Two traffic corridors in City to get Rs 3,450 cr

Two traffic corridors in City to get Rs 3,450 cr
Bangalore, Jan 14, DHNS:

The State Government has earmarked Rs 3,450 crore for two key proposed traffic corridors to come up in the City.


Making the announcement after receiving the 'Plan Bengaluru 2020 Agenda' report from Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development Task Force (ABIDe) Convenor Rajeev Chandrashekhar here on Thursday, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa promised that his Government would implement the recommendations of the agency for improving the City's infrastructure.

Elaborating on the key traffic corridors, Yeddyurappa said Rs 2350 crore was set aside for the Hi-density Traffic Corridor whereas Rs 1100 crore was allotted for the Signal-free Corridor. Lauding ABIDe for coming up with a detailed plan for the City's overall development, the Chief Minister said the plan included every sphere of infrastructure from traffic management to transportation, water and power supply to heritage and environment, and health care facilities to citizen-centric governance. Implementation of the report would be brought about on legislative, administrative, development and investment levels.

On the controversial e-tender process for various BBMP works, the Chief Minister rejected the Opposition charge that it was timed with an eye on the upcoming polls tp BBMP. "We didn't complete the process in haste as is being alleged, but it took a good 45 days. The pre-qualification notice was sent on Sept 23, 2009 and the final notification was issued on Dec 07 last. The process was accorded approval last Friday," he said.

As for the accusation that the e-tender process was completed overnight on Tuesday, he denied any wrongdoing, adding that the whole procedure was finalised from 5 pm Tuesday to 2 am Wednesday.

When asked about the charge made by JD (S) that projects were being finalised before the code of conduct came into force, Yeddyurappa retorted: “Didn't the JD (S) take any decision a few days before it was to hand over the power to its coalition partner BJP in 2007?” On Akrama-Sakrama coming under severe criticism in its present form, the Chief Minister said he was ready to go before the public in this regard. He, however, defended the scheme strongly saying the Government had followed the procedure in sending the Bill to the Governor before discussing it in the Cabinet.