Greater B’lore plans take shape

Greater B’lore plans take shape
Deccan Herald

Despite the ongoing political developments, the report will be ready to be placed before the government in about 10 days, the sources said.

Chief Minister Dharam Singh may not have been the best thing to happen to Bangalore, but his government did actually get some things moving.

A technical feasibility report on “Greater Bangalore” — the merger of the area under the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, (BMP) that of the seven City Municipal Councils and a Town Municipal Council — is reportedly almost ready. Amidst the protests by the IT industry and the rain havoc last year, Mr Singh revived the call for a metropolitan authority as the solution to all the woes of the city. It took the shape of a proposal for the merger of the BMP and its surrounding local bodies.

Sources told Deccan Herald that the technical report had arrived at six possibilities, including the carving out of three new city corporations from among the nine local bodies (including the BMP), for the government’s consideration. With the three-corporations proposal, the BMP would be left intact, while two new corporations will be carved out of the seven CMCs and the lone TMC.

It has apparently been underlined that none of the choices recommended the bifurcation of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. “The BMP will be intact,” said a source closely connected with the preparation of the project.

As many as 106 villages, under various gram panchayats, bordering the BMP, CMCs and the TMC are also proposed to be brought under the new corporations. These villages measure a total 197 sq km and are identified based on their ranking in urban parameters (30 per cent developed). Challakere, Channasandra and Hosahalli are among the villages marked for assimilation.

The push for the inclusion of these partially developed villages was reportedly made by the Directorate of Town Planning.

A senior officer said the entire focus was on how best to overcome infrastructure deficiencies. “We have worked out a host of permutations and combinations; there are significant disparities in development among the CMCs themselves. We have tried to strike a balance in their combinations,” he said.

The availability of resources, the ability to raise funds and the matter of managing solid waste were among the many issues that had to be factored in while arriving at the combinations for merger, the sources noted.

The Urban Development Department was due to give the report to the chief minister in time for the infrastructure review meeting last week but could not do so due to as the BMP did not furnish the requisite physical and financial data.

Despite the ongoing political developments, the report will be ready to be placed before the government in about 10 days, the sources said.