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Journalism of Courage
Seeking assistance from the Central Government for critical projects related to Bengaluru, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his “considered support and advice”.
Among the projects for which funds have been sought are constructing tunnels and elevated corridors, extending Metro rail corridors, constructing the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) and flood resilience projects, among others. The petition was submitted when Shivakumar met Modi at New Delhi on Wednesday.
In the letter, Shivakumar pegged the cost of constructing two urban tunnels and elevated corridors at Rs 36,950 crore. “Feasibility studies have indicated that the construction of two urban tunnels and two elevated corridors is necessary for de-congestion of Bengaluru City. These projects can be implemented using the annual budget allocations for decongesting erstwhile National Highways under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway,” the letter read.
The tunnels, according to the studies, are “the most effective solution for connecting National Highway-7 from Hosur to Bellary and K R Puram to Mysore Road. This approach minimizes traffic disruptions at ground level and reduces the cost of land acquisition”, the petition mentioned.
The PRR project will run a length of 73.04 km and will come up under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The estimated total cost of the project is Rs 27,000 crore, which includes Rs 21,000 crore for land acquisition and Rs 6,000 crore for civil construction works. Shivakumar sought the Central Government’s support for its construction to “divert the heavy vehicular traffic to bypass the city by allocating requisite funds.”
For the Bengaluru Metro project, funds have been sought to extend the existing lines. “…we have identified five corridors as extensions to the existing Metro lines, covering a length of 129 km”, Shivakumar wrote, adding that the corridors are planned to connect the peripheral areas and the satellite towns of Bengaluru. Approval is also sought for the integration of Metro and road flyover and upcoming double-decker Metro projects.
The petition also mentioned that the Rs 3,000 crore flood resilience project for Bengaluru was sent to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and is pending approval. The letter urged the PM to facilitate the release of funds from the World Bank. Other projects for which assistance was sought included establishment of integrated solid waste management for Bengaluru, addressing defence land issues in the city — as three projects require land from the Ministry of Defence — and releasing state specific grants under performance-based incentives of the 15th Finance Commission
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