CM Siddaramaiah moots alternative to PRR plan

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah suggested that an alternative path be taken to bring the Peripheral Ring Road plan to fruition. He reasoned that previous attempts at kick-starting the project were unsuccessful since not very many people wanted to bid for it.

The CM made the remarks during a meeting on key Bengaluru Development projects held at his home office Krishna in the city on Wednesday.

PRR refers to the 73 kmlong, 12-lane ring road that does a loop around Bengaluru, connecting Tumakuru Road in the north of the city to Hosur Road in the south. Tenders have been called for the project in the past but there have been few to no takers.

Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which is supposed to oversee the project, reckons it is because the company will have to fund land acquisition and construction amounting to about Rs 27,000 crore, which isn’t an attractive prospect for the bidder.

Siddaramaiah has asked that an alternative plan be put forth before the Cabinet and suggest other means for resource gathering.

“In this regard, tenders have been called four to five times for the development of the Peripheral Ring Road but they have failed. Therefore, other possibilities and other opportunities for resource allocation have been considered and I have suggested that they be presented before the Cabinet,” he said.

Other city projects discussed in the meeting were sky deck construction, scientific solid waste disposal methods, tunnel road construction to alleviate city congestion and the development of high density corridors, building of roads in buffer zones of Storm Water Drains (SWDs), among other issues.

Deputy CM and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar, Urban Development and Town Planning Byrati Suresh, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda, Energy Minister KJ George, Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao, Chief Secretary (CS) Rajneesh Goel and Additional CS LK Atheeq were also in attendance.