Mysuru: Thirty-four months and 2 weeks (nearly 3 years) have passed after the first major landslide occurred atop the Chamundi Hill between View Point and Nandi Statue (Nandi Statue Road) in October 2021. Yet the critical Rs. 10-crore retaining wall project remains unfinished.

Despite promises from two successive Governments – first the BJP and then the Congress –  the 400-metre stretch of road has been closed to traffic since the incident.

The Public Works Department (PWD), originally slated to complete the construction by this Dasara, has now set a new deadline of December 2024. The persistent delays have added this project to the growing list of overdue developments in Mysuru.

The section of Chamundi Hill between View Point and Nandi Statue has experienced three collapses. The first landslide took place on Oct. 20, 2021, near the location where a landslip had occurred in 2019. Following this, on Oct. 31, 2021, the road saw a significant reduction, with 80 percent of it affected in the second slide. Another landslide occurred on Nov. 4, 2021, just 10 metres away from the area affected by the Oct. 20 landslide.

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, PWD Executive Engineer Raju acknowledged that there has been a considerable delay in the project completion. “First, there was a delay in payment and secondly, rains disrupted the works for several days and we could not catch up pace and thirdly, there was a delay by the project contractor. We aim to complete the works by December 2024 and open the road for traffic from January 2025,” he said.

When questioned about the incomplete works impeding devotees’ access to the Nandi monolith statue, particularly during Dasara — when Nandi holds significant religious importance — Raju responded, “We have opened the road from the Uttanahalli side for devotees, and they can use this route.”

However, many devotees prefer the main Nandi Statue Road to reach the monolith for their prayers and are unlikely to use the Uttanahalli Road instead.

Currently, only 70 percent of the planned 50-ft retaining wall has been constructed from the ground level of the collapsed section, following the excavation of a 30-ft trench. Remarkably, work has only begun on one of the three landslide sites.

Once this retaining wall is completed, the PWD will need to build two additional retaining walls at the other landslide locations. This will require additional funds, and the future of these projects is uncertain, given that the main retaining wall has remained incomplete for nearly three years. This raises serious questions about the PWD’s accountability in finishing crucial infrastructure projects.