In the 2020-21 Budget, under the banner ‘comprehensive development of Bengaluru’, the State government had proposed multiple projects with the promise of improving existing infrastructure and mass transit systems. A year later, as the Karnataka government is set to unveil a new budget, a majority of the promised projects still remain on paper.
The ambitious Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) is a case in point. It has had a mention in almost every budget in the last five to six years. In his 2021-22 Budget speech, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too had promised that work on PRR project will begin and that global tenders will be called under the public-private partnership model.
In a cabinet meeting that was held on February 10, the State cabinet gave administrative approval for floating the global tender. It was also decided to give the private developer permission to collect toll fees for a period of 50 years. But the major hurdle– convincing farmers to part with their land—remains unresolved. Farmers, who staged a protest earlier this month, have been demanding that the State government fix market prices to acquire the land. The project needs over 2600 acres of land.
Meanwhile, rail activists in the city have been demanding that the government build a robust suburban rail network in the city instead of focusing on only road-related projects. After a long delay, the suburban rail project was approved by the Central Government last year, and a ₹850 crore grant was earmarked for it in the State budget.
Tracking the suburban rail project
So far, K-RIDE (Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited) has floated a tender to implement the corridor from Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanvara). The agency is likely to start the construction work in the next financial year.
Activists have also demanded that K-RIDE prioritise KSR-Devanahalli that will help thousands of people travelling to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and those working in the airport campus.
One nation, one card
The Government had also announced— though not for the first time—that it would introduce the ‘One nation, one card’ across all operational metro stations by August 2021. The then CM had said that the card could be used on both Namma Metro trains and city buses. However, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is yet to implement the much delayed project. On the other hand, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) does not have the required infrastructure to introduce the common mobility card.
The one promise that seems to be on track is the 58 km ORR-Airport metro line project that found a mention again in the previous budget. Last year, BMRCL started construction on Outer Ring Road from Silk Board to K R Puram. This year, construction has begun between K R Puram to Trumpet.
Prof Ashish Verma, convenor of the Sustainable Transportation Lab at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru said, “The focus of the State budget this year with respect to transport should be on ensuring viability of bus services in Bengaluru and other cities in Karnataka with adequate budgetary provisions, both for augmenting and upgrading the bus fleet size as well as for making the services affordable to all sections of society. Funding pedestrian and cycling infrastructure should be a next priority as well.”
(Ahead of the 2022-23 budget, this series will look at whether the government kept the promises it made to citizens of Bengaluru in infrastructure, health and other key areas.)
