One civic body will do for the city

One civic body will do for the city
The Hindu

Bangaloreans disagree that splitting the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike into two after merging six CMCs and one TMC with it will help. A single efficient entity that can solve day-to-day civic problems is what they want.

Unwarranted step

Creating two city corporations for Bangalore and its suburbs needs careful thinking.

Some areas yield more tax than others and there may be bickering over jurisdiction.

One fails to see why in this age of decentralisation, the City Municipal Council (CMC) cannot be allowed to enjoy its autonomy.

The municipal bodies on the outskirts of the city should not become a burden to other taxpayers.

R. Dakshinamurthy,

Banaswadi.

Increase efficiency

Why is the Government in a hurry to meddle with the composition and jurisdiction of the BMP?

One fails to understand how two separate city corporations will have enough resources to meet the needs of a growing population.

By stepping up tax collection, making taxation and tax assessment more transparent and by ensuring that the revenue is spent on improving the infrastructure, the civic body can do a better job.

S.K. Sharma,

Jayanagar.

Increase taxes

The CMCs enjoy fiscal autonomy and considering that most of them are suburbs of Bangalore, nothing prevents them from increasing taxes.

Otherwise people in the areas merged into the BMP will pay less while residents of the older areas will pay more.

There are bigger cities than Bangalore that have not been bifurcated.

Hyderabad and Secunderabad have a common civic body as also Chennai and its far-flung suburbs.

Susheela Oommen,

Indiranagar.

Add more wards

The civil and cantonment areas and the older parts of the city were merged to form a single civic entity soon after Independence. The CMCs around the city have reasons to preserve their individual identities. A few wards can be added to the BMP but not all the townships around it; it will negate the very idea of local government.

D.S. Manjunath,

R.T. Nagar.

Greater Bangalore

Bangalore has wealthy and poorer neighbourhoods and they yield revenues in different proportions to the civic body. Any move towards bifurcation should maintain this mix or else one civic administration will end up more starved for funds than the other. A better alternative may be a Greater Bangalore with one civic administration. Residents of the CMCs may oppose any merger because their taxes.

S. Pishe,

Indiranagar.

Ask the voter

Merging the six CMCs and one Town Municipal Council with the BMP and then bifurcating the civic body may just be one solution to the growing problems of Bangalore. The other factors such as better tax collection and enforcing zoning laws and building regulations and improving the infrastructure should not be overlooked. The Government does not appear to have ascertained the wishes of the residents of CMCs on the question of merger with Bangalore.

Latha Venkatesh,

Jayanagar.