City gets Rs. 8,037 cr. for development works.

The State Cabinet recently approved a grant of Rs. 8,037.87 crore for development works in the city under the Chief Minister’s Nava Bengaluru Scheme.

The funds will be released over the next three years and the works will be executed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Nearly 40% of the total grant is for road works while the rest will go towards lake development, solid waste management, land acquisition, and various infrastructure projects.

Of the Rs. 8,037.87 crore, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had announced an allocation of Rs. 2,500 crore in the Budget presented in July 2018 for the 2018-19 fiscal. A total of Rs. 2,200 crore will now be allotted to the BBMP.

The highest allocation of funds is for road works, including white-topping. But, details of the roads and grade separators to be taken up were not available. Nor was there a mention of TenderSURE roads.The grant does not cover elevated corridors and the Peripheral Ring Road.

The government has also committed to allocate Rs. 3,606.12 crore and Rs. 2,231.75 crore over the next two years to the BBMP. This is in line with the previous Siddaramaiah-led government approving an aid of Rs. 7,300 crore for works in 2016-17 and 2017-18. While some experts hoped that the grant would provide a boost to the city's infrastructure, others expressed concern over the BBMP's dependency on the State government.

THE HINDU