Chief minister Siddaramaiah kick-started the projects at a function, here. The civil works on road development would commence from January 2014 and they would ensure connectivity from one district headquarters to another and to various taluks. About 2,000 km of roadworks are likely to be completed during the present financial year, he said.
Speaking after inaugurating the project works, he instructed engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure quality of works and directed contractors to take up responsibility for road maintenance for at least three years.
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In Phase-I and II, the state government has accorded approval for developing 7,254 km of state highways at an investment of Rs 2,797 crore. In phase-I, Siddaramaiah said, 3,567 km of roads were being developed at a cost of Rs 1,439 crore under 66 packages. Physical progress of 1,438 km and financial progress of Rs 519 crore had been achieved during 2012-13.
A sum of Rs 414 crore had been spent to develop 895 km in 2013-14 so far, he said, adding another 1,234 km would be begun during the remaining months of the present fiscal. Tenders for the balance works are in progress.
Siddaramaiah said, the state has received Rs 1,800 crore from the Union Surface Transport Ministry under the Central Road Fund (CRF) for developing roads this year. Besides fuelling economic growth, road connectivity would help the state to attract investments to Tier-II cities. Development of infrastructure was an indicator of the progress of the state, he said.
Referring to the filling of potholes, the chief minister said, filling of potholes by dumping mere soil would not solve the problem. He instructed the engineers to follow a scientific method and proper procedures for filling potholes on roads. A sum of Rs 100 crore had been sanctioned to fill the potholes, he said.
Stating that the bad condition of roads has dented the image of Bangalore, he said all pending works on roads, flyovers and underpasses would be completed in the next five years. "We want to develop as an international city," he said.
The government has been facing financial constraints on account of pending bills to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.
Pending bills of the Bangalore City Corporation alone stood at Rs 2,000 crore, he added.
Minister for Public Works H C Mahadevappa said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 95 crore for developing the Shiradi Ghat road. The state has given 27 proposals to the Centre for upgrading 4,000 km state highways into National Highways. "We hope, at least 2,000 km road will be upgraded to national highways," he said.
The Karnataka government intends to develop and upgrade about 15,000 kms of roads over the next five years, he added.
For comprehensive monitoring of the wide spread projects in the state, Project Monitoring System software has been developed and installed in the public works department. Project monitoring, quality control and contract administration are the main modules.
Project activities, photographs, quality control tests are uploaded through mobile application on daily basis, the PWD said in a statement.