BCC quick on new projects, but tardy on work

BCC quick on new projects, but tardy on work

The Times of India

Bangalore: Guess how much of the Rs 1,285-crore expenditure outlay of BCC’s budget for 2004-05 has been spent in the last one year? Not even 40 per cent.

When the BCC announced its bigbanner production ‘Future City Projects’ in last year’s budget, bringing under it a series of infrastructure projects, it looked like the city would do a turnaround in one year.

But things still stand where they were a year ago even as this year’s budget presentation is round the corner. The announcements made during the last budget are nowhere close to reality. It’s no secret that the BCC makes inflated outlay even when its coffers are empty.

Back to some of the promises made during the previous budget: A whopping Rs 1,285 crore outlay laced with an infrastructure master plan to be implemented over three years at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore including construction of flyovers, subways, development of roads and pavements, streetlights and parks.

If anything has come out of the Future City Projects, it is the road asphalting works, a study on drain harvesting, commencement of underpass work near Modi Hospital and a ‘Healthy City’ programme.

The corporation had proposed flyovers and grade separators at Mysore Road-Chord Road junction, Minerva Circle, South End Circle, Yeshwanthpur Circle and Cauvery junction for which an allocation of Rs 120 crore was made; 50 pedestrian subways and foot-overbridges at a cost of Rs 80 crore; automated multilevel car parking complexes at six places at Rs 20 crore.

It had also proposed to cover 500 km of major storm water drains to provide additional off-street car parking facility with an investment of Rs 100 crore.

But the fact is that work on the grade separator at Rajajinagar entrance and flyover at National College Circle which have been on for over two years now, have still not been completed despite extended deadlines, officials stressed.

Though the BCC had made a lot of noise over groundwater and drain harvesting, it has not shown any results, even though Rs 20 crore was allocated for ground water recharging through rainwater harvesting.

Last year, when former chief minister S.M. Krishna visited Airport Road to inaugurate a building, he had noticed a small piece of BCC land lying unused.

Krishna had instructed the officials to make use of the land to avoid encroachments. Though the budget had proposed a state-of-the art convention centre on this three-acre plot on joint venture basis, the proposal is gathering dust.

Buoyed by the success of a day care centre for senior citizens set up in Shantinagar, the BCC was quick to announce the setting up of 10 more day care centres. Progress: nil.

The report card

1,000 km of roads to be asphalted at a cost of Rs 112 crore; maintenance of 2,000 km to be outsourced for three years: Yes.
Widening of roads in old areas; application of Transferable Development Rights for land acquisition: Not yet.

Improvement of approach roads outside BCC limits; Rs 10 crore allocated to cover such roads for a radial distance of 5 km: No.
10 more citizen service centres to be taken up, to outsource its management: No.
Link road development in the command areas with World Bank assistance of Rs 100 crore: No progress.
Development of 200 playgrounds and construction of 20 new swimming pools at a cost of 60 crore: No progress.