The Hindu 12.09.2014
MCC on overdrive to complete road, beautification projects
Rs. 5 crore Dasara grant released to expedite works
City corporation Commissioner Chandrashekar G. Betsurmath and other
officials inspecting the chairs installed inside the Town Hall, one of
venues of Dasara-related cultural programmes, in Mysore on Thursday.—
PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM
Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has gone into overdrive to meet the
deadline set by the government for completing road and beautification
works in view of Dasara.
While the renovation
of the Town Hall has been expedited to ensure that the venue will be
ready for hosting Dasara cultural events, road schemes are expected to
begin in a few days as tenders for 55 works will be opened on Friday.
A
sum of Rs 1.63 crore would be spent on filling potholes, while Rs. 3
crore would be spent on asphalting roads. The remaining amount will be
spent on beautification, according to the MCC.
The State government has sanctioned Rs. 5 crore as Dasara grant this year to the MCC.
Along
with last year’s unused grant of Rs. 2.23 crore, work on 55 projects
costing Rs. 7.23 crore would begin soon, according to Chandrashekar G.
Betsurmath, Commissioner, MCC.
Review of progress
Mr.
Betsurmath, accompanied by officials, engineers and the contractor who
bagged the the Raja Marga and Town Hall renovation projects, inspected
the progress of works being expedited to meet the Dasara deadline.
Speaking
to presspersons, the commissioner said that the “much-delayed” Raja
Marga project, which was going on at a snail’s pace, had been speeded up
and works scheduled under it were expected to be completed soon.
The
debris and construction materials dumped in the surroundings of Town
Hall, a century-old building known for its impressive architecture, were
being removed from the place and interior works, including fixing of
chairs for spectators, were nearing completion, the commissioner said
after inspecting the Town Hall.
He said, 350 chairs had been fixed and wall panelling work would be done within a few days.
The work on the exterior of the building would be taken up after Dasara, he added.
Additional
labour force and machines, if necessary, would be pressed into service
to complete the works at the earliest, he added.
To
a question, the commissioner said that the 55 works included
beautification of parks and painting of kerbstones in the city centres.
The
work on asphalting a portion of the stretch between vegetable market on
M.G. Road till Karanji Lake through Race Course has commenced. It’s a
major link road to tourist spots, including Karanji Lake Nature Park,
Mysore zoo and Chamundi Hills and Somanathapura.