BENGALURU: Weeks after claiming even divine intervention cannot solve Bengaluru's traffic woes overnight, a remark that was severely ridiculed, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar Thursday outlined a strategy to tackle traffic congestion with large-scale infrastructure projects.
"I have taken responsibility of Bengaluru seriously. Unlike New Delhi, Bengaluru is not a planned city. Only areas like Jayanagar, Indiranagar, and Malleswaram have planned layouts," he told the legislative council.
While replying to questions from Sudham Das on measures to improve traffic flow, Shivakumar cited double-decker flyovers, tunnel roads, buffer roads, and elevated corridors as part of the state budget's vision to ease congestion. He said the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), which could have been a game-changer, remains a work in progress, worsening the crisis.
"The PRR would have cost Rs 3,000-4,000 crore if implemented earlier, but today, the cost has risen to Rs 26,000 crore," Shivakumar said, adding that the govt is securing a loan from Hudco to push the project forward.
He also pointed to past decisions that aggravated the problem. "When KJ George was Bengaluru development minister, he proposed a steel bridge on Ballari Road, but the project was shelved due to strong opposition. We are paying the price for that decision today."
To decongest the city, the govt has planned tunnel roads — a 17km east-west stretch and a 23km north-south carriageway, with tenders to be floated soon. However, like the steel bridge, there has been stiff resistance to this project too.
The govt also plans double-decker flyovers, buffer roads along stormwater drains, and construction of 320km of new roads is in progress. Shivakumar said Rs 9,000 crore has been allocated for concretisation of 1,682km of roads, while a World Bank loan of Rs 2,000 crore is funding 850km of stormwater drains, with 480 km already completed.
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