<p>The Congress government in the State seems to have no hesitation in copying a Gujarat development model to build the proposed Satellite Township Ring Road (STRR) that will cut through three districts around Bengaluru.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A decision on adopting the Surat model of road development with zero investment by the State is likely to be taken at a meeting of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) to be chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday.<br /><br />The Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) formed a 66-km Outer Ring Road with zero investment under the Town Planning Scheme. It entered into an agreement with landowners and in turn returned 60 per cent of the developed land. The remaining 40 per cent of the land was utilised for developing physical and social infrastructure (30 per cent) and 10 per cent of the land was sold at market value to raise money to execute the project.<br /><br />SUDA had not taken a single penny from the Gujarat government for the project.<br />Impressed with the zero-funding scheme, the then Union Urban Development secretary Sudhir Krishna, now retired IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, had written to all the states last year to replicate the Surat model.<br /><br />Special LPA<br />The BMRDA, which is planning the STRR, is likely to set up a special Local Planning Authority, as it plans an urban space along the road. “It is not just a road project. We are taking it as a development area. Since it cuts through several towns, we feel the need for a single planning body (to plan and monitor),” BMRDA Commissioner Tushar Girinath said.<br />The 364-km-long, eight-lane STRR will be the exterior ring around Bengaluru after the Outer Ring Road and the proposed Peripheral Ring Road by the Bangalore Development Authority.<br /><br />The STRR will cut through the Bengaluru Urban district (Anekal), Bengaluru Rural (Hoskote, Devanahalli and Doddaballapur), Ramanagaram (Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kanakapura). The BMRDA has already notified the alignment of the road. Besides the commercial development along the STRR, it will also have strategically located terminals. The Public Works Department will execute the STRR, which was conceived in 2006 but never took off.<br /><br />IRR shelved<br />The government has decided to shelve the 250-km Intermediate Ring Road (IRR) that was to come up between the BDA’s proposed 118-km PRR and the STRR. “The proposed IRR is quite close to the STRR and there is no point having it, as it may not be worth adding another ring around the City,” a source said.<br /><br /> <br /></p>
<p>The Congress government in the State seems to have no hesitation in copying a Gujarat development model to build the proposed Satellite Township Ring Road (STRR) that will cut through three districts around Bengaluru.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A decision on adopting the Surat model of road development with zero investment by the State is likely to be taken at a meeting of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) to be chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday.<br /><br />The Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) formed a 66-km Outer Ring Road with zero investment under the Town Planning Scheme. It entered into an agreement with landowners and in turn returned 60 per cent of the developed land. The remaining 40 per cent of the land was utilised for developing physical and social infrastructure (30 per cent) and 10 per cent of the land was sold at market value to raise money to execute the project.<br /><br />SUDA had not taken a single penny from the Gujarat government for the project.<br />Impressed with the zero-funding scheme, the then Union Urban Development secretary Sudhir Krishna, now retired IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, had written to all the states last year to replicate the Surat model.<br /><br />Special LPA<br />The BMRDA, which is planning the STRR, is likely to set up a special Local Planning Authority, as it plans an urban space along the road. “It is not just a road project. We are taking it as a development area. Since it cuts through several towns, we feel the need for a single planning body (to plan and monitor),” BMRDA Commissioner Tushar Girinath said.<br />The 364-km-long, eight-lane STRR will be the exterior ring around Bengaluru after the Outer Ring Road and the proposed Peripheral Ring Road by the Bangalore Development Authority.<br /><br />The STRR will cut through the Bengaluru Urban district (Anekal), Bengaluru Rural (Hoskote, Devanahalli and Doddaballapur), Ramanagaram (Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kanakapura). The BMRDA has already notified the alignment of the road. Besides the commercial development along the STRR, it will also have strategically located terminals. The Public Works Department will execute the STRR, which was conceived in 2006 but never took off.<br /><br />IRR shelved<br />The government has decided to shelve the 250-km Intermediate Ring Road (IRR) that was to come up between the BDA’s proposed 118-km PRR and the STRR. “The proposed IRR is quite close to the STRR and there is no point having it, as it may not be worth adding another ring around the City,” a source said.<br /><br /> <br /></p>
