JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah’s Budget fails to project a logic around which investments are being proposed, and seems more a tweaking of his predecessor Jagadish Shettar’s budget, presented in February this year.
Some of the new allocations in the Budget are the Rs 250 crore for the development of the newly-added 110 villages, Rs 100 crore for development of 44 lakes by removal of encroachments, and prevention of sewage besides development of Kengeri and Veerasandra lakes in a scientific and exemplary model through Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
However, attractive projects like introduction of WiFi at locations across the City (MG-Brigade Road) and remodelling of the four major storm-water valleys (Challaghatta, Hebbal, Koramangala and Vrishabhavathi) are not new concepts.
Introduction of a parking policy around the Central Business District (CBD), although novel in terms of announcement, has not been newly conceived.
And similar is the Rs 100 crore announced to not only deal with the city’s garbage problem scientifically but also generate energy from it.
While the modalities of the WiFi proposal or the parking policy are not explained, older proposals pertaining to roads, drains and other infrastructure projects find explanations at considerable length. This is the Congress’ first independent budget in the State since S M Krishna’s tenure.
Development of 100 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads at a cost of Rs 300 crore, several grade separators at important junctions, including one near K R Puram (Rs 500 crore), and elevated road projects at various places are all extensions of what had already been announced in the previous budgets.
Similarly, railway over-bridges (ROBs) and railway under-bridges (RUBs), extension of Namma Metro lines, proposals for a multi-level parking complex and extension of funds for the implementation of several schemes under the JNNURM are also old.
Almost all of the proposals under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) are old projects, which the new government promises to deliver within a dedicated time frame.