The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Now be better connected to satellite towns

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Friday, Jul 11, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Now be better connected to satellite towns

Sharath S. Srivatsa

The project will segregate the highway traffic from the local traffic
Proposed STRR will be implemented in four packages

BANGALORE: The Rs. 5,250-crore Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) project, proposed to connect developing towns around Bangalore has received Rs. 400 crore initial funding from the State Government towards acquisition and other costs of the project, even as modalities of its implementation is being worked out.

The STRR is a part of road projects initiated by the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) to segregate the highway traffic from the local traffic and also to pave the way for a systematic expansion and growth of Bangalore. The 364-km STRR project, that also includes individual town ring roads (ITRR), connects Dobbspet, Doddaballapur, Devanahalli, Hoskote, Sarjapur, Attibele, Anekal, Kanakapura, Ramanagara and Magadi.

Notification

“A notification has been issued with regard to grant of Rs. 400 crore to the BMRDA has been issued recently. The project is expected to come before the Cabinet shortly, and several issues involved in the project are being worked out by the Public Works Department,” BMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner Abhijit Das Gupta told The Hindu.

It is learnt that the Public Works Department has been chosen as the monitoring agency, as BMRDA does not have the necessary number in terms of technical staff.

Feasibility report

While the techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR) is ready, the cost of the project, implications and mode of implementation are among the issues that are being deliberated.

“We have not yet decided whether the project is to be implemented on annuity basis or design-build-own-operate-transfer (DBOOT) basis,” he added.

As the STRR is essentially upgrading of existing roads, the alignment moves along the national highway at several places. BMRDA sources said that either National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will be requested to implement the project or the project will be implemented by disassociating the NHAI and the highway. “We are still in talks with the NHAI, a decision would be arrived after weighing pros ad cons,” he added.

Packages

The proposed STRR will be implemented in four packages. While the 88.5-km stretch connecting Dobbspet, Doddaballapur and Devanahalli will form the northern package, the 78-km stretch connecting Devanahalli, Hoskote, Sarjapur and Attibele will be the eastern package.

The 128-km stretch linking Attibele, Anekal, Kanakapura and Ramanagara has been brought under southern package and the 70-km stretch connecting Ramanagara, Magadi and Dobbspet is under the western package.

Traffic projection

Mr. Gupta said: “The traffic projection studies of the roads have shown that there is a heavy movement of traffic in northern and eastern corridors while the traffic movement is moderate in west and south. Interest in the northern and eastern corridors will be more as it will be economically viable to execute them.” In the light of this, the BMRDA has to offer a combination of heavy traffic and moderate traffic packages to the developers instead of offering both the heavy traffic corridor to one and the rest to other, he said.

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