The Hindu              03.09.2013

Rs. 2,100-crore push to develop towns around city

In a move to decongest Bangalore city, the government is drawing up an innovative urban development project for city cluster development around Bangalore.

The project aims to develop and upgrade eight city clusters around Bangalore to woo investment and ease the load of the State capital at a cost of Rs. 2,100 crore with loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake told presspersons on Monday that the project would cover eight towns — Nelamangala, Magadi, Anekal, Bidadi, Dobbspet, Hoskote, Devanahalli and Harohalli.

Officials said the objective was to attract investment in those clusters by developing and upgrading them and “dispersing Bangalore investment” in those areas.

The project envisages development of infrastructure such as roads, water supply, drainages. The Public Works Department has proposed to upgrade the ring road around these towns to develop them as satellite towns.

He said a project is under preparation for State-level heritage based urban development programme with the assistance of the World Bank. Authorities have preparing the detailed project report for estimating the cost.

Suburban rail

Meanwhile, officials said detailed project report on phase-I of the Rs. 8,759-crore suburban rail system for Bangalore consisting of five corridors, including from the city to Tumkur, Ramanagaram and Bangarpet, would be completed “very soon”.

Officials said a special purpose vehicle — Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation — would be set up for implementing the project, which is expected to ease congestion in the city.

Mr. Sorake said a Rs. 1,760-crore project has been prepared to provide 24X7 water supply to the entire corporation area of Belgaum, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad cities on PPP basis with World Bank assistance.

A pilot project was implemented in these three towns and it helped augmentation of water supply and checked pilferage.

Mr. Sorake said that a project was under preparation for state-level heritage-based urban development programme for Karnataka with World Bank assistance.

He said a master plan would be prepared in phases to project the requirements of cities of Karnataka in the year 2040. 

Workshops would be conducted for corporators at the city and State-levels, Sorake said, adding, ward committees and citizen fora would be set up to create awareness among the people on funding in their areas and to monitor quality of works undertaken there, he said.

The project aims to develop and upgrade eight city clusters around Bangalore to woo investment and ease the load on the city

It covers Nelamangala, Magadi, Anekal, Bidadi, Dobbspet, Hoskote, Devanahalli and Harohalli

Public Works Department has proposed to upgrade the ring road around these towns to develop them as satellite towns.

The Times of India               30.08.2013 

HMDA plans environment conservation plan

HYDERABAD: After having a master plan for the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region and a transportation plan in the works, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) plans to formulate an environmental conservation and upgradation plan (ECUP) for the metropolitan region.

HMDA officials said the aim to create an ECUP is to ensure a healthy environment for inhabitants covering about 7,100 sq km area of HMR, spread across five districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medak, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda.

In the metropolitan region, especially Greater Hyderabad jurisdiction, air and groundwater pollution have reached alarming levels.

Even lakes were getting polluted with inflows of all types of wastes, including hazardous chemicals without being treated properly.

To find a solution to the alarming pollution levels and improve quality of environment in the HMR's jurisdiction, the authority has recently decided to engage consultants for ECUP by seeking request for proposal from private firms.

The consultants have to study the present status and come up with strategies to preserve, protect and upgrade environment in the region after taking into account future economic and population growth for 2021, 2031 and 2041.

The officials said the consultants would have to study the present levels of air quality and suggest measures to mitigate pollution problems and improve conditions as per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

Similarly, the consultants have been asked to suggest measures for better management of surface water resources like lakes with special focus on catchment improvement of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar as these water bodies have been the main source of drinking water for the city.

"Since there are concerns on the quality and quantity of groundwater in the city, the study will also focus on groundwater status. The consultants will suggest measures to improve the availability of groundwater and its quality as EPA standards," an HMDA official said.

As part of the plan, the study would look into the status of vegetation in the region and suggest measures for afforestation to bring green cover to the optimum level in the area with a focus on regional plants and historical diversity of local flora and fauna.

"The consultancy firm for ECUP will be selected in a month's time. The consultant will have to submit the study report within six months," HMDA metropolitan commissioner Neerabh Kumar Prasad told TOI.