HSR Layout may go to BCC or CMC

HSR Layout may go to BCC or CMC
But Can Fund-Starved Corporations Handle It?
The Times of India

Bangalore: It seemed like the BDA’s perfect layout, but not all seems to be well. Indications are that HSR layout will be handed over to the BCC or the CMC for administration. And, the residents are fuming.

A small section of the sixth sector at HSR Layout, 79 houses, famous as IAS Officer’s Association Building, has already been handed to the Bommanhalli CMC for administration. But while the BDA wants to relegate the entire layout to either the BCC or the CMC, residents are disgruntled saying such a move will be ‘retrograde’. Says BDA commissioner M.N. Vidyashankar, “There is a lot of development that has taken place in HSR Layout, we want to finish some pending work and hand it over to another civic agency.’’

But for that to happen there is a fundamental problem, reason citizens under the banner of Federation Of HSR Layout Residents’ Welfare Association. The CMC neither has the funds nor the wherewithal to handle the seven sectors of HSR Layout. Explains the federation’s vice-chairperson G.S. Krishna Murthy, “The BDA to a large extent has done a good job of developing the layout. But we don’t support the move of palming it off to the CMC. Are local self-bodies exercising their right to be penny wise and pound foolish?”

On the other hand, the BCC feigns ignorance. “We are not aware of HSR being moved to BCC limits, there has been no official statement to the effect,” says BCC special commissioner Subash Chandra. And conversely, the Bommanhalli officials are keen on getting their administrative tentacles on to all sectors of the layout.

Bommanhalli CMC commissioner Uday Shankar explains why such a move can be beneficial, “As of now there is just no way to generate funds, all the revenue-generating CA sites are with the BDA. If we get control over well laid-out sectors of HSR, we will get taxes. These could then be put to use in developing roads, pavements, drains. The stakes are tilted in BCC’s favour, its unlikely we will get it.’’

HSR Layout or Hosur Sarjapur Road Layout, situated south-east of Bangalore has been BDA’s most successful venture to date. So much so that a well-known school had organised an excursion to the layout, to check out what was described by newspaper reports and civic authorities as the “greatest layout of Bangalore city.’’ Part of the proposed IT corridor it has seven sectors, the total area of which adds up to 920 acres. Of the 9,300 sites allotted to citizens by the BDA, an overwhelming 3,000 houses are fully occupied with hundreds more on the blueprint.

Even in such a ‘planned’ layout not all is well. Typical civic problems residents encounter on an everyday basis include rampant parthenium which are not deweeded for months, defunct traffic signals at Agara Lake Road, unchecked mosquito menace et al. Is the BDA/ BCC/ CMC listening?