Infrastructure funds cut, no special grants to projects

Infrastructure funds cut, no special grants to projects
DH News Service,Bangalore :
Infrastructure facilities in the City received a raw deal in the vote on account presented in Parliament. Compared with the last years budget allocation for urban infrastructure here, this time allocation has come down by 15.06 per cent.

The City received allocations to the tune of Rs 1,837 crore last year, while this time it has come down to Rs 1,561 crore.
Except for the allocation of Rs 38 crore towards Bangalore Traffic Improvement project (B-trac) and Rs 5 crore of initial equity towards high-speed rail link to the international airport, the State government has not made any special allocation to any project.
Last year the city has received special allocation for overpasses, Metro Rail project and Tunnel road between Minsk square and BDA junction.
However this time the budget lacks allocation for special projects.
The previous JD(S)-BJP coalition government had accorded due attention towards five new zones of BBMP. Each zone was allocated Rs 30 crore to take up basic infrastructure works. The Palike zones spent the money on asphaltation of roads, providing drinking water through borewells and solid waste management works. However this time people of new zones have nothing to cheer up.

Even allocation of funds towards Cauvery water supply project has come down by Rs 37 crore. The government has allocated Rs 378 crore for Cauvery water supply in new areas against Rs 415 crore allocated in the last year.

JNNURM
The government has allocated Rs 900 crore towards works taken up under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Last year Rs 800 crore was earmarked for JNNURM works taken up in Bangalore only. However this time the budget document does not make it clear whether the entire Rs 900 crore is meant for works in Bangalore city or it is shared among works taken up both in Mysore and Bangalore, cities being benefited under JNNURM. As there is no separate allocation of funds for JNNURM works in Mysore city, in all probability, it is certain that the amount will be shared between Mysore and Bangalore. With that Bangalore will be getting less than what was allocated in the previous year (Rs 800 crore).

A senior bureaucrat took a dig at a raw deal to infrastructure facilities in Bangalore.
“I was not expecting any beneficiary scheme in the budget presented in the President’s rule. But I was under the impression that improving infrastructure facilities in Bangalore would be given due attention. Even that is not done. The State’s financial position is very good. It is high time that Bangalore, the city growing at the global level, get enough funds for betterment of roads. It is disappointing that the State has not taken improvement of basic infrastructure of the city seriously,” he said.