Claiming that Bengaluru was a land of opportunities as one of the fastest growing metropolis, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday vowed to accord top priority to its infrastructure development."The state government has granted Rs.2,000 crore for the development of infrastructure facilities in Bengaluru during the last two years. Under the Nagarothana Yojana (city improvement scheme), 574 civic works are on the anvil," Siddaramaiah said in his address at the 70th Independence Day function here.Admitting that Bengalureans suffer from water-logging and flooding when heavy rain lashes the city due to encroachments and construction on lake beds and storm water drains, the chief minister said stringent action was being taken against builders and officers who colluded in such criminal acts.
"Besides removing illegal structures and evicting dwellers from them, we have initiated stringent action against the builders and officers who colluded with encroachers of lake beds and storm water drains whose blockage results in water-logging and flooding in several areas across the city," Siddaramaiah reiterated.In this context, the chief minister recalled that the state government had evicted and confiscated 4,950 acres of encroached land valued at Rs.52,000 crore in Bengaluru Urban district over the last three years.Noting that his government was committed to build north-south and east-west elevated corridors in the city to ease traffic congestion, Siddaramaiah said the city corporation had invited bids for constructing a steel bridge from Minerva Circle in the southern suburb to Hudson Circle in the city centre."Rs.800 crore will be spent to convert select main roads of the city into white topping. An additional Rs.800 crore will be spent on developing water canals in the city's civic limits and Rs.150 crore on rejuvenating tanks and ponds," he said.To ease the heavy vehicular traffic on the outer ring road in the city's northern suburbs, elevated corridors will be built from Basaveswara Circle to Hebbal Circle at a cost of Rs.1,350 crore."Bengaluru has seen a phenomenal growth during the last decade, with the inclusion of 110 surrounding villages in Bengaluru Rural district," he added.