CM: Work on ring road, elevated stretch soon

The state government will construct peripheral ring roads and elevated roads in Bengaluru at the earliest to address the traffic problems and the foundation stone for these two mega projects will be laid next month, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Saturday.

"The government is serious about addressing the traffic problems, vehicular pollution and improving infrastructure in Bengaluru. In the first phase, the government will build ring roads and elevated roads at the earliest," the chief minister said while participating in a media event.

Though there is opposition from some sections of the society to elevated roads, the government will address their concerns, the chief minister said.

He said the first phase of the metro rail is already completed and work on the second phase is in progress and the government will approve the third phase soon.

Petrol under GST

The chief minister also said he was against bringing petroleum products under GST. With the implementation of GST, the states will be left with only three sources of revenue — fuel, excise and stamp duty imposed on land registration.

Keeping the state's revenues in mind, bringing fuel prices under GST was not practical, he said.

The chief minister also said the coalition government is stable and will complete its full five-year term without any hitch. He said Congress president Rahul Gandhi is fully backing him.

“I will run this government. It is stable. I am here for five years. Some sections are predicting that the government will fall. My Congress friends and the high command are totally supporting me. Cabinet expansion is not a big issue for me,” he pointed out

The chief minister also said, "There is no super CM in the government and people of Karnataka are super CMs."

He also sought the Centre's help to resolve the interstate water dispute.