State govt to splurge on City roads

State govt to splurge on City roads
DH News Service,Bangalore:
Unveiling a Rs 2,000-crore programme to upgrade key roads in BBMP areas, earmarking Rs 800 crore for BDA and Rs 500 crore for BBMP, besides Rs 700 crore for a ten-lane signal-free road, the State budget definitely had Bangalores infrastructure development high on its agenda.

As if to balance this Bangalore focus, the budget proposed to take up a State Highway Improvement Project through Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) under PPP model.

Covering 10,000 km of State highways and 12,600 km of rural roads, this project will be under a Karnataka Road Fund to be set up with the Rs 500 crore allotted as capital grant to KRDCL.

Under the project, the private partner will develop the road, while the government will allow it to collect toll from road users for a fixed number of years.

For Bangaloreans facing acute water shortage, the budget offered some hope. A sum of Rs 300 crore was earmarked to augment water supply, with the help of Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The government had already taken up the underground drainage works of Rs 600 crore with the help of the World Bank. The budget made provisions for an outlay of Rs 100 crores for supply of recycled sewerage water to the tanks of Bangalore.

Metro project

Indicating the launch of the Metro Rail sometime in 2010, the budget set aside Rs 600 crore to fund the extension of the rail network from Hesaraghatta Cross in the north to Puttenahalli in the south. Going by the budgetary allocation for BMTC, Bangalore’s harried public transport users could hope to get at least 1,000 high quality new buses.

Also on the cards for Bangalore is a ten-lane signal-free road, the construction of which would begin this year. To come up with private participation, this project would be a toll-road passing through the heart of the city. The BDA will be given Rs 700 crore for the land acquisition and other preparatory activities.

Airports

While a high-speed rail link connecting Bangalore to the BIA was cited, the budget allotted no funds for it. But outside Bangalore, the budget earmarked Rs 100 crore for construction of airports in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Shimoga, Hubli, Bellary and Mysore cities. Yet, there was no mention of proposed airports in Hassan, Bidar, Karwar and Mangalore.

Though the budget talked about developing ring roads in 10 important cities and towns, no allocation was made for this purpose.

Special grants

Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has promised to provide a special grant of Rs 50 crore to each of eight city corporations, Rs 15 crore to each district headquarters having CMCs, Rs 5 crore to taluk headquarters having TMCs and Rs 2 crore for small towns having TPs for their overall development.
All these cities and towns will be developed through Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation.

Ports

The budget has proposed to set up Karnataka Maritime Board for development of ports. A sum of Rs 100 crore is earmarked for construction of good ports at Karwar, Tadadi, Honnavar, Malpe and old Mangalore through private partnership. Besides, an allocation of Rs 10 crore has been made to provide for dredging of Karwar port to enable increased movement of ships.