Every Budget, BCC Drastically Revises Allocation

Thick-thin funds for paper projects
Every Budget, BCC Drastically Revises Allocation
The Times of India

Bangalore: As BCC announces funds for over a dozen flyovers and subways every year, the allocation graph of the past five years has been forming curious curves. Each BCC budget drastically revised the funds earmarked for the same old projects.

Take, for instance, the proposed flyover from Sirsi Circle to Town Hall junction. Even as the flyover from Sirsi Circle to N.R. Road was opened in 1999, the extension ramp to Town Hall is being featured in every BCC budget since 2000.

While the 2000-01 budget had earmarked Rs 4 crore for the project, next year the allocation was Rs 5.5 crore. In 2002-03, the allocation was Rs 1 crore and subsequently halved in 2003-04 and 2004-05 budgets. And BCC had long back decided against this project as “it would mar the aesthetics of Town Hall junction’’.

Many plans, including flyovers at South End Circle, Minerva Circle and Hudson Circle and subways at Police Corner, Town Hall and Rajajinagar first block, keep on appearing in each budget with fluctuating allocations. The subway at Mysore Bank Circle was granted Rs 80 lakh in 2000. In 2002 and 2003 budgets, the allocation was cut to Rs 8 lakh, but hiked to Rs 1.5 crore in 2004.

In 2002-03 budget, the BCC went berserk and announced 17 flyovers at a total cost of Rs 100 crore, six subways at Rs 1.16 crore and 23 commercial complexes and new markets. All these, in fact, were fresh allocations for old proposals.

Interestingly, after the budget was presented last year, corporators had moved additional resolutions proposing 54 grade separators at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Imagine four grade separators on a ring road at a distance of 250 metres from each other!

Blame rain and drain: 75% road works remain

Bangalore: Degrees of separation this. What separates roads from gravel paths, is the degree of asphalting they have been dressed with. With a project labelled ‘Total Asphalting of Roads in Bangalore City,’ 1,000 km of sub-arterial roads were supposed to be asphalted beginning February 2004.

The deadline? Six months from then. The status now — 250 km completed. The letter of intent assigning money, deadlines and package deals was fixed in January 2004. At a total cost of a whopping Rs 120 crore, the project, ironically, is the most visible one of BCC. “Time has expired but work is still going on,’’ says an executive engineer.

Reasons for delay are pinned down to the early monsoon and BWSSB’s underground drain works. Under the project, parts of a few wards have been completed with different packages. Asphalting started at Jalahalli and journeyed to Sriram Mandira, Hanumanthnagar, Jayanagar, Shantinagar, among others, where roads are now asphalted.

For roads under progress, each road’s worth runs into lakhs and crores. For instance, work on a road at Sanjaynagar, estimated at Rs 98 lakh, was started in June 2004 and re m a i n s 35 per cent complete. Yet another road in Geleyara Balaga ward with Rs 72 crore for asphalting has a completion status of 40 per cent.The delay here, it is reasoned, is because of BWSSB’s works which took months. Ditto at Hebbal where engineers have apparently faced problems with BWSSB’s underground drain work, progress stands at 22 per cent, the deadline was early February this year.

Work is yet to be started on 10 more roads including in areas like Peenya Industrial Estate, Ganganagar, Benniganahalli, Sevashrama. Nearly Rs 200 crore will be allotted in the budget, which could be March 24 or 28.