Rs 1700 crore to lay white-topped roads of Int'l standard: DCM

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In a bid to establish road infrastructure matching international standards, the Government has earmarked Rs 1700 crore, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar told on Sunday. His comments come at his inspection of ongoing white-topping projects in and around the city, with those heading civic bodies and local MLAs. Bengaluru has seen similar announcements over the course of last year, including the tunnel road from Hebbal to Silk Board, the 700 crore project to fix bad stretches and a plethora of white topping projects which were implemented last year.

"White topping is going on in 97 roads and a road network spanning 150 km. We are building long lasting roads involving all urban utility agencies of Bengaluru. These roads will have provision for ducts for power cables and communication cables and we will not allow cutting of roads for utilities in the future." His comments reflect the lack of coordination between urban agencies like the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

The switch to a coordinated approach remains to be seen. "I came to inspect the coordination between various agencies of Bengaluru and also to ensure the budget is utilized in a timely manner while achieving the targets." “We have given a deadline of 11 months to close these projects. In the second phase of this project, we will white top 450 km of roads. After these projects, Bengaluru will have a total of 1,700 km of white topped roads," he said.

"We have also taken up completion of storm water drains. All these works won't happen in a day but we are completing the projects on priority keeping in mind the availability of finances," he added. When questioned whether the city is prepared to provide drinking water in the summer, he said, "We have rolled out Cauvery Stage V project to ensure sufficient water for Bengaluru this summer.