The Hindu 23.09.2010
Mangala Corniche project begins to take shape
Staff Correspondent
| Its main feature will be a 30-km ring road |
The project is expected to cost Rs. 3,000 crore
Feeder roads to be constructed leading to the ring road
MANGALORE: The “dream project” of the Dakshina Kannada district administration, Mangala Corniche, riverfront development project, has finally started to take shape.
(Corniche refers to a coastal road with wide views.)
Following a meeting in Bangalore three months ago, where the project was given an in-principle go-ahead by the Urban Development Minister, the first technical discussion on the project was held at the Deputy Commissioner's on Tuesday.
The meeting was convened under the leadership of Yogish Bhat, MLA, who has been one of the prime proponents of the project in the State Assembly.
A Gujarat-based consultancy firm made a presentation at the meeting which was also attended by senior officials from the Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC), Mangalore Urban Development Authority, Mangalore City Corporation and the Coastal Development Authority.
Four-lane road
The Mangala Corniche project's main feature will be a 30-km, 100-feet-wide, four-lane ring road that will be built in five phases and will touch the three national highways (17, 48 and 13) in the region.
Phase-I will connect Ullal bridge to Kuloor bridge along the Gurpur, phase-II will connect Kuloor bridge to Maravoor bridge, phase-III will connect Ullal bridge to Kannur along the Netravati, phase-IV will connect Maravoor bridge to Gurpur bridge and phase-V will connect Gurpur bridge to Kannur.
Barring the stretch to be developed in phase-V, the entire roadway will run along the riverfront.
Mr. Bhat, who is also the Chairman of the KSIIDC, told The Hindu on Wednesday that the aim was to finish the project in three years.
“The expected cost is Rs. 3,000 crore. A large portion of this money will be raised by involving private investors,” he said, and added that this would be the first such attempt in the country.
A special purpose vehicle, for which the Deputy Commissioner will be the convener, will start functioning under the Urban Development Department for the project's implementation.
He said it would be a toll-free road. “Investors will be compensated in other ways. The land in the areas adjoining the corniche will see tremendous appreciation. The investors will be given rights to develop these areas for residential, commercial and tourism purposes,” Mr. Bhat said.
‘Not just a ring road'
Cautioning against perceiving Mangala Corniche as “just another ring road project”, Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj said that it would change the physical landscape of the city and economic potential of the entire region. A major chunk of the work in the project would involve the construction of “feeder roads” leading to the ring road.
Asked how land would be acquired for the feeder roads, Mr. Bhat said that he would not like to use the word “land acquisition”. A programme that would make local communities stakeholders for their own development was being planned, he said.
