Court tells State to improve connectivity to airport

Court tells State to improve connectivity to airport

Staff Reporter

Work on high-speed rail link may be completed by 2011-end

Work on improving 46 roads in Bangalore is under way

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Friday asked the State Government to take appropriate and expeditious steps to improve connectivity from Bangalore city to the international airport at Devanahalli.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Jawed Rahim asked the Government to keep in mind the growing traffic potential of Bangalore before planning and implementing infrastructure projects.

The Bench remarked that since Bangalore had got an international airport, the supporting infrastructure to should be world class.

The Bench was dealing with a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions seeking better connectivity from Bangalore to Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli.

When the matter came up, Advocate-General Uday Holla submitted that several road projects had already been completed, while others were in various stages of completion. He said by September 2008, traffic signal lights at the CBI junction and at Sanjaynagar junction, both on Bellary Road, would be removed.

On the Expressway from Bangalore to BIAL, he said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had opined after a techno-feasible study that the project was not feasible. When the Bench expressed displeasure, saying that the State had during an earlier hearing promised to take up the project, Mr. Holla said the State had already asked the NHAI to re-examine the issue.

On the high-speed rail link, he said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation limited had been appointed as consultants and that the project was conceived to connect BIAL from Police Parade Grounds at Shivajinagar.

He said the State would very shortly issue public notices inviting expression of interest from parties. Besides, work on improving 46 roads in Bangalore was already under way.

The Bench asked Assistant Solicitor-General Aravind Kumar on the status of the renegotiation by the Centre, State and the AAI with BIAL on retaining HAL Airport for short-haul flights. Mr. Aravind Kumar said he had not received any official communication from the Centre on the issue and sought time. The Bench adjourned further hearing on the project to July 30.