Finally, Bangalore renewal plan gets nod

Nearly a year after the UPA government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission...

Nearly a year after the UPA government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission JNNURM, Bangalore has joined the ranks of 56 cities, out of the 63 identified, whose development plans have been accepted for funding.

A comprehensive development plan CDP for Bangalore, rejected earlier on technical grounds, received approval from the Government of India8217;s sanction committee for the urban renewal mission on Friday. The CDP aims to restore Bangalore8217;s character as the 8220;most livable8221; city in the country and envisages development in nine key areas at an estimated cost of Rs 22,536 crore, over a period of five years, including Rs 6,034 crore for projects for the urban poor.

The sanction committee has approved a project worth Rs 648 crore for remodeling storm water drains in four valleys in Bangalore, and Rs 43 crore for constructing road underpasses at three traffic congested points, special commissioner in the Bangalore City Corporation, Gourav Gupta, said.

Detailed reports for these projects were presented under the broader outline of the CDP.

Under the JNNURM, Bangalore will receive 35 per cent of project cost from the Centre, while the state and urban local body will raise 15 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. For the 8216;urban poor8217; projects, the Centre and state will share costs on a 50:50 basis.

However, funding for the projects is not likely to begin until a tripartite agreement is signed between the Centre, the Karnataka government and the Bangalore City Corporation.

8220;The signing of the MOA has been delayed since there are some points of divergence on the timelines for reforms mandated by the JNNURM and those proposed by the government of Karnataka,8221; a city official said. So far 23 cities have signed MOAs for funding under the mission.

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Earlier this year, a CDP had been placed before the Centre, but was rejected on the grounds that sufficient public consultation had not been done, a senior official in the state urban development department said.

While the earlier CDP was restricted largely to the core Bangalore City area covering 226 sq km, the currently accepted CDP pertains to a 696 sq km Greater Bangalore area that is currently in the process of being created.

The break-up of the estimated costs in the approved CDP is Rs 2,783 crore for drinking water and drainage, Rs 800 crore for solid waste management, Rs 7,536 crore for roads, Rs 3,511 crore for other road development, Rs 1,339 crore for storm water drains, Rs 14 crore for beautification, Rs 307 crore for other civic services, Rs 212 crore for tourism and Rs 6,034 crore for the urban poor.

The new CDP was pushed through by the state even as several administrative pressures seemed set to block it, including the November 2 notification for creation of a Greater Bangalore and the expiry of the term of the city council on November 23.

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The state government is hoping that with the funding, the fast but chaotically developing peripheral areas of Bangalore will step out of the red, provide facilities and generate revenues intended by the urban renewal mission.

According to the ministry of urban development, out of the accepted development plans for 56 cities under the JNNURM so far, 40 CDPs have been appraised. For the 2006-7 year, so far Rs 551 crore has been approved for release to 88 urban projects across the country, while another 12 projects worth Rs 2,960 crore have been recommended for approval.