Special committee to take final call on funds for Peripheral Ring Road.

Will the city’s much-delayed mega infrastructure project the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) ever see the light of day or is it as good as dropped?

Over a decade after it was proposed, the government, which expressed its inability to fund the Rs. 11,950 crore project, on Monday, announced the setting up of a special committee headed by the Chief Secretary to look into alternative finance options to acquire land for the PRR.

The announcement by Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George came after a meeting with the land losers of 28 villages.

The special committee has been asked to submit a report on the same within 21 days. Nearly 1,920 acres of land have been notified for acquisition for the project.

Apart from the Chief Secretary, the committee also has an Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Principal Secretaries of Finance, Revenue and Law Departments.

The Commissioner, Member-Engineer and Special Land Acquisition Officer of BDA are also part of it.

Meanwhile, with assurance from Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, to partially fund the project, the government is also exploring the possibility of it being taken over by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The minister said that the CS-led committee will explore this option too and come out with an action plan.

The Hindu