BENGALURU: The countdown for the Karnataka state budget has begun and there are high expectations in it for Bengaluru which continues to face multiple problems -- pothole-ridden roads, broken footpaths and drains, flooding and traffic congestion.
In the previous budget, the government had laid stress on white-topping the city roads which was to address the issue of potholes, drains and footpaths. Last year, the government took up white-topping projects costing Rs 1,700 crore. According to engineers from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) Road Infrastructure department, nearly 30 per cent of arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city have been taken up for white-topping, and by this year-end, work on all 117 roads will be completed.
Among the 117 roads, 45 roads are being white-topped by BBMP and 72 roads are being done by the government’s Road Infrastructure department.
The government announced completion of its Rs 5,500-crore worth Cauvery Stage-V network to supply 775MLD water to 110 villages merged into the BBMP in 2008, which was realised on October 16 last year. Nearly 22,000 new Cauvery water connections were given by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) after commissioning. However, thousands of households in the 110 villages are yet to apply for water connections.
The ambitious Tunnel Road project by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, which was announced in the 2024 budget, is yet to take off due to lack of funds, a majority of which will go towards land acquisition.
The North-South network from Hebbal to BTM Silk Board and East-West stretch from KR Puram to Mysuru Road, costs around Rs 45,000 crore, and the government had asked financial institutions to bid to fund BBMP to take up the project. Recently, the DCM met Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman to seek funds for the Tunnel Road project.
The Rs 500-crore Skydeck, another pet project of the DCM, was billed to come up in Hemmigepura near NICE Road, in South Bengaluru. BBMP had also invited objections from the public in November, however, with plans for a second airport and the DCM lobbying for it near Bidadi, the project has not gained any further pace.
The 73-km Peripheral Ring Road by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to ease traffic, costing Rs 27,000 crore, was announced in Budget 2024 but has not progressed as there was poor response from bidders.
Only one Chennai-based firm came forward. Sources say landowners objected to the compensation offered by the government, following which a committee was formed to revise and fix the compensation. BDA has also started measuring land required for the project.
As per the tender clause, the cost of land acquisition, a whopping Rs 21,000 crore, has to be borne by the bidder which is said to be the reason for lack of participation.
RUN-UP TO BUDGET
Expectations from Budget 2025
Civic activists are up in arm against big-ticket projects like tunnel road, expressways and flyovers, and insisted that the government invest in improving public transport infrastructure, cycling and walking infrastructure to ease congestion in the city. Sharing her expectations for Bengaluru in the upcoming state budget, Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, CIVIC, said, “The government must drop tunnel roads, expressways, etc. It should instead focus on developing all Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.”
