Bengaluru: A government which lacks the will to establish connectivity and provide infrastructure has ignored the problems faced by those who find it difficult to travel even to the local marketplace. Successive governments have not done much to change the state’s poor roads. Will this government change that?
Bengalureans may grumble about the condition of the roads in the city, but the sad truth is the rest of the state is no better. While Karnataka’s population, industry and agriculture have boomed over the last two decades, its road network has not been able to keep pace. The farmers’ need for easy access to markets and that of industries to ports, rail links and warehouses is not being met adequately. The state doesn’t seem prepared for the rising rural-urban migration owing to the IT boom in Bengaluru either.
While the Hyderabad-Karnataka region has extremely poor road infrastructure, coastal Karnataka has its own troubles. To make matters worse, the monsoon this year is said to have damaged more than 1300 km of roads along the coast: the road between Karnataka and Goa was blocked for days owing to a landslide.
Karnataka’s connectivity with neighbouring states is not too great either. While NH-7 provides a decent link between Bengaluru and Hyderabad, most of the state does not have smooth connectivity to neighbouring Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa. The ambitious Bengaluru-Mumbai Infrastructure Corridor too is merely plodding along.
The lack of infrastructure has proved a huge drawback, slowing down Karnataka’s GDP growth. The state , which was once ahead of the country in it terms of GDP, has now fallen to match the overall GDP. Worried industry experts point out the situation is only worsening as the infrastructure, including the crucial road network, has deteriorated over the last few years.
Aware that movement of freight is crucial for its growth, industry has been demanding the state set itself an aggressive target of enabling movement of goods across the key corridors at an average speed of 100 km per hour. But those in power have often come up with the ‘lack of funds’ excuse for making this happen, ignoring the fact that the Union government took Karnataka to task in August this year for not making use of funds allocated to it under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.
H.V. Harish, president of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, wonders why the state lacks infrastructure when it can easily take advantage of having the same party in power at the Centre to push its projects through. Ask the government and it says it has several plans to improve the state’s infrastructure. But it obviously needs to hurry up.
NEXT: State’s plans to improve infrastructure exist only on paper State’s plans to improve infrastructure exist only on paper
The state government says it is aware of the pressures of development and is hoping to make up for lost time by entering into public private partnerships (PPPs) to create the road network it needs. The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited is on its way to developing 10,000 km of state highways and major district roads on PPP basis, say officers.
They also point to the Kalyana Patha six lane highway to connect the northern and southern parts of the state and the development of an eight lane road between Chamarajanagar and Bidar by the KRDCL which has been appointed the nodal agency for the project.
The plan to develop many national highways running through the state, which was stuck for approvals from various departments, including environmental clearances, is now likely to get underway as the forest department has this year cleared nine major NH projects, including the long pending widening of the Hubli-Ankola Road.
The government is also working on implementing the first phase of the Peripheral Ring Road project, which involves six laning the 65-km Tumkur—Hosur Road. The Chief Minister has announced that the Rs 4300 crore project will be taken up with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
While the Bengaluru- Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project has not made much headway, the state government plans to widen the SH 17 into a six-lane road and introduce a toll. As for rural roads the state received Rs 113.70 crore from NABARD to develop them earlier this year.
To improve links with other states, Karnataka has proposed a Bengaluru-Mumbai Infrastructure Corridor and development of the Hoskote-Tamil Nadu stretch. While extending NH 212 between Kollegal and Kerala has been approved under the National Highway Development Project at a cost of Rs 588 crore on PPP basis, there is talk of developing the NH 17 Karnataka-Kerala section too. But for now, all this is still on paper.
NEXT: Wanted: Connectivity between small towns
Wanted: Connectivity between small towns
Ashwin Mahesh
Good roads are the backbone of strong economies. Unfortunately, compared to the other relatively developed states of India, Karnataka still has much catching up to do where road connectivity is concerned. We should earnestly begin repairing this situation.
The concentration of economic activity in the state’s south-east region has led to a skewed economy, and only limited infrastructure development elsewhere. Bengaluru is more than 10 times bigger than the next biggest city in the state, and levels of inter-city trade within state borders are also relatively low. This has created a vicious cycle in which the absence of good trading links results in further neglect of road infrastructure.
But Karnataka is well situated and could potentially be an important hub for the entire southern peninsula. With a little more focus in a few key areas, we could begin to develop this potential quickly. There are four areas in particular that need looking at.
As Chitradurga-Davangere region is already a crossing point for two major national highways, and its development for industrial purposes is also on the cards, it would be prudent to think of this region as a potential logistics node, and connect as many different parts of the state as possible to it.
In the Bengaluru region, the historical focus has only been on connecting other towns to it, but very little attention has been paid to connecting these smaller towns to each other. This needs swift attention. Likewise, many other smaller cities around the state could be connected to each other.
Despite having a long coastline, the potential for global trade through ports on the coast has been limited, and so this has to be the third area of focus. The movement of goods to trans-shipment points and then to the coast must be planned district-wise, and the road infrastructure put in place.
And finally, the urban road network in all the top five to 10 cities needs to be strengthened. The circumferential and road networks for most towns is very inadequate or lagging behind schedule by years. Building these would also greatly enhance the possibilities for trade.
— The writer is an expert on urban affairs