Raja Marga, complete with heritage barricade, new tiles and ornamental lamp-posts, is expected to be completed from Hardinge Circle to Ayurvedic College circle before the start of Dasara.
The project, which were launched in 2010, envisaged a 5.3 km-long “royal path” from Hardinge circle to Bannimantap.
Work on the underground drainage and laying of ducts for telecom and electricity on Sayyaji Rao Road is almost complete. The digging up of the pavement had inconvenienced the public for months. . Work on laying tiles on the footpath will be completed soon.
The Rs. 18.65-crore project, which missed several deadlines, saw a flurry of activity during the last few weeks with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister in-charge of Mysuru district V. Srinivas Prasad and Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake carrying out inspection of the work, which has drawn much criticism for its slow execution.
However, Amit Sahani, whose Chabbra Associates bagged the Raja Marga contract, attributed the delay in the execution of the work to the late approval given by MCC authorities for the design of the barricade and the ornamental lamp posts.
Though the contract was entrusted to him in 2010, the designs of the barricades were finalised only in July 2013 and the ornamental lamp posts were approved only in February 2015, he claimed.
Initially, the project envisaged plain barricades from machine-cut granite at a cost of Rs. 4,500 per metre, but the revised design contributed to the delay. “The revised barricades are labour-intensive. Also, it costs Rs. 33,500 per metre,” he said.
When Mr. Sorake inspected the progress of work on Thursday, the contractor brought up the issue of delayed payment towards the work executed by him.
However, MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath said the contractor, who was receiving periodic payment for the work, had been paid Rs. 8 crore, out of the Rs. 10 crore due for work executed so far.
