SOS: Bengaluru's Hoodi flyover in peril as four bearings fail; inspection today

The BBMP has approached the Southwestern Railway (SWR) to repair the bridge immediately, while the traffic police will likely decide on banning heavy vehicles after an inspection on Monday.

Bengaluru: The decade-old flyover built across the railway track in Hoodi is in need of urgent repair with the failure of four bearings that strengthen it, endangering vehicle users. 

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has approached the Southwestern Railway (SWR) to repair the bridge immediately, while the traffic police will likely decide on banning heavy vehicles after an inspection on Monday. 

DH visited the spot on Sunday after residents pointed out the failures in the bearings of the flyover, which connects ITPL Road with Ayyappanagar and residential colonies. 

Some use the flyover to reach Hoskote. 

Residents in the area said the BBMP engineers and railway officials inspected the flyover and provided a temporary relief. 

"The problem is serious," Clement Jayakumar, member of the Mahadevapura Task Force, said.

"The BBMP engineers have temporarily strengthened the bearing, which cushions the horizontal beams with vertical pillars. As four bearings, partly made of rubber, have been fully damaged, it has been recommended to stop heavy vehicles,” he said. 

He quoted an engineer as saying that the procurement of the custom-made bearing would require about two to three months. 

It’s learnt that the railway bridge was built by the SWR in 2014. 

Uday Chougule, an executive engineer in the BBMP, said the civic body had written to the SWR promising to partially fund the repair work. "Since the flyover was built by the SWR, we have requested them to repair it,” he said. 

As the slab, on which vehicles travel, weighs about 1,000 tonnes, the repair work will be easier said than done. "We do not anticipate the flyover to collapse, but there is significant damage to four bearings. Theoretically, no one should travel on the flyover. The slab needs to be lifted with a temporary pedestal to change the bearing. There is a possibility of girders relocating," Chougule said. 

Kuldeep Kumar Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East), said he received a representation to close the flyover to heavy vehicles. "We will be inspecting the location on Monday. And the decision will be taken after taking inputs from different stakeholders," he said.