‘On highway to rapid progress’

‘On highway to rapid progress’
Deccan Herald

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said Bangalore, with its focus on development, had proved to be an inspiring example for the rest of the country to follow.


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said Bangalore, with its focus on development, had proved to be an inspiring example for the rest of the country to follow. He was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation for the 9.9-km elevated expressway from Silk Board Junction in Madiwala to Electronic City.

“You are on the highway of rapid progress in our country, while many other regions continue to remain behind, moving slowly. It is through your success, your hard work, your creativity and enterprise that you inspire all of us to dream of a better future for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

In an address laced with generous accolades for Karnataka and Kannadigas, the Prime Minister said the new expressway was a symbol of what the City had come to represent to the world.

“Today, we need this elevated highway above, so that those who function in a fast-moving and rapidly growing economy can keep pace with the competition,” he said.

Global brand

“We want an India in which each one of us can move along the same highway,” he said. Lauding the “warm hospitality” of Kannadigas and the investor-friendly ambience in the State, Mr Singh called Bangalore “India’s global brand”.

“This is not the isolated success of a few people who work behind walls and in air-conditioned rooms... Investors come from across the world to Bangalore, because Kannadigas are so gracious, gentle, talented and forward-looking,” he said. Mr Singh also called upon administrators to bridge the urban-rural developmental divide. “When we seek to build an industrialised country, when we seek to create a knowledge economy — it must benefit both towns and villages,” he said.

KSRP Parade Grounds in Madiwala was turned into a high-security zone on Saturday, thanks to the presence of a host of VIPs — complete with their convoys and retinues.

Governor T N Chaturvedi, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T R Baalu, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa, Union Minister of State for Planning M V Rajasekharan and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa were among the dignitaries at the event.

On the fast lane

Rs 450 crore ten-lane, mixed corridor from Silk Board junction to Electronic City

The 9.9 km elevated highway project to be reality within the next 24 months

Funding for National Highway project to be hiked to Rs 2,22,000 crore

Six-laning of the Bangalore-Nelamangala stretch of NH-4, including a 4-km long elevated corridor

Four-laning NH-7 Bangalore-Devanahalli section

Four laning NH-4 Bangalore-Kolar section

Six-laning the entire Golden Quadrilateral project connecting the four metros

By-passes and ring roads in and around major cities

ROAD RAGE

While acknowledging that the country was witnessing a “road revolution”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quick to point out the safety threats that came along with improved highways and the consequent higher travel speeds.

“People must learn road manners. How to give way to pedestrians, how to observe rules while overtaking, how to park and when not to blow a horn,” the prime minister said.

“We Indians behave with great courtesy at home and with our family and friends.

“But sometimes, when we go out we leave these good manners at home,” he said.