Yaw(r)n No. 2 for the day: Development plan for Greater Bangalore

Development plan for Greater Bangalore
The Times of India takes a look at the development strategies on the anvil under a new programme


The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, is finalising the elements of the National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) programme focusing on select 60 cities across the country among which Bangalore features as one of the top seven cities eligible for grant funding. One of the first steps envisaged under the NURM is the preparation of a City Development Strategy Plan (CDSP) identifying the infrastructure gaps and investment plans over the next 5-7 years.

The Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) commissioned the services of Urban First Systems Private Limited, a Chennai-based consultant, to prepare the CDSP document for Greater Bangalore (area covering BCC limits, seven CMCs and one TMC localities). Urban First having specialised in advising governments on outcome-based initiatives has helped the Karnataka to be the one of the first states to release the formal CDSP for Greater Bangalore.
"The reform parameters that NURM envisages are based on Bangalore's best practices. The entrusted agency has a lot of academic work - planning reforms according to what the city would be like 10 years from now. They map the gap between what's now and the future. The vantage position is because Bangalore already has many of the optional reforms well in place, like the computerisation of land title system, by-laws for rainwater harvesting, GIS (Geographical Information System), and MIS (Management Information System) accrual accounting. Just like the BDA's Comprehensive Development Plan, the City Development Strategy Plan seeks to identify the status quo and civic growth of the city," says a senior BCC official.

The CDSP captures the state-of-the-city, covering city profile, key problem areas, economic base analysis, and sector statements. The primary focus of the CDSP has been to identify the gap in infrastructure provisioning and assess the investments required to provide services at acceptable levels. Enabling features like e-governance, application of GsIS to create and maintain infrastructurerelated database and information architecture are included as components in the CDSP. The CDSP addresses the requirements of Bangalore until 2010 and the planning exercise would continue beyond.

The NURM envisages formulating long-term reforms at both state and city levels and implementation programmes to support and sustain the reforms in the medium term. For the period until 2010, the city administration requires to make additional investments to the tune of Rs 10,779 crores to bridge the infrastructure gap identified.

The state government has chosen the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) as the nodal agency for NURM projects in the state. This means the BCC has to route all its NURM projects through the KUIDFC. The BCC plans to remodel major valleys, build the Inner Core Ring Road, fill missing bits in the 100 percent water supply project, build more flyovers and also clean and rehabilitate major storm water drains in the surrounding seven City Municipal Councils (CMCs) and one Town Municipal Council (TMC) with NURM funds.

The sectors where infrastructure gap has been perceived and assessed in Bangalore urban agglomerate area are: Water and wastewater Storm water drain network Solid waste management Road network Urban transport Environment management Information infrastructure

The reforms already in place in Bangalore are:
Repeal of Urban Land
Ceiling Act Programmed reduction of stamp duty Property tax reforms Fund-based accounting Community participation PPP model in service provisioning Automated citizen delivery mechanisms (being upgraded)

Key recommendations
Unify citizen delivery responsibility and accountability to BCC integrating provision of services like water, wastewater, storm water drain, solid waste management, roads, urban transport, traffic management and environment management
Create an organisation at the city level with authority to plan for development including land use and zoning focusing on infrastructure planning
Create an organisation at the city level with authority and responsibility for structuring and financing infrastructure development projects and schemes Integrate seven CMCs and one TMC adjoining BCC into a Greater Bangalore Urban Authority
Provide greater autonomy to BCC in its functioning in terms of revenue management, budgeting, and human resources management
Formalise citizen participation while formulating policy changes, budgeting and grievance redressal system