The Karnataka Cabinet Thursday cleared Rs 2,296.57 crore for various development works related to Bengaluru, including funds for asphalting primary and tertiary roads in the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).
Of the amount, Rs 1,241.57 crore was for a special scheme to provide infrastructure facilities for the recently formed corporations under GBA. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil informed that an action plan to improve road infrastructure in the corporations received administrative approval from the Cabinet. The funds will be utilised to asphalt roads, he said.
The remaining Rs 1,055 crore would be used for the development of wards and basic infrastructure facilities in the five corporations. The works will be carried out under the Chief Minister’s Infrastructure Development Programme announced in the budget earlier this year.
The Cabinet has directed the department concerned to invite a short-term tender for the works and asked it to seek tender approval and administrative approval in one go, according to a statement issued by the minister. The allocation to improve city infrastructure came amidst growing complaints regarding the state of roads in the city.
During the meeting, the Cabinet also decided to submit a Recovery and Reconstruction memorandum to the Central government to compensate for the loss to public infrastructure during the floods reported in North Karnataka a month ago. According to Patil, the memorandum will seek financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1,545.23 crore from the Central government under the provisions of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment of the National Disaster Response Fund. “This is the first time that the state government is seeking aid for infrastructure losses,” Patil said, responding to a question, noting that a memorandum seeking compensation for crop loss would be submitted separately.
Among other approvals by the Cabinet included Rs 69.13 crore for the ‘Cauvery IT Cell’ – an in-house technical development division of the Stamps and Registration Department. The division will be outsourced at the said cost for five years, Patil added.