George tells BDA to give priority to develop 65-km PRR

Minister for Bengaluru Development K J George on Wednesday directed the officials of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to accord priority for developing 65 km Peripheral Ring Road around the City.

In his first meeting with the BDA officials here, the minister said he would soon request Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to sanction additional funds for the project which has been delayed for want of money for acquiring the required land. The BDA had initially estimated that the JICA-funded project would cost around Rs 3,600 crore. However, the cost had escalated manifold over the years due to increase in land acquisition costs.

George, who reviewed various projects / works of the BDA, instructed the officials to prepare a detailed plan to handle the frothing problem at the Bellandur and Varthur lakes, which has become a regular phenomenon, of late. Sources in the BDA said that the minister directed the officials to get a detailed project report (DPR) done on establishing a sewage treatment plant to deal with the inflow of effluents into the lakes, to check frothing.

The minister, sources said, advised senior officials to make the BDA more people-friendly and hold public interaction meetings on a regular basis. He is said to have expressed his eagerness to meet people whose works are pending with the BDA for long. He intends to told hold an interaction with the people after the winter session of the Legislature, the sources said. BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat and all senior officials were present at the meeting.