The mismatch between the growing population and the need for adequate infrastructure to keep pace with the growth-related requirements has led to a slew of projects remaining pending or moving at a snail’s pace across Karnataka.
Increasing population implies a growing need for infrastructure for the masses to support food, water, transport, connectivity, law & order, and their equitable distribution. But that has not happened in Karnataka. There are several major projects that have been pending for years, and the almost two-year-long pandemic may have only further delayed their implementation.
Urban experts and government officials admit that though the pandemic is one of the reasons for the delay in completing projects, lack of coordination and will among officials are also prime reasons.
Bengaluru suburban rail
Mooted 37 years ago, the first tender for one corridor of the Rs 15,767-crore Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) was floated by its implementing agency only on November 24. Railway officials reiterate that a 2026 deadline has been set, but that seems unlikely.
The Rail Infrastructure Development Enterprises (Karnataka) Ltd (K-RIDE) was to float a tender for the 25.01 km Baiyappanahalli-Chikkabanavara Line (referred to as Second Corridor) in the first week of September, but it has been postponed.
Apart from this, the 148.17-km suburban rail project will cover three other corridors – KSR Bengaluru-Devanahalli, Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield, and Heelalige-Rajanakunte. The Heelalige Line (fourth corridor) will be the next line for which tenders are likely to be called for.
Peripheral Ring Road
Conceived 16 years ago to cater to the expanding state capital and growing vehicular traffic, the Bangalore Development Authority only recently submitted a proposal to the State Government to implement the Rs 21,091 crore project in Private-Public Partnership (PPP). Last year, the 65.5 km project was upgraded to 73 km with eight lanes and four service lanes. It is supposed to come up on 1,810 acres of land in three taluks of Bengaluru North, Bengaluru East and Anekal. It will start from Tumkur Road at NICE Road Junction and end at Hosur Road on NH-44. Land acquisition has been the biggest hurdle.
Red tape has also delayed formation of the Kempegowda, Arkavathy and Shivaram Karanth Layouts. Experts also list the completion of drinking water and sewage lines in 110 villages which were added to the city limits over a year back. “Loans were taken for the schemes, but the exercise has still not been completed. Another project which is a must for the city is the implementation of the parking policy and not just the completion of the multi- level car parking at Freedom Park,” experts say.
Rail projects in Shivamogga
Two railway projects announced by the Centre are yet to take off. The Shivamogga-Harihar line was announced in the 2011-12 Budget. Then MP B Y Raghavendra raised the issue in Parliament on August 25, 2011. Survey work on Shivamogga-Honnali-Harihar route was conducted, but there has been no progress since.
The Shivamogga-Sringeri-Mangaluru line was announced by then Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda in his maiden Railway Budget in July 2014, and is pending for seven years.
Mahadayi Project
On August 22, 2000, the Karnataka government gave administrative approval for the Mahadayi Project, which involves building dams across Kalasa and Bhanduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river, to divert water to the Malaprabha river, which supplies drinking water to Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag. However, this was opposed by Goa, which claims that it violates the National Water Policy and may create a shortage of drinking water needed in Goa in the future.
After the Mahadayi tribunal gave an interim order on August 14, 2018, allowing Karnataka to utilise its share of 13.4 tmcft of water from the Mahadayi river, the Karnataka government sanctioned Rs 1677 crore so far for its implementation. However, the Central government is yet to finalise the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Upper Krishna Project
The Upper Krishna Project (UKP) across Krishna river was envisaged to provide water for irrigation to drought-prone areas of Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts and will irrigate 15,36,000 acres of land.
The foundation stone for the UKP stage-1 project was laid by then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964. The UKP intends to use the bulk of 173 tmcft of water allocated to Karnataka by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal.
Now, the UKP stage-3 project, for the utilisation of 130 tmcft of Krishna river water is estimated to cost Rs 65,000 crore. The tribunal, headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar, allocated 173 tmcft of water to Karnataka seven years ago. But the previous coalition government had not released funds for this project.
