‘Must learn from mistakes’: New road grid outside Bengaluru city proposed

The construction of the identified road network is likely to take five to 10 years, he told reporters at Vidhana Soudha.

The minister highlighted that around 20 years ago, 110 villages and seven city municipal councils were brought within Bengaluru without adequate preparation or infrastructure. “Despite successive governments making efforts over the past two decades to provide these areas with permanent drinking water, drainage and proper roads, the infrastructure deficit has still not been fully addressed. We are today facing the consequences of the planning deficiencies of the past. We must learn from these mistakes and ensure that they are not repeated,” the Greater Bengaluru Development Minister said.

Gowda said the new road grid has been identified across the jurisdictions of Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) and other local development authorities.

While urbanisation has already spread across around 750 sq km, experts estimate that Bengaluru’s urbanised area could expand to 1,400–1,800 sq km in the coming years.

“Whether we want it or not, urbanisation around Bengaluru is inevitable. If we do not plan and provide infrastructure in these areas now, they too will face the same traffic and drainage problems that Bengaluru is struggling with today,” the minister said.

The government’s objective, he said, was therefore to put a planned development framework in place before unplanned urbanisation takes hold, so that the problems currently being experienced within the GBA are not replicated in Bengaluru’s expanding periphery.

However, land required for the notified road corridors will have to be left vacant while undertaking new layouts or constructing houses in these areas, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions. “This is a precautionary measure to ensure that the problems within Bengaluru are not repeated outside the city,” he said.

Pawan Muluktla, director, integrated transport, electric mobility and hydrogen, World Resources Institute (WRI), welcomed the government move and said that the development should be made on the lines of comprehensive transport infrastructure rather than just road infrastructure. “Maharashtra and Gujarat have it. It is called Land Use and Transport Integration (LUTI). If you see Whitefield and KR Puram today, it is a good lesson for us. You don’t see the same near the Vijayanagar area because it has wide roads and better transport accessibility. It is good considering the future growth of Bengaluru city.”