Mixed bag for city projects

Mixed bag for city projects
DH News Service,Bangalore:
The State Governments proposed spending on the Metro Rail for 2009-10 and the rest of the budget for the Citys roads and transport is a mixed bag, according to experts. While experts believe that Metro has become an embarrassing obligation to the Government, the decision to spend Rs 2,000 crore on improvement of roads drew contrasting responses.

Bangalore Metro has been allocated Rs 600 crore, 100 crore less than last year with the Government hoping that the first Metro train will be up and running by 2010. Venkat Rao from Delhi Metro and advisor for phase 2 of Bangalore Metro said, “the elevated sections of the Metro will take up the majority of the allocation and is complicated but the underground sections will be completed on time.”
However, other experts were not as kind in their analysis and expressed serious doubts over the Government’s hope of running the first train by 2010. R K Mishra, member of Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) whose suggestions were taken on board before the budget said, “Metro is an embarrassment and is a right mess. Contractors are being hired and fired and I have serious doubts about its completion. The idea should have been to spend more on the improvement of existing infrastructure.”

Funds not utilised

M N Sreehari, infrastructure consultant and traffic management expert said, “The Rs 700 crore allocated in last year’s budget itself wasn’t spent and there remains a question mark over how the additional 600 crore towards Metro this year will be spent.” The Government has allocated Rs 800 crore to the BDA and 500 crore to BBMP for the improvement of roads in the city, besides an additional 700 crore for 10 signal free corridors. M N Sreehari said “With the constant addition of more and more area from the CMC and BDA to BBMP, there should have definitely been more allocated to BBMP. Each road will involve an expenditure of a few crores, and the money is not sufficient.”
While Sreehari is in favour of the money being spent on road widening, maintenance and traffic management, R K Mishra said, “road widening will only encourage more vehicles out on the street. The decision to spend more on 10 signal-free corridors will ensure that traffic flow is smooth and as many vehicles don’t enter the city.”
The Government has identified Hosur road, Sarjapur road, Old Airport road, Old Madras road, Bellary road, Tumkur road, Mysore road and Bannerghatta road as the main signal free corridors that need improvement. In addition, the decision to introduce 1000 new hi-tech BMTC buses at a cost of Rs 500 crores is an attempt to encourage people to use public transport.
The new buses will be a combination of luxury Volvo and Marco-Polo buses. A luxury Volvo costs around Rs 70 lakh while the Marco-Polo buses come at half the price of a Volvo. Responding to criticism that the luxury Volvo buses are a loss making proposition, Mishra said, “the Government should be judicious in deciding what routes the Volvos operate on. The buses to the Airport and the IT belts are very popular with commuters and have eased traffic considerably.”