V Somanna was given the responsibility of a ministerial post when he was a first-time MLA. From 1997 to 99, he was Minister for Urban Development in Bengaluru. It was during that period that the idea of the Bengaluru Metro Rail was now realized. Urban Development Minister Somanna was a witness to the then-metro rail project in the presence of then Chief Minister J H Patel. The Metro train, which was just a 'dream' is now a lifeline for Bengaluru!
In the 90s, the capital city of Bengaluru had not created a major water supply scheme for Cauvery. In 1996, he was appointed as the Minister for Urban Development of Bengaluru by J H Patel. From Somanna's vision, Cauvery became a source of water for all parts of Bengaluru.
The fourth phase of the Cauvery project has already been implemented. In the 90s, Bengaluru's population was close to 50 lakh.
There was no expectation that Bengaluru's metropolitan population would triple in the next two and a half decades. Bengaluru, which is making strides in IT-BT, is growing at a rapid pace, with many domestic and foreign companies coming in and settling in, with millions of North Indians and Northeast Indians settling in. However, the then Minister of Urban Development of Bengaluru, V. Somanna was convinced of this. It is difficult to bring back such quantities of water from Cauvery. There were fears that Tamil Nadu would object.
Eliminate all obstacles Somanna convinced the then Chief Minister Patel that he was planning a 500 TMC watering project from Cauvery. To support this, some of the senior officers at the time set the blueprint for the project.
V Somanna also briefed the then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on the Cauvery drinking water project. Sri Deve Gowda appreciated Somanna's vision and gave all his support for the implementation of the project.
A few hundred TMC of water has already been brought from Cauvery. How to get Cauvery water from there again? The villages in the middle of the route have no drinking water. Some warned that people in rural areas may oppose. V Somanna had contacts to the pontiffs and all party leaders. He explained the need to bring drinking water to Bengaluru.Somanna was convinced that problems could arise if the Carvery Drinking Water Project was not planned as a prelude to Bengaluru with no river source. Overcoming all obstacles, he started the project. As a result, the Cauvery drinking water project from Torekadanahalli Reservoir, a distance of 100 km, was implemented.
If the Cauvery water from a long distance pipeline, it is not enough. This makes it difficult to supply water to all areas of the city. It was concluded that overhead tanks would have to be built at the ground level to provide adequate water for all households. Eight reservoir were selected to be elevated throughout the city. The city's water supply system is connected with these same reservoir. Drinking water supply in Bangalore would not have been so easy if the plan had not been formed then, a senior official of the Water Board recalls.
Water supply is a big challenge in Bangalore city. Water leakage was higher with fake connections. This is a huge loss to the Bangalore Water Board every year. Thousands of people got water connections but were not paying the bill. The government, after 1999, was going to privatize the water supply system. Somanna strongly opposed this and convinced the then government of this fact in the assembly. He fought alone. He appealed to the Legislature about the problems of privatization in the future. S M Krishna, the then CM, finally abandoned the proposal of privatization. If the supply of water was privatized, no one could drink water happily today. The water rate was going to be expensive.
Those days in Bangalore, illegal connections were higher among those who had access to Cauvery water. This was a big headache for the BWSSB. There were about 65,000 illegal connections in the city. Somanna, who is then Minister of Urban Development in Bangalore, regulated illegal water connections. The water supply board has been earned huge amount of income. In addition, Proreta charged has been imposed. The decisions taken in the '90s are still backbone for the Water Board.
The traffic problem started in Bangalore in the 90s. More prominent roads are congested and the traffic conditions was horrific. In 1994, the Janata Dal-led H D Deve Gowda's government, was considering construct a flyover in Bangalore to solve the traffic problem. Deve Gowda, who was recognized in national politics, left Delhi in 1996 as Prime Minister. Later J H Patel held the post of Chief Minister. V. Somanna, who was a minister in J H Patel's cabinet, was later given the Bangalore urban development ministry. During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, he made a significant contribution to the city of Bangalore.
Somanna promoted the flyover, which was under thought. It is already 2.2 km from the front of the Bangalore's Town Hall to Mysore road. Those days vehicles must travel to Mysore Road via City Market. The traffic jams near the city market were happened every day. It was for this reason that a significant decision was taken to construct K R Market Flyover. There are many criticisms of this new project for Bangalore that time. Somanna take lead of this project. This huge flyover undertaken by L&T Company, still retains its reputation as The Best Flyover in Bangalore.After that several flyovers and underpasses constructed all around the Bengaluru city by V Somanna's vision and leadership.
During his tenure as Urban Development Minister, V Somanna blocked the illegal trading of revenue sites in Bangalore.He organized the revenue sites by charging symbolic fees. This made the general public at satisfaction. This move has been instrumental in the systematic growth of the city.
V Somanna's performance as Mysore's in charge minister is always memorable.
When the new government came into existence in 2019, Somanna was appointed in charge of the Mysore district. Just a few days before the country's proud Cultural Dasara Festival. Somanna quickly convened a gathering of officials, local representatives and experts, taking them to confidence and making Dasara Mahotsav as a successfully.
Navratri, Dasara sports festival and cultural events were in full swing. Somanna, who was then the Minister of Silk Ministry made the grand decision of marching in a silk saree to Goddess Chamundeshwari on the Vijaya Dashami day. This act cleverly promoted the silk industry.
The road was widened to allow devotees to visit Chamundeshwari Temple during the Dasara Mahotsav. Clear the shops and systemic rehabilitation to shopkeepers next to the bus stop, which cost around Rs 400 crore. A permanent building complex was built at a cost. This is significant step in the Mysore.
V Somanna given special attention to solving the decades-old problem of construct a waste treatment plant at Suez Farm in J P Nagar, Mysore. He set up a committee headed by district officials to find a solution to this problem. A garbage disposal system was planned for Nagpur model.
