Plan to blast arterial road blocks

Plan to blast arterial road blocks

Hemanth Kumar. Bangalore



Over 15 lakh people living in newly included areas of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) can now hope for some relief from traffic congestion as the state cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs110 crore to upgrade 23 arterial roads in these areas.
These 23 arterial and sub-arterial roads identified for widening and upgradation come under areas that earlier belonged to the city municipal council and town municipal council areas around the city. Drain works will also be taken up along these roads at a cost of about Rs110 crore. The areas coming under seven city municipal councils, one town municipal council and 100-odd villages were merged into the erstwhile Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to constitute the BBMP.
The cabinet also cleared two proposals for the welfare of slum dwellers in the city. The interest amount on the outstanding water bills of slum dwellers has been waived, entailing an expenditure of Rs5 crore for the exchequer.
The 1,077 residents of Peenya slum have just got lucky with the cabinet deciding to issue title deeds to them. The slum, that spreads across 13.20 acres, is worth Rs72 crore at the present market value, sources said.
The cabinet has also sanctioned Rs5 crore for the Vishwa Kannada Sahitya Sammelana to be held in Belgaum.
The recommendation of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for reducing the qualifying marks for admission into B.Ed will also be implemented in the state. The new proposal recommends the minimum qualifying marks for B.Ed course for general merit category to be reduced to 45% from the present 50%, and to 40% from 45% for SC and ST candidates.
Rs11.35 crore has been granted towards speeding up building works of Raichur Medical College.
The proposal to set up a Wine Park at Toravi village in Bijapur district received a big push as the cabinet approved 141 acres of land for the purpose to be handed over to the Wine Board.
The state government has also decided to raise the medical reimbursement limit for its over six lakh employees who get medical treatment in private hospitals.