20 lakh residents of Bengaluru to be shifted
Estimated cost known only after DPR
Sea water from coastal towns will be supplied through desalination plants
In a major move to de-congest Bengaluru, the State government has proposed to develop a new city at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) by utilising 11,000 acres of Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML), a public enterprise that shut down in 2001.
Global tenders would be called for designing the city, which would enable to re-locate around 20 lakh population of Bengaluru, Minister for Urban Development Roshan Baig told presspersons here on Tuesday.
The BGML was closed down in the year 2001 as the gold ore reserves got exhausted after 150 years of continuous and heavy extraction.
The new city would be developed by launching a special purpose vehicle by roping in private investors. The cost of the new city would be known only after the preparation of the detailed project report by the global agency, he said. All factors such as underground drainage, sewerage, road, electricity, housing, and drinking water supply would taken into consideration while developing the city.
Sea water from Mangaluru through desalination plants would be brought to the KGF through the Yettinahole project pipelines. The Tamil Nadu government has already commissioned two desalination plants for catering to the drinking water requirements of tChennai City (Minjur desalination plan ₹515 crore, and Nammeli desalination plant - ₹ 871 crore), Mr. Baig said.
The department has proposed desalination plants in Udupi (₹ 735.30 crore), Mangaluru (₹ 2533.61 crore), Saligrama (₹ 76.71 crore) and Kundapura (₹ 154.42 crore). These plants would be established with the joint venture of Israel-based IDE and Vagas of Indian firm. The total cost of four plants is estimated at ₹ 3500 crore.
Satellite towns
He said a loan amounting to ₹400 crore would be sought from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for developing Devanahalli, located on the outskirts of the city, as a satellite town. As per the feasibility report, the estimated cost of developing the town would be ₹ 2800 crore. A proposal for developing the town would be placed before the Cabinet soon.
Six clusters around the city would also be developed as satellite towns and they included Doddaballapur, Harohalli, Dobbespet, and Bidadi.
