Our Bureau

Bangalore , Jan. 7

THE Chief Minister, Mr N. Dharam Singh's day out of Bangalore has raised hopes of the city's woes of urban infrastructure problems coming to an end. During his visit to Delhi in the last two days, Mr Singh met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and various Central Ministers to take up the State's and the city's pressing problems and special allocations for speedier implementation of projects.

With Bangalore becoming a key investment destination and pressures on infrastructure building up, Mr Singh also stressed on the need to set up a Bangalore Metropolitan Authority to facilitate better coordination among the various civic agencies. He made the suggestion to the Union Minister for Urban Development, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, during this meeting in Delhi.

Mr Azad is slated to visit Bangalore on January 12 when he is expected to discuss the issue along with the Metro Rail project.

In his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Dharam Singh had sought enhanced allocation of funds to the State to develop its infrastructure and urged Dr Manmohan Singh to extend special package as promised to Mumbai. The Prime Minister is slated to visit Bangalore on February 12 when the State Government would follow up its case.

Mr Singh told newspersons on return from Delhi on Friday that he had also discussed the matter with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on the need for enhanced funds for the city, besides the annual plan allocation for Karnataka.

The Chief Minister also had a meeting with the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram and discussed the issue regarding repayment of high-cost loans and implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT) from April 1.

He said he apprised the Minister of State for Railways, Mr R. Velu, on the need to expedite the Bangalore-Hassan broad gauge project.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line