Single agency required to control civic bodies

Single agency required to control civic bodies
Vijay Times

Emphasising that lack of proper co-ordination among various civic bodies was the cause for delay in various development projects, Karnataka State Road T ransport Corporation (KSRTC) managing director M R Sreenivasmurthy on Monday said, "There is a need for a coordinating agency in order to improve the City’s infrastructure." Delivering a lecture on ’Current Challenges of City Administration’, he felt that the administration in the City had been highly fragmented with various agencies like Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore City Corporation (BCC), Bangalore W ater Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Bangalore Metropolitan T ransport Corporation (BMTC) not being controlled by a single agency .

Murthy urged that the civic heads be bestowed with decision making powers which enables them to save time and expedite works by avoiding files reaching various departments.

Of late, there had been no public participation. A statutory structure enabling sharing of ideas and problems with the public is very much needed. The concept of ward sabhas is nowhere to be seen, he added.

"Though Bangalore is one of the six mega cities in the country , it has been dogged by problems related to civic amenities like motorable roads, drains and inadequate transport system," he said.

M urthy also said that slum dwellers were the main victims of diseases like cholera and gastroenteritis because of the City’s unhygienic conditions.

The town planning department has failed come out with a vision for the growth of Bangalore. Most parts of the City lack lung spaces like parks and play grounds. The revenue generated by the BCC is meagre and it cannot meet the growing demands of the City , he said.

Murthy advocated mass transportation system as the panacea for never-ending traffic congestions and urged the government to subsidise transportation.

From left: M S Thimmappa, Vice Chancellor, M R Sreenivasmurthy , managing director, KSRT Kalgudi, director, Prasaranga Bangalore Univer Hanumanthaiah Endowment Lecture- 2006 held at auditorium, Central College, on Monday . BVT

T aking a serious dig at the number of slums in the City like Ramanna Garden and Shamanna Garden, he wondered if Bangalore got the sobriquet of ’Garden City’ based on the number of slums in the City which have ’Garden’ as their suffixes.