...the principle behind the elevated corridor network in Bengaluru? R K Misra who proposed the plan to the government talks about it.

The ‘Steel flyover’ issue took Bengaluru city by storm. The focus of the activists is now extended to all other elevated projects coming up in the city, announced years ago but mired in secrecy, with little information on public domain. One such major project is a network of five elevated corridors, anounced by the Chief Minister in his speech for Budget 2016-2017.

One person who has been pushing for this project is Rajendra Kumar Misra, or RK Misra as he is popularly known in elite circles of Bengaluru. He has been the member of BBMP’s Technical Advisory Committee since 2011. He is also the trustee of two non-governmental organisations, Sahyog and Centre for Smart Cities.

R K Misra
R K Misra

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Sahyog describes itself as Indian Council of Public Private Partnerships, whose mission is to advocate and facilitate public-private partnership in the areas of public policy formulation and provision of infrastructure and services. The NGO prides itself in taking initiatives for Bangalore's first PPP roads.

The first road work undertaken by Sahyog was Old Airport Road, from Kundalahalli to Saibaba Ashram. 11 km of road was developed at a cost of Rs 11 crore, out of which half the money was contributed by private parties. Misra says the NGO was involved in construction of the Marathahalli bridge, and has offered to rejuvenate a lake recently.

Misra has been writing in his website since 2012 that Bengaluru needs multilayer-multimodal transport corridors. Outer Ring Road Corridor, North East and North South Corridors are some of what he has proposed. The other NGO founded by RK Misra, Centre for Smart Cities, among many other presentations, has a detailed plan for an elevated corridor network in Bengaluru.

In light of Misra’s involvement in the advocacy and project plan for elevated corridor, we spoke to him to understand his idea better. Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Since when has this elevated corridor project been in the planning stage?

A: We proposed the initial idea through Centre for Smart Cities in late 2014 along with a pre-feasibility report (PFR).

Q: So once the project proposal was ready, what did you do with it?

A: The project plan was proposed to the BBMP. It was presented before BBMP’s Technical Advisory Committee. Then it was placed before the state government. The Urban Development Department (UDD) directed the BBMP to prepare a Detailed Feasibility Report. Subsequently given the scale and complexity of the project, UDD decided to hand over the project to the specialized road building agency of Public Works Department, Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd.

Q: Was this project discussed in the Vision Group?

A: I don't remember this project being discussed in the vision group. The Vision group chaired by the Chief Minister doesn't discuss projects. But the CM has mentioned it in the budget speech itself.

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