Mysuru: The Mysuru Urban Development (MUDA) will soon hand over the complete maintenance of the Outer Ring Road to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The notification for this will soon be issued by MUDA and the NHAI too has agreed for the transfer.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, MUDA Commissioner Dr. M. Mahesh said that it was not possible for MUDA to maintain the 41.535 km Outer Ring Road (ORR) as it requires over Rs. 30 crore for annual maintenance. MUDA has spent around Rs. 332.20 crore for the construction and expansion of the Outer Ring Road.

On the Eastern side, the ORR is formed on a stretch of 7.49 km on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Road to Mysuru-Bannur Road, on the Western side, it is formed on a stretch of 24.715 km on the Bengaluru Road to Mysuru-Nanjangud Road and again on the Eastern side, the ORR is formed on a stretch of 9.33 km on the Bannur Road to Mysuru-Nanjangud Road.

“Maintaining work on the ORR includes regular maintenance of street-lights, sign boards, signal lights, greenery and silt and jungle clearances. We need over Rs. 30 crore every year and MUDA is not in a position to maintain it and we have decided to hand it over to the NHAI,” Mahesh said.

MUDA has already written to the Superintending Engineer, NHAI for the take over and the NHAI has agreed to maintain the stretch, said Mahesh, Executive Engineer, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

The ORR was conceptualised in 1997-1998 and over 186.08 acres of land was acquired in three phases. While 71,23 acres were acquired in the first stage, 37.18 acres and 77.07 acres were acquired in the second and third stage respectively.   The project was conceived to meet Mysore’s requirements in view of the projected growth of the city and to improve the existing road infrastructure to cope with increased vehicular pressure.

The project was taken up under JNNURM and the Union Government contributed 80 per cent of the cost while MUDA contributed 10 per cent and the State Government contributed the remaining 10 per cent.

Once the three-lane ORR was constructed, the MUDA widened the road to six-lane considering future requirement and vehicle density. The total width of the road is 45 metres. The road is now expected to meet projected vehicular movement till 2030. After the MUDA constructed the road, it had to maintain it for three years as per Defect Liability Period (DLP).

A DLP is a set period of time after a construction project has been completed during which a contractor has the right to return to the site to remedy defects. “The DLP for Outer Ring Road expires in November 2017 and we want to hand it over to NHAI by then, Executive Engineer Mahesh said.

In the communication to NHAI, MUDA has said that Grade Separator works on the Hunsur Road and Outer Ring Road junction was under progress and construction of Grade Separator at KRS Road and Outer Ring Road and a detailed project report is being prepared.