The State Government has announced to provide Rs 2,500 crore this year to take up resettlement and rehabilitation of around 20 villages under UKP Stage III (Phase-I). The long-pending UKP stage-3 will increase the height of the Almatti dam from 519 metres to 524 metres. It involves acquisition of 1.3 lakh acres, including 75,000 acres that will be submerged. The UKP-I and UKP-II were aimed at irrigating 6.22 lakh hectares, and after completion of UKP-III, an additional 5.94 lakh hectares, covering seven districts, will be irrigated.
Varahi Drinking Water Project
The Rs 300 crore Varahi project is proposed to bring drinking water to Udupi district. The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) and the Udupi City Municipal Council have several times missed deadlines, with the latest fixed for March 2022.
The Varahi project aims at drawing water from the perennial Varahi river to be purified at Baje dam and then supplied to the 35 wards of Udupi city. The State’s Legislative Council Petitions Committee, in 2020, had directed the officials concerned to construct a treatment plant at Halady village so that the 23 villages en route, coming under 13 gram panchayats, will also get drinking water.
According to sources, due to the pandemic, implementation of the project has been delayed though the tender was floated on March 27, 2018 with a September 2019 deadline. Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat says the project has picked up pace after pandemic problems reduced. “I am hopeful that by March 2022, the project will be completed,” he says.
Upper Bhadra Project, Chitradurga
This is a major project being developed to make the entire drought-affected Chitradurga green and make water available for farmers to improve agriculture. The State Government has recommended national project status for the Upper Bhadra Project. If approved, all the funds for the project will come from the Central government. Along with this, a direct railway line from Tumakuru to Davanagere could boost economic activities on the Chennai-Mumbai economic corridor project.
Film City, Mysuru
The file on the ambitious film city project on the outskirts of Mysuru has been gathering dust for the last several years. Although the project was announced during Ramakrishna Hegde’s tenure as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, during his tenure, gave it a new lease of life by allotting land in Immavu village in Mysuru.
Even as the project was about to take off, the government changed. After H D Kumaraswamy assumed power, he shifted it to Ramanagara and within the next year, B S Yediyurappa announced shifting it to the outskirts of Bengaluru. However, in March this year, the government announced that the project will come up in Mysuru itself as per previous plan.
The state-of-art film city, when completed, is not only expected to generate employment, but will also give a boost to the tourism sector.
Airport runway expansion, Mysuru
Though road and air connectivity to Mysuru has improved over the years, runway expansion at Mysuru airport to allow bigger aircraft to operate from here and boost the tourism sector and bring more IT players, is still facing hurdles.
The proposal is to increase the runway length to 2,750 metres to help operate larger aircraft and increase the number of direct long-distance flights. Though land is available and farmers are willing to settle for the prevailing market rate, it has not progressed as the government failed to take it further despite huge pressure from the local MP Pratap Simha and stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality sectors.
According to officials from the Mysuru Airport, the delay in the expansion of runway is due to the tussle over compensation for the land. “If the government releases Rs 300 to 350 crore towards compensation, the next steps may be taken. But, over the last two years, this is still in the discussion stage,” says an official.
“There is an urgent need for expanding the runway to meet the growing demands of air passengers, considering the industrial prosperity of Mysuru. Required land needs to be handed over to Mysuru Airport at the earliest,” says Sudhakar Shetty, former chairman, Federation of Karnataka Chamber Of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI).
Bennetora, Amarja irrigation projects, Kalaburagi
Major irrigation projects of the district, like the Bennetora and Amarja projects, for which the foundations were laid three decades ago, have not been completed yet. Farmers, who were expected to benefit from these projects, are still not getting water for irrigation.
Plastic Park, Mangaluru
The plastic park, to be set up at Ganjimath in Mangaluru taluk by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, has only received in-principle approval from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, according to the district deputy commissioner. The KIADB has submitted the Detailed Project Report to the Central Government, which is yet to approve it.
(Inputs: S Lalitha & Bosky Khanna in Bengaluru, Sunil Patil in Belagavi, Karthik K K in Mysuru, Divya Cutinho in Mangaluru, Ramkrishna Badseshi in Kalaburagi, Prakash Samaga in Udupi, Ramachandra V Gunari in Shivamogga, Raghu Koppar in Gadag and G Subhash Chandra in Chitradurga)