Fixing city infrastructure woes will take 2 yrs: minister

Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday admitted that Bengaluru is facing a major problem of infrastructure inadequacy and said that it requires more than two years to fix the problem.

“Bengaluru is facing the problem of infrastructure inadequacy. There are too many issues involved...The problem cannot be solved in 24 hours...The problem is so huge that even 24 months are not enough to fix it,” he told reporters who questioned him on inconvenience faced by citizens in Bengaluru, especially motorists, following heavy rains.

He said the government has been making efforts to ease the traffic problem. Number of steps are being taken in this regard. Namma Metro Phase II has been taken up recently.

Now, phase III of the project is being finalised. Traffic police have installed about 600 cameras on important traffic junctions to ensure smooth traffic movement. The Cabinet approved a proposal to purchase 3,000 new buses, he said.

Besides, directions have been issued to all police personnel to involve themselves in traffic management during morning and evening peak hours. The government is doing away with orderlies. Services of about 3,000 policemen who are used for orderlies will be utilised for traffic management in the coming days, he said.

He denied charges that the government has neglected infrastructure development and claimed that it has been proactive in solving problems related to infrastructure in Bengaluru city. A lot of initiatives have been taken up by the government to ease traffic on the city roads. The initiatives will take some time to yield results, he said.