Making Bangalore a better place to live in

Making Bangalore a better place to live in

The Hindu

5,000 saplings were planted in a city layout as part of `Urban Forest' programme

Bangalore: Five thousand saplings were planted on Thursday at Anjanapura Layout as part of the "Urban Forest" programme, initiated jointly by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation.

The programme aimed at growing trees and creating forests amidst city townships.

The BDA planned to plant 50,000 saplings in all the layouts it had developed, BDA Commissioner K. Shankarlinge Gowda told presspersons.

The BDA, in a press release, said that the urban forests were being envisioned as "Oxygen Banks" to the growing metro and the aim of this initiative was to stall the city from becoming a concrete jungle and improve the quality of life of its citizens.

The BDA also planned to adopt full-fledged forests and to develop townships abutting the forest periphery, on the model of German cities, the release said.

Inaugurating the scheme, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who planted a sapling at the layout, said, "We've decided to develop 100 acres on the lines of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park in parts of Bangalore."

He also said that for every tree that would be felled to facilitate the Bangalore Metro Rail project, 10 more trees would be planted.

Health Minister R. Ashok said that the intention of these schemes was to make sure that the city got back the tag of "Garden city".

The planting of more trees was a move in that direction and would benefit all the areas the metro rail passed through, he said.

Houses

Mr. Gowda said 500 acres would be identified to develop budget housing for people from the economically weaker sections.

It would be constructed on the lines of the housing units built by the Karnataka Housing Board and taken up as a public-private partnership venture, he said.

The BDA had been planning to develop 50,000 sites, the location of which would be made public in November, he said. There would not be any 20X30 sites and the 50X80 sites would be priced at about Rs. 1,000 per sq ft, Mr. Gowda said.

CDP by month-end

The Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) would look after the needs of Bangalore up to 2030 and would aim at regulating the development of Bangalore evenly, he said.

The CDP, which would be submitted by September-end, would also aim at further development of 200 sq km of area under BDA limits. About 1,300 sq km of area come under BDA limits, out of which 500 sq km was already developed and 500 sq km came under the green belt.

Peripheral Ring Road

Mr. Gowda said that the final notification on the Peripheral Ring Road would be out only after the CDP was prepared as the road alignment had been put on hold for now. A total of 2,900 acres would need to be acquired for the 117-km ring road, which was being built at a cost of Rs. 1,700 crore, he said.

On the issue of the Peripheral Ring Road competing with the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, Mr. Gowda said the aim of the ring road was to provide access to layouts developed by the BDA.