Deccan Herald 21.08.2013
Rs 1,919 cr sought for civic surgery
The City may go undergo a major infrastructure
surgery as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has sought Rs
1,919.06 crore from the Centre for some of its ambitious projects.
According
to sources in the BBMP, the Palike has sought funds under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) for an elevated
road from Minerva Circle to Hudson Circle and an elevated corridor near
Kendriya Sadan along 100 ft Inner Ring Road, Koramangala.
The
two projects alone would cost Rs 302.08 crore. In addition, a signal
free eight-lane corridor with loops, underpasses and road underbridges
between Okalipuram junction and Fountain Circle also figures in the
BBMP’s wish list for Central aid.
Circle to Hudson Circle will ease traffic bottleneck at the former
place, all along J C Road up to Town Hall and KG Road. Its estimated
cost is Rs 129.01 crore. Mooted by the then BBMP Commissioner Bharatlal
Meena in 2009-10, the proposal had been pending ever since.
May become a reality
Meena
had even wished to extend it up to the MG Road near the M Chinnaswamy
Stadium boulevard. As the BDA Commissioner, he again tried to push the
project but nothing much has happened on the ground so far. If the
Centre okays it, the project would become a reality.
The
estimated cost of the elevated corridor integrating Ejipura Main
Road-Inner Ring Road Junction, Sony World Junction and Kendriya Sadan
Junction along the 100 ft Inner Ring Road, Koramangala, is Rs 173.07
crore.
Other projects are a skywalk near Mysore Bank Circle on
KG Road and a skywalk and pedestrian foot overbridge with escalators and
lifts at Hudson Circle. The BBMP has also sought Rs 100 crore for
upgrading 148 junctions to reduce road accidents and smoothen traffic in
the City.
After the State government cleared the proposals, the
Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Financial Corporation
Limited sent them to the Union Ministry of Urban Development.
To
ensure the funds’ release, a team of senior officers from the BBMP and
the government would hold a meeting with top bureaucrats in the Ministry
of Urban Development in New Delhi.
A senior Palike officer
believed that the Centre would approve these proposals in two months.
“If the Centre okays the projects, we can start work early next year,”
the officer added.