BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said the Centre has asked the state government to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru. Shivakumar, who met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi, said that he responded positively to a request by the state government for support to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru as vehicles from national highways also enter the city.
“Gadkari gave some suggestions to ease congestion and asked us to prepare a detailed project report. We have called for a global Expression of Interest (EoI) for the construction of tunnels or flyovers or other ways to ease traffic congestion. Once we get proposals, we will hold discussions with the Centre which is ready to support us,” he said. The EoI was invited through BDA and BBMP on July 14 and August 8 is the last date for submitting proposals. “We have also invited global tenders so that traffic consultants can study future projections and mass rapid transport systems. We have asked for a detailed project report. Two parties have shown interest and we want more players to participate in it,” he said.
Shivakumar said New Delhi and Mumbai also face the problem of traffic congestion, but people don’t talk about it. Only the problem in Bengaluru, an international city, gets highlighted. “We are preparing plans to ease congestion in the city and around 10 companies, including from Israel, Singapore and China, have made presentations. We have asked them to participate in the EoI,” he said.