E-Paper
CM Bommai bats for ‘a new vision’ for Bengaluru city
The statements comes at a time when Bengaluru, one of India’s most industrious cities, continues to suffer on account of government apathy, maladministration and corruption in public works that has piled on the problems of its over 12 million residents
Bengaluru Taking a cue from his predecessors, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday too batted for Bengaluru saying that it requires a ‘new vision’.
“A new vision for Bengaluru has to happen. Ongoing works should speed up, (should be) time-bound and efficient, and the factor of corruption shouldn’t be there. Only then can we do justice to the people or we won’t be able to meet people’s expectations,” Bommai said on Tuesday.
The statements comes at a time when Bengaluru, one of India’s most industrious cities, continues to suffer on account of government apathy, maladministration and corruption in public works that has piled on the problems of its over 12 million residents.
Bommai’s predecessor, Yediyurappa, launched the “Mission 2022” to beautify the central parts of Bengaluru, as an image building exercise, rather than fix the underlying problems of a city that aspires to be a global centre.
Some of the biggest corporations in the world have a presence in Bengaluru, in sectors like Information Technology, start-ups, aerospace and biotechnology among others, but the city’s infrastructure has barely caught up with its economic prowess.
Bommai said that all the ministers, legislators and officials’ views should be considered in trying to take the city forward.
Most of Bengaluru’s roads are dug up and pose a threat to pedestrians and motorists, especially during monsoons when the roads turn slushy and slippery.
Bommai said that action is being taken to bring Bengaluru city corporation under the Fiscal Responsibility Act to initiate projects based on the factual situation in BBMP.
During the meeting, Bommai instructed officials to repair non-functional borewells, transform 3 lakh street lights into LED lights during weekends, repair damaged roads and also moored for a separate discussion to be held on establishment of separate Authority for the development, management and traffic management of 860 kms of arterial and sub-arterial roads.
Bengaluru generates over half of the state’s income and also takes up a lion’s share of its expenditure, which has forced governments to continue its excessive focus on the city that has grown rapidly and in an unplanned manner over the last two decades.
The excessive focus on Bengaluru has also led to regional imbalance in Karnataka. Although other states across India have similar problems where one or two urban centres get all the attention, the situation could not be more pronounced than in Karnataka where most parts of the arid and calamity-prone state get little or nothing in terms of expenditure.
But despite getting thousands of crores in allocations every year, Bengaluru’s already inadequate infrastructure has been crumbling with poor quality of roads, unending traffic snarls, inefficient waste management, polluted lakes and dipping quality of air and water for its residents.
