BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday assured the corporates that a plan will be drawn to address the traffic problems on Outer Ring Road (ORR), in the next 100 days.
He was speaking at a meeting organised by the Outer Ring Road Companies and Associations (ORRCA) to address the traffic issues, as the 17 km stretch had witnessed unprecedented traffic clogging on September 27 and it took nearly five hours to reach normalcy.
DCM said, the government has come to the doorstep of corporations to listen to their issues and address them. “Our government will not allow people’s time to be wasted on the roads. One-fifth of the city’s revenue comes from the outer ring road industries, and we are aware of their importance. Our priority is to resolve the problem without causing any inconvenience to you, your employees and the residents of the area,” said DK Shivakumar.
He further went on to add that, about 5.6 km long 45-meter wide road is being constructed to connect the new Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) from Mahadevapura zone ORR through Bhoganahalli, Gunjur and Varthur. Work on 4 km of this road has been completed. In the pending road works, railway over bridge works and land should be obtained from the forest department, and added that he has instructed the officials to take necessary steps and complete the pending work.
He added that six to eight high-traffic zones have already been identified and the traffic problems will be resolved on priority. In the next three months, the unauthorized shops that are causing problem, potholes, and traffic congestion areas will be identified and cleared without any political pressure. He also assured to address the encroachment on the Raj Canal issue and said the authorities are free to take action against encroachers.
Earlier, Bengaluru Police Chief B Dayanand had addressed the corporates and said, the police would introduce ‘towing’ of vehicles on 17 km stretch and will ban movement of HTVs during peak hours. He also said that in his personal view flyovers are not the solution, and pitched using public transport.
SPEND CSR MONEY ON RURAL EDUCATION: DYCM
To a question regarding taxes, DyCM clarified that, “It is enough if the citizens pay the taxes properly according to their property. As of now, the government has not thought of imposing any new tax”. He also expressed dissatisfaction on the tax money not being collected according to the capacity, and said, “People and businesses should pay taxes according to their assets. Other business owners including IT companies in the city should spend their CSR money on rural education.” He appealed the corporates to focus on schools in rural areas to ensure quality education. Shivakumar opined that people move from rural to urban centers to facilitate education to their children, and hence wants companies to focus on schools in rural areas.