Promise of Rs 9,698 crore to develop B'luru

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With the upcoming Assembly and civic body elections, the CM Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government announced a grant of Rs 9,698 for the development of infrastructure in the city on Friday.

Bengaluru has been constantly dealing with issues such as traffic congestion and waterlogging every year. Considering this, the CM said that works under the Amrutha Nagarothana Scheme are being implemented at the cost of Rs 6,000 crore.

Construction and repair of roads

As part of the budget, the state government plans to construct a 5 km elevated road from Tin Factory to Medahalli at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

Further, the construction of a satellite town ring road of 288 km of length at a cost of Rs 13,139 crore was approved by the Centre, 30 percent of which has been agreed to be paid by the state government. Development of 108 km of roads has been taken up under the highdensity corridors scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 273  crore.

Ease the traffic flow

In a move to ease the neverending traffic woes in the city, a total of 75 junctions for traffic control will be developed at a cost of Rs 150 crores, Bommai announced in the Budget. "Artificial intelligence will also be used for seamless signal synchronisation and other functions," he said.

White topping on the city roads have many a times met with criticism from the environmentalists, residents and other activists who claim that white-topping will heighten the roads to the level of footpaths and that the white-topped roads do not let the rainwater seep in which will leave the roads flooded.

Namma Metro network to expand

Access roads around the metro terminals will be comprehensively developed and necessary works will be taken up at a cost of Rs 300 crore to reduce traffic congestion and proper usage of Sir M Vishveshwaraiah terminal at Baiyappanahalli.

During the previous budget, a third phase of works relating to the Namma Metro network had already been proposed. "A detailed project report for two corridors of 44.65km length with 31 stations has been submitted to the Union government. The estimated cost is Rs 16,328 crore for this project. The work will be taken up after the Centre’s approval," CM Bommai said.

At present, the Bengaluru Metro Rail scheme is operational in a 56-km network. The line connecting the Central Silk Board junction and Kempegowda International Airport of 58.19 km length with 30 stations is under progress at a fast pace. There is a plan to operationalise a 40.15-km length metro route in the coming years.

To prevent floods

To mitigate the ill-effects of climate change and control floods in Bengaluru, a project assistance of the World Bank at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore will be implemented, Bommai said. "Sluice gates will be installed at all the tanks to control the flood situation under this scheme. It will help in controlling the speed and quantity of flow of water," he said.