BR Ambedkar multi-purpose building at Mahadevapura was supposed to be ready a year ago.
It has been over a year since the deadline for the construction of Dr BR Ambedkar multi-purpose building at Mahadevapura lapsed, and the building is still nowhere near completion.
The building is expected to generate revenue for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and also provide skill development programme for thousands of unemployed youth, and the inordinate delay in its completion has irked the civic agency authorities.
The construction of the building commenced on December 5, 2009, and was expected to be completed within three years.
Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), the agency responsible for the construction of the building, has so far done nothing except constructing the basement of the proposed building. All the remaining work is yet to be commenced.
According to sources at the KRIDL, various agencies, including the Lake Development Authority, delayed giving permission to commence the project as the construction site happens to be adjacent to a lake.
Also, the BBMP had proposed to release Rs5 crore as the first installment towards the project, estimated to cost Rs18 crore. The KRIDL claimed that it has already spent Rs5 crore on the work that has been done so far, and that the BBMP has released only Rs3.2 crore.
Chief engineer of the Mahadevapura division of the BBMP, ML Munikrishna, said a meeting will be held with the KRIDL officials on Wednesday with regards to the status of the project.
“The KRIDL officials claim that the BBMP has not released funds as per the completion of the work. We will discuss about it in the meeting and take a decision,” he said.
According to sources, the estimated cost has escalated considerably owing to the delay in completing the construction. The price hike of construction materials such as cement and steel has been attributed to the escalation of the construction cost.
“All these things have to be worked out after meeting the KRIDL officials,” Munikrishna said.
Corporator from Devasandra, R Manjula Devi, said: “The KRIDL dug up a huge pit to lay the foundation for the multi-purpose building. A few houses adjacent to the construction site were about to collapse during the recent heavy rains, but the measures taken by the BBMP saved those settlements. I have told the BBMP chief engineer to take measures for completion of the project as early as possible,” said Devi.
While the delay in completion of the multi-purpose building hardly comes as a surprise, the question that needs to be answered is how many more deadlines would it take for the building to finally see the light of the day.
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