Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday announced that the Opposition leaders from Bengaluru have agreed to set up the 250-metre Skydeck near NICE Road.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting with the elected representatives of Bengaluru at Vidhana Soudha, he said that the Opposition leaders and MLAs representing Bengaluru have given a go ahead for the 250-metre Skydeck to be set up near NICE Road on the outskirts of the city.

"We will place this before the Cabinet very soon and take it forward," he said.

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Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru Development Minister, said the Skydeck needs about 25 acres of land and that they had shortlisted land near Kommaghatta and Bengaluru university campus, but they decided against it as it may affect students.

"We had shortlisted about 10 places for this project, but the Ministry of Aviation had reservations about those due to Skydeck's height. All elected representatives from Bengaluru, including Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, have agreed for NICE Road location," he said.

"The land is currently with the promoters of NICE Road. But R Ashoka (Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly) said that as per the Supreme Court order, NICE is supposed to handover about 200 acres to the government. Hence, NICE Road land has been finalised," he said.

When asked if the location was too far from the city, he said, "All these factors have been considered. This location would be convenient for tourists as it is on the way to tourist destinations such as Mysuru and Kodagu. The connectivity will also improve once peripheral Ring Road comes is ready. The location will be discussed in the Cabinet. We are planning to do this project with the government funds"

He also mentioned that the tunnel road plan was also discussed in the meeting. The first tunnel is being planned from Esteem Mall near Hebbal to Silk Board with a length of 18.5 km.

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"Tenders will be called after discussing this in the Cabinet. Some lands need to be acquired for the tunnel project and the MLAs have agreed to work with us on that," he said.

There is another tunnel planned from East to West and it will be taken in the subsequent phase. Along with the tunnel road, we have identified about 17-18 places for signal-free corridors, he said.

"To build 100 km of signal free corridor, we would need about Rs 12,000 crores. We are preparing to call for a tender. In the future all the metro lines will be converted into double decker flyovers," he said.

"It has been decided to dispose garbage from the city in four places 15-20 km outside the city. We will use government lands wherever available, else private lands will be purchased for the same," Shivakumar said.

He also said that the Bengaluru MLAs have sought special grants to carry out works in their constituencies.

"We will discuss this (special grants) with the Chief Minister and release as much as possible. The MLAs have given many suggestions and it will be looked into," he added.