Infrastructure development to get a boost

By S.Rajendran

BANGALORE, NOV. 17. The development of infrastructure such as roads, flyovers, subways and railway bridges as well as solid- waste management will now pick up speed in Bangalore.

The works in this connection are scheduled to be completed in two years since the State Government and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve the infrastructure in the City. Funds will be provided for the completion of the planned schemes.

The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, held a high- level meeting with the officials concerned recently following which a plan was prepared to start the works. Various methodologies including build-own-operate and joint venture schemes are likely to be adopted for execution of the works, which are expected to cost around Rs. 1,000 crores in three years.

The funds will be drawn from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation. The BMP will also raise resources and the Government will provide grants.

Mr. Krishna told The Hindu that the Government would not like to copy the model adopted for garbage disposal in Chennai. ``We have developed our own model which will be implemented in phases. There are nearly 6,500 pourakarmikas in the City and they cannot be rendered unemployed. Efforts will be made to ensure that the Bangalore model of solid-waste management and infrastructure development will be recognised nationally and even internationally.''

Earlier scheme scrapped

The Rs. 125-crore Municipal Bond Scheme, which the previous Janata Dal Government implemented for road upgradation in the City, has been scrapped. The scheme has not helped improve the roads. The present Government has found loopholes in it leading to ``misappropriation of funds.''

Mr. Ashok Dalwai, Commissioner, BMP, said the civic body would upgrade 130 km. of some important roads. Under the bond scheme, 120 km. of arterial roads had been attended to.

After a visit to the areas around the City Market and Kalasipalayam where water logging was common, Mr. Krishna suggested that concrete roads be laid instead of the bitumen ones in the old City area. So it had been decided to concrete seven km. of roads in and around Kalasipalayam. The work would commence in a month.

The Chief Minister said the BMP would be taking a novel step - Deferred Payment Scheme - to undertake road works. The contractors, who would be selected based on tenders, would be given the responsibility of raising funds for the works and maintaining the roads built by them for three years. The funds would be repaid to them from the following financial year. Even the interest rates on the investments by the contractors would be put to tender. The State Government was confident that the interest rates would be lower than those charged by the HUDCO and other financial institutions.

To ensure the quality of the works, the authorities concerned had been directed to give the responsibility of supervising them to a third-party comprising civil engineering experts. Several administrative and legal reforms were being introduced in the BMP to ensure that the employees meet the targets to upgrade the civic standards.

Mr. Krishna thanked the people of Bangalore for ensuring a big victory for the Congress in the civic elections. ``This is the first time in 30 years that the Congress has obtained such a mandate in the civic elections,'' he said.

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