More reasons for B’lore to give big smile

More reasons for B’lore to give big smile
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: It’s raining goodies for Bangalore, thanks to the BBMP election. Now, 24-hour power supply and a circular rail covering outer parts of the city are in the offing.
The circular rail, planned to decongest traffic, will become reality with the government reserving Rs 500 crore for it. The urgency to start the project is such that chief minister B S Yeddyurappa confirmed that the government won’t wait for funding share from the Centre. “The circular rail will be developed on the lines of Mumbai’s local trains. The lines will connect the city centre with areas on the outskirts. Existing tracks connecting Bidadi, K R Puram, Yeshwantpur, among others, will be doubled to create Bangalore local train lines. Also, there’ll be monorail for four zones in the city,” Yeddyurappa said on Friday.
He was confident that his party could win 120 seats in the BBMP election. “At least Rs 25,000 crore will be set aside to develop the city by selling government land recovered from encroachers,” he added.
METRO ON TIME
The first phase of Bangalore Metro will start on December 2010. “There should be no doubt about this project being completed on time. Besides, 40 parking lots will be built in parts of the city at Rs 1,000 crore,” he said.
24-HOUR POWER SUPPLY
As announced by state BJP chief K S Eshwarappa and endorsed by Yeddyurappa, the government will float tenders in April for a gas-based power plant in Bidadi to give 24-hour power supply. “This project has been on paper for a long time. The government will implement it now,” Yeddyurappa said. Eshwarappa said intercity local trains for Tumkur, Mysore, Doddaballapur and Bangalore will be started.
“The government is ready to frame a standalone law for Bangalore. While New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have Acts to govern the city, Bangalore doesn’t have any. The proposed Bangalore Regional Governance Act is being reviewed by the law and urban development departments. There will be scope for creation of ward committees involving residents,” Eshwarappa pointed out.
Cong sees red
Amifffed Congress has petitioned the State Election Commission (SEC) against the BJP, saying the ruling party has violated the code of conduct by holding a press conference on Friday.
KPCC president R V Deshpande, in a memorandum to SEC commissioner C R Chikmath, said he’d received oral communication from SEC secretary D K Ravindranath that holding press conferences would attract code violation. Hence, he was forced to cancel his proposed press meet on Friday.
Deshpande alleged that BJP volunteers in Pulikeshinagar were buying voter’s ID cards and ration cards from the minorities to prevent them from voting on Sunday. Ravindranath said the Congress complaint has been referred to the BBMP’s media committee. “The committee will go through the contents of the assurances made; it will submit its report in the next 24 hours to the SEC.’’