The monsoons are round the corner and for Bengaluru, that only means one thing — chaos. CM Siddaramaiah performed a whirlwind inspection of the city on Tuesday, to see how prepared it is to handle the rain. Accompanied by city development minister, KJ George , the CM left officials from the BBMP, BDA and BWSSB with a slew of instructions to make sure the city doesn’t drown as it usually does. He also announced an elevated corridor to provide smooth right of way to IT hub Whitefield, Marathahalli, KR Puram and Hebbal at a cost Rs 630 crore and another Rs 1,500 crore elevated corridor between Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal.
Metro ride
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whose ride around the city caused traffic jams, took the Metro to lessen the inconvenience caused to motorists. The chief minister and a battery of officials and MLAs took Namma Metro to reach Vidhana Soudha, from where all were ferried in buses to the chief minister’s official residence Krishna.
Battery of vehicles
As expected, the chief minister’s motorcade had a large battery of vehicles and officials. As many as 18 vehicles including the pilot and convoy followed the chief minister’s bus. Two more buses were also part of the inspection.
Traffic piles up
Motorists had to suffer in scorching sun as the traffic police blocked traffic to allow a smooth ride for the chief minister’s city inspection. Traffic jams were seen on busy Bengaluru International Airport Road, Hosur Road, Central Silk Board Junction and other areas.
Only 2 women
Anglo-Indian MLA Vinisha Nero and deputy mayor S.P. Hemalatha were the only two women politicians, who were part of the city inspection. But soon after the inspection at Kino Theatre, Ms Hemalatha left. Ms Nero was heard saying, “I am the only woman representative saving the face of women politicians.”
Read: Siddaramaiah goes on city tour to check monsoon preparedness by civic agencies
Will you keep quiet?
The chief minister felt uncomfortable after seeing a heap of garbage at Madiwala market and vented out his anger against one of the BBMP officials saying, “Will you keep quiet if you see garbage in your house? Why don’t you get it cleared?”
No pictures, please!
After inspecting Iglur Lake, the chief minister was getting back to his bus. As photojournalists and videographers waited for Mr Siddaramaiah to cross the drain, Siddaramaiah stopped, saying, “I will not cross if you click.” Only after the media men turned the other way did he cross the drain holding up his dhoti.
CM Siddaramaiah with City Development Minister KJ George during his inspection of the city.
Kino theatre
On his first visit to the railway underpass at Kino on Subedar Chatram Road in Seshadripuram , where two BMTC buses were almost submerged two years ago in rain, the Chief Minister assured of a permanent solution to the problem of flooding here at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The busy road would be cut open to lay a pipeline with a gradient towards the Seshadripuram police station, he explained. The BBMP has as a temporary measure installed two pumps, each operated by electricity and a generator, to pump out the water on the road should it get flooded.
Madivala market
At the Madivala market, Mr Siddaramaiah assured the traders that 440 new shops would be built in six blocks for their benefit at a cost of Rs. 15 crore. “The tender has been floated for the first phase covering 151 shops,” he told them, also explaining that while blocks A and B would hold shops , block C would be used to load and unload agricultural products.
Surprise visit to government observation home, Madivala
Paying a surprise visit to the observation home in Madivala, the Chief Minister interacted with some of the 43 boys lodged there for different crimes and hearing their stories, advised them to turn their lives around and join the mainstream of society. Wishing them good luck, he suggested they take a oath to stay away from crime for the rest of their lives. For their part, the children complained about the lack of facilities at the home and received a patient hearing from him.
Central Silk Board
A visibly upset Chief Minister ordered suspension of BWSSB executive engineer, Rudramurthy, for the delay in remodeling of the storm water drain on HSR Layout service road. Blaming the “irresponsibility and negligence” of the officers for the hold- up , he ordered them to complete the Rs 18 crore project by December- end. Mayor Manjunath Reddy too had complained about the delay, he noted.
The Chief Minister said a flyover would be built above the Metro Rail corridor at the Central Silk Board to ensure smooth flow of traffic. While the BMRCL , which was executing the project along with the BDA, would spend Rs 200 crore on it, the BDA would contribute Rs 100 crore.
Mallya Road
Aware of the flooding of Kanteerava Stadium in rain, Mr. Siddaramaiah inspected the ongoing drain work at the stadium and the completed TenderSure work on Mallya Road. He suggested better shoulder drains be provided to make sure there is no flooding on the road, which often sees cars battling through knee-deep water in the monsoon. TenderSure roads, he said, would in future be made of more durable concrete. Being expensive, the project would be carried out in a phased manner. Asked about the delay in building TenderSure roads, he blamed it on the work being carried out only at night and on the need to shift utilities.
Iblur lake
At the Iblur lake, Mr Siddaramaiah directed officials to mercilessly evict encroachers, who have taken over half of its 18.06 acres to form roads. Notices have already been issued to encroachers and the Deputy Commissioner (Urban) has been told to evict them. Recalling that the committee headed by MLA, K. B. Koliwad, had found 1,232 acres of lake land encroached upon in the city, he said the fate of the layouts formed by the BDA on the lake beds would be decided after studying its report.
Kaggadasapura
Visiting Kaggadasapura, which is part of the KR Puram constituency represented by his confidante, Byrati Basavaraj, Mr. Siddaramaiah received an enthusiastic welcome by his followers. He said a '27 crore Road Over Bridge (ROB) had been planned in the area on a cost sharing basis between the Indian Railways and the BBMP and it was likely to be ready in 18 months.
K R Puram
The Chief Minister had all his answers ready for the traffic woes of the IT hub, announcing an elevated corridor to provide a smooth ride to Whitefield, Marathahalli, KR Puram and Hebbal. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) pegged the cost at Rs 630 crore for project , which could be jointly executed by the BDA and the state government, he explained, hastening to assure that the existing road network would not be disturbed while work was underway on the new elevated corridor. Mr. Siddaramaiah also announced a Rs 1,500 crore elevated corridor between Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal to ease traffic in this sector.
HSR Layout
The locals, who have created a tree park after reclaiming encroached government land at HSR Layout, have become a role model for the rest of the city and the Chief Minister was suitably impressed during his visit to the park. Not only did local residents take the help of the urban administration to clear encroachments on about eight acres of government land, but also pooled in money to plant 800 saplings on it. They hope to have a beautiful tree park here in a few years. The urban administration has been directed to hand over the land to the BDA, which is expected to drill borewells to ensure that there is enough water for the trees.
