BENGALURU: Motorists battling the city’s pothole ridden roads can now look forward to less bumpy rides, at least in some stretches. The state government plans to concretize 220 km of city roads, at a whopping cost of '800 crore, in the next two years under the Nagarothana scheme, assured K. J. George, Bengaluru Development Minister on Wednesday.
After inspecting a white topped road at Kasturba Road he told reporters that concrete or white topped roads last up to three decades and do not develop potholes. The traditional black topped roads frequently develop potholes and their maintenance cost is high, he claimed.
The white topped road at Kasturba road is 650 metres long and 18 metres wide and built at a cost of Rs 2.4 crore. Engineers have been warned against shoddy work, as it is cost intensive and the road should last for 30 years, he said.
The Minister pointed out that with the city growing at a rapid pace and steep rise in vehicle population, there is a need to widen 216 roads as per the Revised Master Plan and about 30 roads have already been taken up for the purpose. Since there is a strong opposition against Transferable Development Rights (TDR), there is a lukewarm response. A meeting will be convened in the next 15 days to make TDR more attractive, said Mr George.
Coming down heavily against the BBMP and BWSSB officials, he directed them to ensure that sewerage water does not spoil the roads and reach the drains.
They have to be connected to underground drainage. After inspecting the progress of TenderSure road at Richmond Residency and Richmond road, he directed authorities to complete the work at the earliest.
Church Street to be upgraded!
The bustling Church Street will soon get a facelift. The road from Brigade Road entrance to St. Marks Road stretching 650 metres will be white topped and Sadahalli granite will be used for footpaths.
The BBMP has been directed to complete the work within three months from the day of commencement. BWSSB has been directed to shift all utilities running beneath the road to one side of the footpath.
Dutch delegation meets George
A five-member delegation from the Netherlands called on Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Wednesday to explore possibilities of knowledge partnership related to municipal water supply and other issues. Authorities from both cities exchanged best practices on elderly care, start ups, cyber security and urban cycle planning besides, municipal water supply. They also discussed about signing an MoU between Karnataka and the City of Hague. The challenges of the state and the city of the Hague were similar in nature and it provided a solid base for a peer and knowledge partnership related to Municipal Water Supply, a spokesman for the delegation said. An MoU will be signed during the visit of Mr Karsten Klein, the Hague vice mayor, and Mr WimDrossaert, CEO of Dutch Water Organisation Dunea, in November.
