Govt plans Rs 2,100 cr push to develop 8 towns around B'lore

The Karnataka government is drawing up a Rs 2,100 crore project with loan assistance from Asian Development Bank, to develop and upgrade eight city clusters around Bangalore to woo investment and ease the load on the State capital.
The city clusters proposed to be developed are Nelamangala, Magadi, Anekal, Bidadi, Dabaspet, Harohalli, Devanahalli and Hoskote, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake told reporters here.
Officials said the objective is to attract investment in those clusters by developing and upgrading them and "dispersing Bangalore investment" into these areas.
Meanwhile, they said detailed project report on Phase-I of the Rs 8,759-crore suburban rail system for Bangalore comprising five corridors, including from the city to Tumkur, Ramanagara and Bangarpet, would be completed "very soon".

Officials said a Special Purpose Vehicle -- Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation -- would be set up for implementing the project which is expected to ease congestion in the city.
Sorake said a Cabinet note has been prepared to upgrade city municipal councils of Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapura to city corporations.

The Minister said during the transition phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), 61 projects with estimated cost of Rs 5,265.22 crore have been forwarded for approval to the Union Ministry of Urban Development, adding, Rs 168 crore of them had already been approved.
"Seventeen water supply projects with estimated cost of Rs 711.92 crore have been submitted to the Central government under UIDSSMT (Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns)", Sorake said.

He said a Rs 1,760 crore project has been prepared to provide 24X7 water supply to the entire corporation area of Belgaum, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad cities on PPP basis with World Bank assistance.
Sorake also said a project is under preparation for state-level heritage-based urban development programme for Karnataka with World Bank assistance.
He said a master plan would be prepared in phases to project requirements of cities of Karnataka in the year 2040.
Workshops would be conducted for corporators of at the city and state-levels, Sorake said, adding, ward committees and citizen foras would be set up to create awareness among the people on funding in their areas and to monitor quality of works undertaken there.