Govts have failed to prepare for City’s growth

Govts have failed to prepare for City’s growth
Vijay Times

THE failure of various governments to foresee the rapid growth of Bangalore has now resulted in a pandoras box being opened," Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the main loop of the Airport Road flyover (connecting Indiranagar 100 ft Road to IRR Road, Koramangala), he said that successive governments had failed to realise the pace at which Bangalore would grow and the infrastructure that it needed.

Due to the large scale influx of people into the City, the infrastructure provided by the previous governments had become inadequate, he said.

He said that the present coalition government was committed to providing infrastructure.

"With the inauguration of this flyover, people who commute between Koramangala and Indiranagar can heave a sigh of relief as it will help them save time," he said. He also said that the remaining loops would be thrown open to the public at the rate of one loop per month.

"By September, the remaining loops will be ready," he added.

"Bangalore has earned a brand name in Karnataka for investments. To draw investors, adequate infrastructure should be provided in the next three years." Though, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had been working hard, they should strive harder to gain the confidence of the public, the Chief Minister suggested.

Admitting that there had been an inordinate delay in completing the Airport Road flyover, the Chief Minister directed the officials to stick to deadlines in future.

He directed the officials of all the civic bodies to give a patient hearing to the grievances of the public and redress their grievances. RRe essiidde ennt t’’ss wwo oe eOne of the residents of Koramangala, Thimmarayappa, alleged that the box drains built by the BDA near the Airport Road Flyover, had been causing houses located in the nearby areas to flood.

He also said that the BDA had promised to rectify the problem of flooding by acquiring the houses instead of reconstructing box drains. "As the BDA has not taken any initiative, the residents near the flyover live under the threat of their houses being flooded during the rainy season," he said. TTa ak kiinngg SSiinngga appo or re e a ass m mo odde ell cciit tyy Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said that the government,which was thinking of adopting the Singapore model, was considering allotting built houses to those living below the poverty line.

Kumaraswamy said that a decision to this effect would be taken up in the next three weeks. However, he did not inform where the houses would be built. Due to the sky-rocketing prices of land, the poor were not able to build houses, he pointed out.

"The houses would be built like apartments," he said and pointed out that the Singapore government had allotted built houses to the poor at concessional prices. FFl ly yoov veerrs s ccoon nn neeccttiin ngg TTh haan niis saan nddrraa,, K Kaal lk keerreeBBaan naas saaw waaddii J Juun nccttiioon n s soouuggh htt Varthur constituency MLA A Krishnappa said that the BDA had taken up several infrastructure activities in the City to ease the traffic congestion.

He urged the government to build a couple of flyovers connecting Hebbal-Thanisandra and Kalkere-Banasawadi Junction to find a solution to the ever growing problem of traffic.

He urged the Chief Minister to initiate steps to widen the railway bridge near Benniganahalli, which was acting as a major bottleneck in the Old Madras Road.

"The government should write letters to the Union Ministry of National Highways and Railways to widen the bridge," he said.