Hope for smoother, bigger roads, better redressal

Hope for smoother, bigger roads, better redressal
Chandrashekar G | TNN

Bangalore: Big city, bigger woes. Come January, Greater Bangalore will be a year into its formation. The IT city, which has taken into its fold the broadened boundaries and under-developed pockets, is crawling towards development. Literally.
While ushering in the New Year if only Bangaloreans could bid adieu to the civic problems plaguing the city. Fortunately, a Rs 1,500-crore investment for the development of Greater Bangalore is on the anvil with the BBMP working majorly on construction of roads in peripheral areas. Residents of the erstwhile CMCs can forget the bumpy, pothole-ridden roads and finally see some fresh coat of bitumen on the dusty stretches to make their travel smooth.
Some of the other projects that will become a reality in 2008 will be the widening of seven roads, completion of a few underpasses and a grievance redressal system.
However, road work is high on the BBMP’s list, be it construction of roads in newer areas, completion of the ones in progress under the World Bank aid or the road-widening project.
Here is a low-down on what Bangaloreans can look forward to in the ensuing year:
Road widening: Though road widening through Transferable Development Rights (TDR) is a tough task for BBMP, it is confident of widening seven roads — Race Course Road, Bellary, Hosur, Palace, Hosur-Lashkar, Seshadri and Kasturba Roads on a priority basis. The BBMP has already achieved maximum progress in Palace Road and Golf Course roads. Rs 70 crore will be spent on the road-widening project across the city.
Asphalting: Asphalting of roads is an ongoing task. This year, the BBMP will be black topping the city roads at a whopping Rs 430 crore (Rs 130 crore in core city and Rs 300 crore in new zones) which covers all arterial and sub-arterial roads. Roads under new
zones will also be asphalted while some of the roads need metalling and asphalting.
Karnataka Municipal Reforms Project (KMRP):
A total of 40 roads have been taken up at a cost of Rs 117 crore, to be completed in 2008. Along with asphalting, drains and pavements would also be given utmost importance.
Grade separators: Work on Malleshwaram, Yeshwanthpur and Galianjaneya grade separators — all costing Rs 56 crore each — have begun and will be completed by the end of 2008. Road under bridges at Srirampura — two at Vijayanagar, Mathikere, ITC, Frazer Town and Cantonment — will be completed at Rs 28 crore in the coming year.
Other grade separators that would be completed are Nagawara, Hennur-Banaswadi, C N Rao, Kadirenahalli, Puttenahalli, Tagore circle, Teachers’ Colony, all estimated to cost Rs 166 crore.
Help points: A programme to network all the eight zones with the BBMP head office and providing a call centre is BBMP’s vision. In a bid to provide an interface between officials and residents, around 60 help points are being established. Each of the help points would cater to 4,000 residents. These help desks act as one-stop redressal points for all kinds of public grievances, be it revenue, engineering, health and others.
New zones to see improvement
The newly created zones - Byatarayanapura, Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura and Rajarajeshwari-nagar will be given a push. The government has announced Rs 400 crore for overall development of all new zones with road network, storm water drains, help points, crematoria, development of parks, renovation of water bodies and illumination of areas through special projects. Byatarayanapura and Maha-devapura zones will get to see a couple of grade separators to ease traffic congestion. Slums in Greater Bangalore would also be accorded priority under the scheme Basic Services for Urban Poor.