Working for a better, greener Bangalore

Working for a better, greener Bangalore
Vijay TImes

A month and a half since assuming charge as Commis M K Shankarlinge Gowda has proved that hes got his priorities right. While his thrust is on speedy co developed by the BDA. In a tete-a-tete with Usha Prasad , he spoke about his vision and new tasks.


The welfare of the allottees is my main priority. So far, the BDAs focus had been on creating infrastructure in places which did not belong to it. We have to first fulfill the promises made to the allottees of BDA layouts. They have been deprived of basic civic amenities like roads, water and power. My first priority is to provide civic amenities in the recent layouts developed by the BDA.

I have cleared all pending works pertaining to developing infrastructure in these layouts and the works have already begun.

Apart from developing layouts and taking up infrastructure projects, we plan to enhance the greenery in all our layouts. We can develop gardens inside the City, but even the Citys periphery should be green. I am stressing on the concept of tree parks, where we will identify separate areas in each layout to develop tree reserves. To start with, we have identified a place in Anjanapura to develop a huge tree park. Nearly 3,000 tree saplings of traditional variety will be planted here. All our future layouts will have a separate area earmarked for tree reserves.

Our main focus is to complete the ongoing projects at the earliest. Timely completion of the project helps us maintain our credibility.

Work is going on round-theclock on the Airport Road and Jayadeva flyovers. There were some technical glitches and they have been resolved. Earlier, the officials used to leave by 5.30 pm from the work site. Now, they have been made to work full-time without looking at their watches. We are looking at completing these two flyovers by July first week.

Further, there is no room for any delay as I go on inspections in the morning and take on-thespot decisions to resolve issues, if any. I have also directed the engineers concerned to issue orders on-the-spot to ensure that work is not hindered.

I believe in getting the work done with the existing staff. Each one is capable of delivering goods and they can show better results if properly motivated.




BDA to issue laminated allotment letters

Under the second phase, the BDA will distribute 7,700 sites to shortlisted applicants at the Arkavathi Layout from Monday. For the first time, BDA will be dispatching laminated allotment letters to the applicants.

"As per the directions of the commissioner, we have got the allotment letters laminated. As it is an original document, it will help the allottees to keep it foolproof for a lifetime," a senior BDA official told BVT . Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will make a token release of the sites at 9 am at his home office Krishna. Around 50 shortlisted applicants from all categories will receive the allotment letters from the CM.

"We will start dispatching the allotment letters from Monday and complete the process by June 24. We hope to distribute 5,000 more sites in July, depending on the availability of the land," the official said.