‘NURM to consider city’s development schemes’

‘NURM to consider city’s development schemes’
The Times of India

Bangalore: “City development schemes by Bangalore will be favourably considered by the Jawaharlal Nehru - National Urban Renewable Mission (JN - NURM),’’ promised Union minister for urban development Jaipal Reddy. He was speaking to the media at the inauguration of the type III and IV quarters in the residential area for the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) at HSR Layout on Sunday.

Discussing the Metro Rail project, Reddy said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) consisting of Sharad Pawar, Chidambaram and himself, apart from others had discussed issues such as the guage, safety agency, possibilities of PPP etc. and had finalised on recommendations for Metro railway across the country in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai that would be cleared by the Cabinet in a matter of weeks. “The Bangalore Metro Rail will not be delayed beyond few weeks. The project will receive our fullest support,’’ he said.

The minister was optimistic that the NURM would be able to raise the targeted Rs 50,000 crore funds for urban development by the end of the 11th five-year plan. Aware of Bangalore’s international image, he said, “There’s not a single educated man in the world who hasn’t heard of Bangalore. It’s my favourite city too.’’

Reddy urged the CPWD to take the competition faced from private and international agencies head on. He also said that he would look into the memorandum on upgradation of Bangalore as A1 city for payment of house rent allowance and other allowances.

Reddy also addressed other urban issues like skyrocketing real estate prices and employment issues in sectors like construction and handlooms. “There’s only 30 per urbanisation in India — we must urbanise more. In the next 20 years, 700 million people will live in cities. The urban sectors are the most happening and exciting,’’ he said.