No mercy on civic bodies

No mercy on civic bodies
The Times of India

Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: She was the first to arrive, ready to take on the civic agencies. She spoke of the practical problems faced each day by commuters on Hosur Road, Airport Road: “I have been noticing that the city has too many road humps. Are so many necessary? While there are few roads in the city that have high congestion, some others are totally unmotorable. Also, most pavements are covered with construction debris.Why are BCC rules not seen on the ground? Half the problems of the city arise as civic agencies give in to the citizens’ demands. You must say policies are policies and they cannot be bent.’’ Such was her enthusiasm that she even extended her support to the police in their ambitious plan of installing electronic display boards.

Member of the empowered committee on infrastructure and traffic management R K Misra: He knows that Bangalore is a truly international city, but for its traffic and infrastructure. Comparing Bangalore with Tokyo, he said that lack of coordination was the root of the problem. “We need a mass rapid transit system as metro rail alone will not be able to ease the traffic. On-street parking needs to be banned to encourage offstreet parking too,’’ Misra said.

Director of Public Affairs Committee A Ravindra: It was evident that he knows the city like the back of his hand. He knows the causes and the issues that need to be tackled.“The new Comprehensive Development Plan has not taken into account the Metro Rail that the city is going to have; it is not even relevant for the next 10 years. Also, in terms of traffic management, we have to discourage private transport and as a corollary, improve the quality, reliability and frequency of public transport. Interior roads of most suburbs don’t have bus-stops so we need to improve intermediate transport like autos and there is very little information on traffic movement in the city.’’ As the meet drew to a close, Ravindra wanted all the officials to go back, chalk out plans so that work could be monitored.