Bangalore: Three new city corporations in state, total 11

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Sep 2: With the upgradation of the city municipal councils (CMCs) of Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapur into city corporations, the total number of city corporations in Karnataka goes upto 11, including the State capital city of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake announced the State Government’s decision to upgrade the 3 CMCs into city corporations.

A Cabinet note has already been prepared to upgrade the three CMCs to city corporations, Sorake said indicating that a formal decision would be announced after the approval by the State Cabinet.
 
The previous BJP regime had upgraded the Tumkur CMC as City Corporation but the Karnataka High Court had quashed the formation of the corporation in April 2011.

The High Court had held that the State Government should decide on upgrading the CMCs only on the basis of the population figures of the 2011 census.

The High Court had directed the State Government to consider the Census figures, he said.

The Government gave the status of a corporation to Tumkur City after the city’s population crossed three lakhs.

The High Court found that the declared population of Tumkur was less than three lakh as per Census 2001.

Apart from BBMP, the other city corporations in Karnataka are: Mangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Davangere, Hubli-Dharad, Gulbarga and Mysore.

Noting the achievements of the department in the first 100 days of the Congress government, Sorake said during the transition phase of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 61 projects with estimated cost of Rs 5,265.22 crore were approved by the state level sanctioning committee and forwarded to Ministry of Urban Development or its consideration, Sorake said.

Seventeen water supply projects with estimated cost of Rs 711.92 crore were approved and submitted to the Central Government under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), the minister said.

Guidelines for Rs 700 cr Urban Infrastructure Fund Approved

The State Cabinet has approved guidelines for utilizing the Rs 700 crore Urban Infrastructure Development Fund, which is proposed to be mobilized from financial institutions for funding part of the project cost of urban local bodies under Karnataka water and Sanitation Pooled Fund Trust.

Announcing the State Cabinet’s approval of the guidelines, Urban Development Minister Vinaya Kumar Sorake alos announced that the State Government was preparing an innovative urban development project for city cluster development around Bangalore in a bid to decongest Bangalore City.

Sorake said the proposed project is aimed at developing and upgrading eight city clusters around Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs 2100 crore.

A loan assistance from Asian Development Bank would be obtained to implement the project, the minister told reporters in Bangalore on Monday.

He said the project would cover eight towns of Nelamangala, Magadi, Anekal, Bidadi, Dobaspet, Hoskote, Devanahalli and Harohalli around the Bangalore city outskirts.

Explaining the achievements of the department during the first 100 days of the Congress government, he said a project is under preparation for state level heritage based urban development programme for the State with the assistance of the World Bank.

Meanwhile, officials said detailed project report on phase-I of the Rs 8759-crore suburban rail system for Bangalore consisting of five corridors soon.

Officials said a special purpose vehicle - Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation - would be set up for implementing the project which is expected to ease congestion in the city.

A Rs 1,760 crore project has been prepared to provide 24X7 water supply to the entire corporation area of Belgaum, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad cities on PPP basis with World Bank assistance, Sorake said.

The minister also said that a project is under preparation for state-level heritage-based urban development programme for Karnataka with World Bank assistance.

He said a master plan would be prepared in phases to project the requirements of cities of Karnataka in the year 2040.