The Northern corridor of 11 kms between Peenya and Sampige Road is likely to commence commercial operations by December 2012 and the entire Phase-I is likely to be completed by December 2013, Governor H R Bhardwaj said on Monday.
Delivering his address to the joint session of the state legislature, here, he said since the commissioning of first reach of 7.5 kms of Namma Metro on October 20, 2011, on an average, about 30,000 people use the Metro.
“My government has been taking strong measures to improve infrastructure facilities. Expansion work in the Bangalore International Airport will increase passenger handling capacity to 17.5 million per annum. On the other hand, minor airports at Gulbarga and Shimoga would be operational by July,” he said.
Minor airports at Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Hassan are being developed on public-private-partnership basis.
This year, 12 railway projects have already been taken up on a cost-sharing basis. To encourage more public-private-partnership based projects, 12 departments would get separate transaction advisors before March-end, he said.
To ease the traffic, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has taken up construction of grade separators at 12 junctions on the outer ring road from Central Silk Board to Hebbal flyover and up to Tumkur Road junction to create a signal-free corridor for a stretch of about 36 kms, Bhardwaj said.
For the first time in the country, on a pilot basis in five cities the Urban Property Ownership Records on a GIS platform are being created. This would enable property owners to have authentic records of their properties with geo reference. In a phased manner, this will be extended to all towns, including Bangalore city, the governor said.
Computerisation of basic municipal functions has been prioritised in 164 urban local bodies. Additionally, property tax information system is also under progress. For better planning, satellite imagery is being used to map 27 urban areas. Chief Minister’s Small and Medium Town Development Programme has been implemented in 211 Urban Local Bodies, he said.
The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd has taken up improvement of roads to an extent of 630 kms at an estimated cost of Rs 1,816 crore as a public private partnership project, BOT basis and private co-financing. The corporation has also taken up 11 major bridge works at an estimated cost of Rs 253 crore. Action is being taken to improve 1,191 kms of roads under the Toll Collection Fund, he said.
Bhardwaj said, Karnataka has become a trendsetter in e-procurement. It has been extended to 104 departments, organisations and the cumulative procurement is valued at over Rs 87,000 crore.
This process has resulted in reduction of over 10 per cent in bid amount vis-à-vis the estimated expenditure. Over 21,000 suppliers and contractors have registered on this platform.
