Bengaluru, Sep 29 (PTI) The Karnataka government has notified a new road grid for the areas of Bengaluru Urban district outside the Greater Bengaluru Authority to ensure that future urban growth is backed by adequate roads, drinking water, drainage and other essential infrastructure, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference here, the minister said Bengaluru had grown rapidly over the past 25 years without adequate advance planning and preparedness, and the consequences were now visible in the form of traffic congestion and persistent challenges relating to roads, drinking water and drainage.
“We are today facing the consequences of the planning deficiencies of the past. We must learn from these mistakes and ensure that they are not repeated,” Gowda said, adding that Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had clearly directed that the same mistakes should not recur.
According to Gowda, urbanisation is rapidly expanding into areas outside the GBA. Although these areas are currently outside the GBA limits, they are increasingly developing as extensions of Bengaluru and could eventually become part of the city’s larger urban footprint.
While urbanisation has already spread across around 750 sq km, experts estimate that Bengaluru’s urbanised area could expand to 1,400-1,800 sq km in the coming years.
“Whether we want it or not, urbanisation around Bengaluru is inevitable. If we do not plan and provide infrastructure in these areas now, they too will face the same traffic and drainage problems that Bengaluru is struggling with today,” the Minister said.
He said the government’s objective was to put a planned development framework in place before unplanned urbanisation takes hold, so that the problems currently being experienced within the GBA are not replicated in Bengaluru’s expanding periphery.
As part of this planned approach, the entire Bengaluru Urban district was recently brought under the jurisdiction of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
Gowda said that a master plan is being prepared to provide drinking water and progressively establish adequate drainage infrastructure across the district.
Similarly, a new road grid has been identified in the master plan across the jurisdictions of BMRDA and other local development authorities to improve connectivity and ease future traffic movement, he said.
The minister said creating new roads inside the existing GBA would have limited utility because large parts of the area already have layouts and buildings.
“Therefore, the focus is on areas that are currently developing,” he said.
According to a statement issued by GBA, the minister said that the notified road grid will provide connectivity between taluk headquarters, hobli headquarters, major district roads, State highways, the Peripheral Ring Road and the Satellite Town Ring Road. These roads have been notified as CDP roads in a grid pattern to support planned urban expansion.
The new notification covers hundreds of roads, including existing Zilla Panchayat, PWD and State Highway roads proposed for widening, it said.
Roads that were previously as narrow as 10 metres have been notified for widths of 30 metres, 45 metres and, in some cases, up to 90 metres, the GBA said.
The minister said complete construction of the identified road network could take five to ten years. However, land required for the notified road corridors will have to be left vacant while undertaking new layouts or constructing houses in these areas, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.
“This is a precautionary measure to ensure that the problems within Bengaluru are not repeated outside the city,” he said.
Gowda appealed to citizens to check the notification and understand the road alignments before undertaking construction or developing layouts.
He said the complete details of the new notification will be made available on the BMRDA (Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority) website. Constructing a house or layout on land notified for the road network will amount to a violation of the law.
The minister said that to make the information easily accessible to the public, officials have also been directed to prepare and upload videos showing the existing and proposed road alignments on the website.
The BMRDA, Zilla Panchayat and PWD officials have also been directed to jointly identify the notified roads and display the details on Gram Panchayat and Revenue Department notice boards. The Zilla Panchayat CEO has been instructed to ensure that the public is adequately informed, he said.
Given that the identified road network runs into thousands of kilometres, it will not be possible to construct all the roads simultaneously. The concerned departments have therefore been directed to take up the roads in phases and according to priority, the Minister added. PTI AMP ROH
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