Strict land use norms required for Bangalore

Strict land use norms required for Bangalore
Deccan Herald

The recent controversy over land use problems in Delhi leading to enactment of a legislation to prevent sealing of commercial establishments housed in residential premises need to be a guide to the planners of the proposed Greater Bangalore, says K Sukumaran.

Most of the Indian cities grow without any futuristic plans. Despite the formulation of successive Comprehensive Development Plans, we have to accept that Bangalore and the vicinities too grew rather haphazardly, posing manifold infrastructural problems.

This has thrown up civic issues for public debates from time to time. In our anxiety to ‘accommodate’ growth, there was no time for development and implementation of meticulous plans. This problem continued to grow after the implementation of the Self Assessment Scheme for property tax, since the revenue authorities did not consider implementation of approved construction plans as one of their duties.

The Revenue Inspectors say that the owners are masters in tax assessments now and the department has no role in supervising the construction work. This attitude may have its genesis in the lack of power at the grass-root level to alter the self assessment.

Unchecked growth

Even in the above situation, the City and its environs continued to grow in a disorderly fashion, under the very nose of the administrative machinery.

What needs to be the fundamental approach to this issue? Why not the Urban Development Department and the Mahanagara Palike act consciously and in tandem, to meet the situation squarely?

How do we avoid future problems of the kind we have been facing over the last few years in particular, when the civilians take law into their hands and organise protests and dharnas? Let us look into the fundamentals of this vexed issues.

Though organised development is an important function of the State, establishment of villages have not been in the agenda of ancient administrations — whether it was the kings or chieftains.

The village panchayat is a modern concept despite the fact that villages with group-living practices existed for long. It need to be reiterated here that, all cities need well planned growth to meet the ever growing population and industrial/ business growth. Yet, pro-active development work by the State found its face only when migration of people from villages to towns became common and unmanageable.

Planned development

As the population grew, requirements of roads, dwelling houses, office premises, schools, shopping areas, entertainment halls etc came up by the dozens. These needs are to be met through the visionary outlook of the administration — whether it be the Town Municipality, City Corporation or specially established territorial authorities. When a long-term view is not taken by the concerned authorities, ad-hoc plans will rule the roost, leading to recurring chaos and infrastructural bottlenecks.

Entrepreneurs in the communities will find their own solutions for dwelling places, ancillary agricultural activities like dairy and poultry, industrial establishments, markets and similar requirements, within their capabilities, such as, back yard farms, thatched sheds for industrial and manufacturing purposes etc.

In such events, when organised developments come from government machinery to ‘fire-fight’, there will be resistance from the settlers to move out of their established locations. There fore the need for governmental planning and continuity. A good visionary administration will have to have a long term mission for development of cities, ports, airports and the like. Instead of thinking in terms of changes after the overcrowding becomes intolerable, why not prepare and implement integrated master plans with long term view and review its implementation on an ongoing basis?

Economics and politics which dictates long term planning and implementation? If what has been happening in India during the post independence era, especially, after the loss of single party governance is critically analysed, one will realise that continuity of policies and directions to executive wing has suffered substantially. For a majority government run by a single party, complacency creeps in after winning power.

For minority governments, instability and anxiety to continue in power by ‘popular rule’ becomes the catchword. The executive machinery, in such circumstances sit back and relax, awaiting orders from ‘above’.

Committed Executive

The administrators have over the years learned to be ‘impartial’, in as much as, they do not enforce their authority, but tend to go by the political expediencies, for their own reasons. The tragedy is that, the executive wing has been, by and large, abdicating their authority, inviting judicial intervention in even routine matters. Some go by the will of the political system. Despite court orders for jail term to some administrators for dereliction of duty, uprightness and honesty on the part of senior level beaurocracy are on the wane! This is the issue in building our cities and towns too.

Visionary leadership

Nothing is done by the political leadership to allow the administrative machinery to ensure continuity of development, as they themselves are not sure of continuity! Lack of visionary statesmen at the hem of affairs is the main problem. Continuity for at least existing programmes is a must. In the case of Bangalore also, there is a need for integrated long term plan and machinery to administer the growth on a continuous basis. Let this be the paramount dictum for Greater Bangalore’s growth.

The solution?

The master plan for the City should embrace both residential, business and industrial requirements for the next 15-20 years. The revival of Bangalore Urban Art Commission should be considered to retain the culture and heritage of this great City. Future growth should be outside the City centre area. As the township idea has sunk in, these townships should be clearly away from the proposed Greater Bangalore area. IT and BT may think of moving to new locations, especially for expansion. The average Bangalorean should not be eased out by the neo-rich and the techies. Everybody — the king and the pauper should be allowed to lead a good life with all amenities and infrastructure.

The climate also need to be protected from pollution by controlling the transport system. Let us ensure the continuance of the past glory of Bengaluru in this year of ‘Suvarna Karnataka’.