Karnataka civic bodies spent Rs 56 crore for PM Modi’s Yoga Day visit, show figures

While Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has officially disclosed that it spent Rs 23.51 crore for road infrastructure during Modi’s visit to Bengaluru, Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) commissioner G Lakshmikanth Reddy said that it has roughly spent around Rs 10.08 crore for laying asphalt on roads and taking up cleaning works. Reddy clarified that MCC is yet to receive the bills and release the money but the rough estimates show an expenditure of Rs 10.08 crore.

The Mysuru district administration has estimated that it has spent nearly Rs 23 crore during the Prime Minister’s visit to the city. Mysuru district deputy commissioner Bagadi Gautham told indianexpress.com that they are yet to receive bills and the money will be released accordingly. “Rs 10 crore was spent on upgradation of the city, Rs 6.1 crore was the estimated expenditure of the Ministry of Ayush to organise the Yoga event and the estimated expenditure by the Public Works Department (PWD) is around Rs 7 crore. We cannot reach an exact figure now but these are the estimates,” he said.

An officer of the Mysuru district administration said that the estimated expenditure may go beyond Rs 23 crore as several other bills are yet to be added up. The Prime Minister stayed at a hotel in Mysuru and vehicles for police patrolling, buses which were deployed for the same, temporary tents installed for Modi’s public address and many more expenditures are yet to be added to the bills, the officer said.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and leader of Janata Dal (Secular) H D Kumaraswamy Wednesday said, “The government has spent Rs 32 crore for Modi’s visit to Karnataka. He did not come when there was drought, floods and Covid-19. He may come a few more times as the election is just 11 months away. A gram panchayat could have been developed with the money that was spent on his visit. When H D Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister, several critics had said that he spends on traveling to Karnataka and now the critics are cheering for Modi.”

In Bengaluru, the civic agency spent Rs 23.51 crore to develop several roads for Modi’s visit. Many roads which needed attention for a long time were asphalted in a surprisingly short time.

BBMP special commissioner (projects) Ravindra P N said that a total of 14.05 km of multiple road stretches were developed before the Prime Minister’s visit. According to BBMP data, the civic agency spent Rs 4.06 crore on the 2.4-km stretch of the Ballari Road, Rs 1.55 crore on the 0.9-km stretch of the Tumkur Road, Rs 6.05 crore on the 3.6-km stretch of University Road, Rs 35 lakh for 0.15-km stretch of the Mysuru Road and Rs 11.5 crore for the 7-km stretch of the Kommaghatta Road.

The civic body, besides asphalting the roads, developed service roads, installed street lights, fixed footpaths and painted curvy medians.