Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌧️ Today’s weather: It will be partly cloudy during the day with high humidity and chances of rain.
🚧 CM inspects BBMP’s ongoing projects
Recently, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai carried out a surprise inspection of at least 3 of the projects of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Key details: The CM visited these sites alongside Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath and officials from the BBMP’s road infrastructure division. He inspected all the works that fall under the Mahadevapura assembly constituency.
- Aravind Limbavali, Mahadevapura MLA was not present during the inspection.
Projects inspected:
- He first inspected the two-lane underpass in Marathahalli, which is under construction. This two-lane underpass is to help motorists heading from Old Airport Road to Kadubeesanahalli and residents of Ashwathnagar and Munnekolala.
- Following this, he visited the nearly finished underpass in Kundalahalli junction. It is expected to open in 7 to 10 days.
- He also inspected the work of the railway underbridge on Panathur Road near the Bellandur railway station.
🚁 A chopper ride to hometown
A businessman from Gumudipoondi in Tamil Nadu went to his native village Therku Theethampatti on a helicopter from Bengaluru to attend a festival.
The event: The festivities of the Mahakumbabishekam for Arulmigu PathraKaliamman temple were held at Therku Theethampatti village near Ottapidaram in Tamil Nadu. The villagers were taken by surprise at the sound of a helicopter. In the helicopter were B Natarajan and his family members including his wife, son, brother and friend. They came to the village to celebrate with the villagers.
- The grand entrance and the trip back to Bengaluru in the same helicopter cost Natarajan ₹7 lakh.
The reason: It was Natarajan’s long-time wish to travel in a helicopter. He fulfilled it while going to his hometown for festivities.
- To travel on the helicopter, Natarajan and his family first travelled to Bengaluru from Gumudipoondi by road.
✈️ Direct flight between Bidar and Bengaluru
For those wishing to visit Bidar, Star Air has good news. To strengthen regional connectivity, Ghodawat Enterprises Pvt Ltd (Star Air) is launching a direct flight between Bidar and Bengaluru.
Tourist place: Bidar is the ‘City of Whispering Mountains’. It is known for its Bidri handicrafts, historical architecture and religious significance to the Sikh community.
- Despite being at the confluence of urban development and cultural heritage, not many flights are available to Bidar.
Key details: Star Air will operate Embraer 145 jets to Bidar. The city is Star Air’s 18th destination. This will be a big boost to tourism in the city.
Flight schedule: The flight between Bidar and Bengaluru is set to operate 4 times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. It will cover the 520 km between Bidar and Bengaluru in just 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Other modes of transportation take anywhere between 8 and 12 hours.
🚇 Progress of Challaghatta metro station
Metro work in Challaghatta will finish soon with the station set to open in August.
Story so far: The construction work for the Challaghatta Metro Station is almost complete. It is set to open in August and become operative by end of this year. It was a belated addition to the Purple Line and will be the smallest station.
- The total cost of construction was ₹33 crores.
Key details: Challaghatta station will be 1.5km from Kengeri Station, the present terminal of the Purple Line. Compared to other stations, Challaghatta Station does not have a concourse.
- Students of RR Medical College, Dental College, a nearby Ayurveda Hospital and more will benefit the most from this station.
What now: Contract for Challaghatta depot has been granted. The Letter of Agreement is expected to be handed over next month. It will take around 2.5 years for the depot’s construction.
Problems: Due to its remote location, the station is facing a frequent steel and iron rod theft problem. Till now, no police case has been filed.
🗞️ In other news…
- Tamil Nadu government and a team from Bengaluru are collaborating to launch Kannada translations of three Tamil books.
- Cybersecurity company SentinelOne based in the US launched its ‘Operations Centre’ in the city.
- Meet the 81-year-old person who has been a tree guide in 2 parks for 16 years.
- Most calls of senior citizens to the national helpline Elderline were related to abuse over property issues.
- Karnataka’s life expectancy at birth is the lowest among the south Indian states.
That’s it for today. Have a good day!