Rs. 700 crore to improve roads on outskirts

Roads on the outskirts are set to get a facelift.

The government has released Rs. 1,000 crore for repairing these roads, rejuvenating tanks, developing parks as well as playgrounds. Of this, Bangalore city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday said, Rs. 700 crore would be dedicated solely for the repair of roads on the city’s outskirts, especially the link roads.

The government is considering providing Rs. 35 crore to Rs. 40 crore to each Assembly constituency, he said.

The remaining funds would be used for the rejuvenation of tanks, development of parks, playgrounds, building road medians, he said. According to him, tenders would soon be called for taking up the road repair works.

“The road works would be taken up after the rains relent and completed before the commencement of the next monsoon,” he said.

He blamed frequent road digging by various civic agencies as the main reason for roads being in bad shape in Bangalore city. He said that there was a lack of coordination among civic agencies with respect to road digging.

The Minister expressed confidence that elections to the BBMP would be held as per the schedule in May 2015. He denied speculation that the government may use the ongoing study by a committee on whether the BBMP should be divided into smaller entities as an excuse for putting off the polls.