Road caves in on Sumanahalli flyover in Bengaluru; civic body BBMP under fire

A patch of the Sumanahalli flyover on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road (ORR) stretch caved in on Tuesday for the second time since 2019, showing a wide hole. All vehicular movement in the vicinity has been blocked as civic body BBMP is set to undertake repair works.

The Sumanahalli flyover in Bengaluru is once again in news for the wrong reasons. A patch of the flyover caved in on Tuesday for the second time since 2019, creating a gaping hole through which the ground below was visible. Commuters went into panic mode after the cave-in, following which traffic cops arrived at the scene and inspected the damage.

The cave-in on the Sumanahalli flyover in Karnataka capital Bengaluru which lies of the ORR stretch.(Screengrab of Twitter video by @Ananthaforu (2019))

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They installed barricades around the hole to prevent untoward incidents and instructed motorists to tread carefully. The city's civic administrative body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is set to undertake repair works starting Thursday, during which one lane of the flyover will be closed.

A similar situation took place in 2019 when a patch of the flyover had given way. In both the incidents, the metal rods held together but the cement and the asphalt crumbled in.

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Reports claimed that bikers and commuters were wary of taking the flyover after the incident and many advised it is not safe for travel. The Times of India quoted sources as saying that the flyover's lifespan was estimated to be between 50 and 80 years. The Sumanahalli flyover connects Mysuru road to Tumakuru road and was first constructed by a Chennai-based firm in 2010. This firm was later blacklisted by several states for low-standard work.

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Bengaluru has become synonymous with below-average infrastructure as the city grapples with potholes, bad roads, traffic congestions and waterlogging, among other problems. The BBMP has been accused of civic apathy and come under fire for multiple instances in the past.