BMRCL to cut open white-topped ORR wherever median is narrow

This is to erect pillars for metro line to KIA

After enduring traffic snarls for years, motorists are finally enjoying the ‘smooth ride’ on the newly white-topped Outer Ring Road from Kasturi Nagar to Hebbal. But it will be temporary: the expensive concrete road project implemented by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is facing a threat from the planned Namma Metro project that will link the city to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). Once the work begins, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has to cut open the white-topped road to erect pillars for the metro corridor wherever median of the ORR is narrow. Metro officials claim that when the project is completed, the road will be restored, but this will take years. And unlike regular roads, restoring the white-topped stretches will be more expensive. The tender for this stretch is yet to be awarded. Most of the 12-km stretch, barring Nagawara and Veerannapalya, has been white-topped. The BBMP had taken up white-topping work in 2018-19 at a cost of about ₹15 crore for every km (six lanes).