.

“Experts from Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bengaluru, after inspection of the flyover recently, have opined that it is not safe to allow heavy vehicles to pass on this structure. They made this observation after conducting load testing and said the long iron cable had got bent during testing which is not a good sign”, the CM told the Assembly.

The flyover comes under NHAI and appears to have been built using substandard material, the CM said. After observing a major technical fault in December, 2021, it was closed for traffic to take up repair work. Engineers have suggested a total reconstruction of the flyover before allowing heavy vehicles to use the facility.

“I have written to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to take action in this regard,” the CM added. The flyover connects 23-24 districts upto Bidar on one side and Udupi and Mangaluru on the other. After its closure, vehicles pile up on the stretch daily including ambulances.