Greater Bangalore coming

Greater Bangalore coming
To Embrace 7 CMCs, 1 TMC; Panel Will Study 3 Options
The Times of India

Bangalore: In what will be the Karnataka government’s ‘major expansion’ plan, Bangalore is set to take its long-neglected cousins on the outskirts — the seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council — into its fold. In the coming months, the 225 sqkm of the BMP area will be expanded to 696 sqkm.
A thought that’s cooking over a decade is set to concretise. After a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on Greater Bangalore headed by CM HD Kumaraswamy, the government on Monday announced it has three options. The first option is to merge seven CMCs, one TMC and panchayats around Bangalore with BMP. The second is to form North and South city corporations by including the respective areas in these zones. While the government did not spell out the areas that would form the part of proposed North and South corporations, it is very clear about the Greater Bangalore plan. The third option is to have a single city corporation authority.

To work out the modalities, the government has constituted a high-level committee headed by CM’s principal secretary Sudhakar Rao, who has been asked to submit a report within three days. The recommendations will be discussed by the cabinet sub-committee and a decision taken within a fortnight.
“To the existing 225 sqkm of BMP area, the urban local bodies will be added and the city will be expanded to 696 sqkm. A report will be submitted by the committee in the next couple of days,” Kumaraswamy told reporters.

With the developments, the elections to the BMP wards due in November are likely to be postponed. The five-year term of the BMP Council will end in November and in case the election process gets delayed, then the government will have to appoint an administrator till such time the council is elected. The government will also inform the State Election Commission about the developments.

Kumaraswamy said the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority has begun a survey for establishing the proposed five satellite towns around Bangalore city.

The CM, on Independence Day, had promised to create a Greater Bangalore to upgrade infrastructure facilities in and around Bangalore city.

Money order
According to govt estimates, BMP requires Rs 5,200 crore for upgradation of infrastructure in the city limits
Requires at least Rs 10,000 crore to create infrastructure for 696 sqkm after the merger of CMCs and TMC with BMP
Government cannot depend on property taxes alone to mop up revenue as tax collection in CMCs/TMC is abysmally poor
Authorities have to start work from scratch as urban local bodies have poor infrastructure Welcome to Bengaluru
Bangalore: We could well say ‘good morning Bengaluru’ from November 1. While the CM is optimistic of meeting this deadline, the bureaucrats are skeptical. If the government has to gallop towards this deadline, it may have to take a leaf out of Mumbai and bulldoze its way through.