Citizens bat for growth, but worried about lop-sided development

Citizens bat for growth, but worried about lop-sided development
Deccan Herald

Deccan Herald is presenting the perception of citizens of Bangalore regarding the JN NURM.


Deccan Herald is presenting the perception of citizens of Bangalore regarding the JN NURM.

We all have to put our acts together to make the NURM a success. Priority should be given to maintenance of roads, drainage and solid waste management in the City. The reforms should give a thrust to private public partnership, and also look at increasing the motivation levels of service providers. Professionalism, and adherence to schedules, on the part of authorities should be encouraged.

If we take a futuristic view of the NURM, and the impact it will have on our city, I think creation of satellite towns should be given importance. These towns should be developed with careful planning, so that the mistakes committed in Bangalore do not get repeated.

Residents have to participate actively in order to make the re form project a success.

There should be awareness regarding the campaign. Also, residents need to develop civic sense, which is sadly lacking among several citizens.

My main concern, however, is the steady flow of funds from the Centre. A Special Utility Vehicle should be formed to implement the project on a fast track.

Dr Kishore Murthy

Resident, BTM Layout

The NURM should address issues at different levels. Areas like infrastructure, health and housing should be focussed upon. However, all development programmes envisaged under the NURM should reflect a concern for the environment.

Bangalore should not be expanded or upgraded at the cost of its green cover. Already, the link between Bangalore and Mysore, that once used to feature a beautiful canopy, has now become almost barren. The NURM, that targets both the cities, should bring the greenery back in this connecting road.

The issue of housing for the urban poor should also be highlighted in the vision document. Bangalore’s growing floating population should be given housing, perhaps in the form of apartment blocks, along with other amenities like water and power. Demolition of slums is not a solution, the focus should be on rehabilitation of the poor. This will also control the crime rate in the city. The NURM should control the lop-sided growth of Bangalore.

Dr Viju Krishnan,

Professor, Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences

I have heard of the NURM but do not know the details.

The Government must allow public to debate on the NURM because it involves huge sums. People should have a major say in development of their cities. As an industrialist, I feel, even entrepreneurs should give constructive suggestions.

I am planning to attend a meeting convened by the urban development department to discuss the proposed vision document.

We need to have a vision if we want the city to develop in an organised way. This vision can lead to growth, and infrastructure facilities should match the growth. The focus should be on developing the outskirts of Bangalore City. While doing so, primacy should be given to preservation of greenery. The vision document should allow scope for growth of the City for the next four decades. While developing new townships, provisions should be made for availability of electricity and water. Along with the city’s physical growth, the economic growth should also match. This can happen provided industries do well. Otherwise, how do we repay the loans raised by the government for creating infrastructure?

B P Shashidhar

Industrialist,

Peenya