How Bengaluru is getting closer to its satellite towns

Traffic within Bengaluru may be dreadful, but travelling to neighbouring towns from any part of the city and vice versa will soon become seamless. 

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is just months away from opening 80 km of the 288-km Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR), an access-controlled highway that will eventually encircle all of Bengaluru. 

The STRR will eliminate the need for long-distance commercial vehicles to enter Bengaluru. Plus, traffic moving between satellite towns can completely bypass the city. 

The Rs 17,000-crore project being developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model is expected to boost the economies of over a dozen satellite towns, including Dobbspet, Devanahalli, Hoskote and Ramanagara. It will make Tamil Nadu's Hosur closer to all the towns around Bengaluru. That is because 45 km of the road will fall in the neighbouring state. 

The STRR will also improve Bengaluru's connectivity with other major cities and ports. Through the STRR's integration with the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, it'll become much easier for passenger and freight traffic to reach the Chennai and Krishnapatnam ports. 

Further, the STRR will be linked to the proposed Bengaluru-Pune Expressway, bridging the distance between the two major cities. That's not all, the STRR will also have access to the Rs 1,800-crore Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) planned at Muddalingana Halli, near Nelamangala. 

Construction has begun or is nearing completion on five of the STRR's 10 packages, translating into about half of the total road length. 

Four other packages are in the active bidding stage while decks are being cleared for starting work on the stretch that will pass through the ecologically sensitive Bannerghatta National Park (BNP). 

Broadly speaking, the STRR is composed of three sections divided into greenfield and brownfield construction. It's a combination of National Highways 948A and 648, and National Expressway 7. 

The NH 948A and NE 7 are greenfield projects, meaning they are being built from scratch. The NH 648 section is a brownfield project where the old Dobbspet-Hosur highway is being upgraded. 

The NHAI plans to complete 80 km of NH 648 by December 2023, according to its Project Director (Bengaluru) Archana Kumar.  Of this 80 km, the 38 km between Doddaballapura bypass and Hoskote has already been completed. "We are planning to open it in December but the official inauguration may take some more time," she told DH. 

Work on the 42-km stretch between Dobbspet and Doddaballapura bypass is 80% complete, she added. 

The STRR is also set to overcome its most difficult hurdle: receiving environmental clearance for a small section that will pass through the Bannerghatta forests.  The NHAI has shortened the elevated corridor from 8.1 km to 6.63 km that will pass through Bannerghatta. The State Wildlife Board approved the revised realignment last month. 

Kumar said the NHAI was waiting for a hard copy of the board's proceedings. "As soon as we get it, we will upload it to Parivesh," she explained. Parivesh, an online application, facilitates environmental clearances for different projects. 

After that, the NHAI will approach the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for approval, probably at its meeting in December. "We will then call the tender and start construction," she added. 

Meanwhile, Karnataka has released Rs 216 crore from its share of the land acquisition cost. The state will bear 30%, or Rs 1,800 crore, of the land cost. "We hope to get the rest of the money soon," she said.  Karnataka will also waive royalty on minerals used on the STRR construction, as well as its share of the GST, Kumar said.