Unending ‘alignment issues’ bog connectivity projects in Mysuru

Mysuru's infra projects delayed, cost escalated due to alignment issues. Airport expansion, track electrification, Outer Ring Road, railway track doubling all affected. Solution being mooted is 'realignment' of Mysuru-Nanjangud railway track. Peripheral Ring Road completion of DPR & survey to reveal alignment issues & solutions.

A slew of infrastructure works pertaining to road, air and rail in Mysuru have been impacted by alignment issues as a result of which the projects have been delayed, besides adding to cost escalation.

The airport expansion is bogged due to the alignment of the existing Mysuru-Nanjangud highway, and track alignment between the two skirts the airport runway at the other end. As a result the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India have refused permission to draw the overhead power cables at a 100 metre stretch on the Mysuru-Nanjangud-Chamarajanagar section.

The fallout is that though the railways have completed the track electrification work on the entire Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section entailing a distance of nearly 60 km, the authorities are unable to operate electric locomotive hauled trains on the section due to the 100 metre gap near the airport.

Hence, the solution being mooted is the ‘’realignment’’ of the Mysuru-Nanjangud railway track itself near the airport. This is still in the discussion stage and according to Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP, it seems to be the only feasible solution which would address the technical issue of electromagnetic disturbance that the overhead power cables could cause to the navigation equipment of the flights and the Air Traffic Control.

Meanwhile, the runway is to be extended from 1,740 metres to 2,450 metres and the current view of thinking is to take it up to 3.2 km. This could have been a straightforward process of land acquisition but the Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway bisects the runway alignment at the other end. To resolve this, the authorities have decided to ‘’realign’’ the Mysuru-Najangud highway and hence, the highway will be longer by 5 km to 7 km once taken up. Apart from the delay in project completion, it is adding to cost escalation.  

The Outer Ring Road which is now taken over by the NHAI was also mired in alignment issue with APMC Yard near Bandipalya before the project completion. The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) which took up the ORR project, found the alignment intersecting with the APMC Market and sought 8 acres of land for laying the ORR. But the APMC sought land by way of compensation from MUDA instead of cash and this delayed the completion of the ORR loop by a few years.

Also, when the ORR foundation was laid more than 20 years ago, the original alignment on the western side of the city bisected the Lingambudhi Lake. There was protest by environmentalists who forced MUDA to conduct an Environment Impact Assessment. The EIA report favoured realignment of ORR near the junction with the Vishwa Manava Double Road close to Kanakadasa Nagar and Netaji Circle.