K'taka govt approves installation of 'adaptive traffic signals' at 110 junctions in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Sep 25 (PTI) Aimed at addressing Bengaluru's traffic woes, the Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved installation of "adaptive traffic signals", at the city's 110 junctions.

This will be implemented under the Karnataka State Road Safety Fund at an estimated cost of Rs 56.45 crore, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters, briefing the cabinet decisions.

According to officials, this is being introduced to control traffic by implementing a new signaling system that operates automatically. Under this, signals will change dynamically based on traffic density, which is in contrast to the old system where signals would change at fixed intervals.

The cabinet has partially accepted the inquiry report of a commission headed by K N Keshavanarayan, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, giving a clean chit to Minister K J George and two IPS officers, and rejected the recommendations for a departmental inquiry against the officers, in connection with case pertaining to alleged suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M K Ganapathy in July 2016.

Noting that the Commission has clearly stated that the then Home Minister K J George (now power Minister) and IPS officers A M Prasad and Pronab Mohanty were not responsible for the suicide of Ganapathy, and has rejected the allegations made by him in the interview before suicide, Patil said, the Commission had recommended action against some officers/staff citing certain shortcomings in the investigation of the case, which has been rejected by the cabinet.

He said, "M K Srivastava, IPS, retired Director General of Police, in his study report submitted to the government regarding the commission's recommendations stated that -- since the investigation report submitted by the CBI has been accepted by the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court has upheld the closure of the CBI case -- so there is no need to accept the recommendation for departmental inquiry against the officers." The cabinet also granted administrative approval and tender approval for collecting and disposing of 1,750 MT of building and construction material debris waste per day in three packages (one packages of 750 TPD and two packages of 500 TPD) on a public private partnership model, within the jurisdiction of Greater Bangalore Authority.

Approval was also granted for Karnataka Rent (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which amends various sections of the Karnataka Rent Act, 1999.

Patil said, consequent to the enactment of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 by the Government of India, the state government intends to enact the Karnataka Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2025. To operationalise this Act, the Commerce and Industries Department has proposed to amend the penalty and offence provisions under various sections of the Karnataka Rent Act, 1999.

It is aimed at decriminalising and rationalising offences to enhance trust-based governance for ease of living and doing business, he added.

Approval has been given by the cabinet for the revised action plan of Rs 329 crores for the expansion and modernization of the State Fire and Emergency Services Department under the 15th Finance Commission Scheme of the central government.

Also approved was renovation and development work of Karnataka Bhavan-2 (Sharavati) building at Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs. 16.30 crore.

The cabinet has approved the "Karnataka State Civil Services (Compulsory Training for Promotion) Rules, 2025".

"This is particularly for the skilling of officials according to the cadre and the responsibility that they undertake on particular assignments," the minister said.

Approval was also given for the purchase of robotic medical equipment required by the Institute of Gastroenterology Sciences and Organ Transplant, Bengaluru at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. PTI KSU KH