Piecemeal measures continue

BCC to launch road-widening project soon
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: If everything goes according to the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) plans, travelling on the busy city roads is expected to become less exhausting in 2005. To overcome the problem of congestion, the civic body is taking up an ambitious project to widen 47 major roads.

The corporation has identified the roads to be covered under the project. It has hired a private agency to do a detailed survey of properties, both Government and private, which need to be acquired for the purpose.

‘‘We will launch the road-widening project this year,’’ BCC Commissioner Jothiramalingam told this website’s newspaper on Saturday. Bellary Road, Hosur Road and Gopal Gowda Circle to Anand Rao Circle are some of the major roads to be covered under the project, he added.

Before acquiring private lands required for the project, the BCC is waiting for Transfer of Development Rights rules. The draft rules are ready with the Government. Once the rules are notified, the BCC will have the option to acquire the land either by giving compensation or equal value land in other places.

Sources said the important objective of the project is to widen all major roads leading to Vidhana Soudha into six-lanes to decongest the traffic.

Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Venkatachala and the City Police Commissioner S. Mariswamy have also recently stated that roads around the Vidhana Soudha will be widened.

Apart from wide roads, a number of flyovers and grade separators will also help to ease traffic congestion. The city has 21 lakhs vehicles while its infrastructure could hardly accommodate only half of them. A large number of new vehicles that hit the roads everyday are adding to the problem.

While, one-ways are not considered a long term solution to the traffic problem, wider roads will certainly help to bring down travelling time and vehicular pollution in the city considerably.