JOIN USChief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the Slum Development Board, under Rajiv Awas Yojana, will build 273 houses in the City at a cost of Rs 12 crore.
The chief minister said this during his visit to the slum at Mahalingeshwara Layout in Adugodi as part of City rounds on Saturday. Already 60 houses have been constructed under the scheme at a cost of Rs three lakh per unit, the chief minister said. He visited Kaikondanahalli Lake and was visibly impressed with clean environs of the water body. Siddaramaiah said the Palike, NGOs and the locals have maintained the lake well and the model should be replicated in other lakes as well. Siddaramaiah’s next stopover was Varthur Kodi. The chief minister inspected the area and summoned BWSSB Chairman Anjum Parvez and Urban DC, V Shankar to the spot.
When the water board chairman said that the BWSSB was planning to implement the plan formulated for the Bellandur Lake at Varthur Kodi, the members of Whitefield Rising led by Nithya Ramakrishnan, co-founder, said that the solution will not work here. The members presented the official with a chart enlisting four options.
The members suggested that there should be a wetland created between Bellandur Lake and Varthur Lake. Secondly, only treated water should be released in the lake, dredging and desilting of the lake should be taken up and lastly, the treated and the untreated water should be separated. Earlier, the chief minister, along with ministers, legislators and a host of officials, reviewed the works at Amani Khane Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Varthur Hobli.
The works on STP, taken up at a cost of Rs 300 crore, will be completed by August 2016. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded project once completed will have a capacity of 90 MLD. According to the BWSSB chairman, the STP will take care of entire sewage generated in Bengaluru South region.
In a press meet held after the City rounds at ‘Krishna’, chief minister said that those found discharging waste into the lakes and water bodies will be penalised. He said that the lakes in Kolar, Anekal, Hoskote and Bengaluru Rural will be filled with the treated water from STPs at Varthur and Bellandur lakes. Siddaramaiah said that Road Under Bridge (RUB) and Road Over Bridge (RoB) would be consrructed in KR Puram, Horamavu, Rammurthy Nagar.
After getting a first hand experience of City’s traffic during the rounds, Siddaramaiah announced that an elevated road would be constructed from Isolation Hospital, Indiranagar to ITPL and Silk Board to ease traffic congestion.