A great idea, but give it a greater push

TO T H E P O I N T
A great idea, but give it a greater push
The Times of India

Greater Bangalore (or should we call it Greater Bengaluru!) will soon be a reality, over a decade after the idea was floated. The IT capital will embrace its eight l o n g - n e g l e c t e d cousins — seven city municipal councils (CMCs) and one town municipal council (TMC). The city’s area will take a giant leap from its existing 225 sqkm to 696 sqkm.
A wise move by the Kumaraswamy government to improve the periphery and decongest the heart of the city. But the big question is: Who will manage this huge area, and how? Several options have surfaced. One that appears to receive wide acceptance is to bring the entire city, including the peripherals, under one strong planning authority, so as to regulate development more effectively. The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) may be asked to play this role.
But some doubts arise. Can the BMP, already struggling to meet the citizens’ demands for better infrastructure and civic amenities, take on additional responsibility? For instance, it currently deals with 4,200 km of roads. About the condition of these roads, the less said the better. A merger of the CMCs will mean a three-fold increase in the length of the roads to be managed. With meagre resources and a corrupt officialcontractor nexus ruling the roost, can the BMP deliver the goods?
BMP commissioner K Jairaj is optimistic. He says the resources available with the CMCs could be integrated into the new system. And the existing zones could be expanded to six or seven for better administration. Good manpower could be hired from outside if necessary. Jairaj is an efficient and a hands-on bureaucrat. He is certain to make the Greater Bangalore concept a success. What he needs is a free hand, a set of go-getting officials and huge funds. And no political interference. Is the government ready to give this assurance?
The roles of the mayor and corporators too need to be redefined. They must be made accountable. The mayor must be elected directly by the people for a term of at least five years, like in most cities of the world. The mayor, in fact, should act as a de facto chief minister of Bangalore. The IT capital generates about 50% of the state’s revenue. The government must pump back a big chunk of this sum into the city’s development if it has to keep the golden goose alive and kicking.
Another option is to divide the city into two or three corporations. This has its advantages and disadvantages. A healthy competition among the corporations will prevail. There will be a more compact jurisdiction. Inspections will also become easier. But today, as A Ravindra, former BMP commissioner and now deputy chairman of the state planning board, says, it’s all economies of agglomeration — investments and development will be easier on a larger scale. If there is a unified authority, there is continuity in development works, and responsibility is pinned. Multiple corporations may end up as CMCs, with politics dictating the funding.
Call it by any name. The Greater Bangalore Municipal Corporation or Bangalore Metropolitan Authority. The workload will be massive. Not just roads, drains, sewage and garbage, but power and drinking water supply, housing, connectivity and transport will come into sharp focus. Work on the Metro and Mono rails, expressways, elevated roads, and multi-storeyed parking lots will have to be put on the fast track. Stakeholders like the BDA, BWSSB, Bescom and BMTC will have to pull up their socks, go in for bigger budgets, more manpower and better monitoring.
The government must take special care of Bangalore. It is a global city that has made great strides in Information Technology, and provided employment to hundreds and thousands of people. A big revenue earner for the state. Its great weather, cosmopolitan culture, greenery, hospitable people and abundance of talent attract investors from far and wide. Let it not lose this hard-earned glory. No other city has grown as fast as Bangalore in the last few years.
To fuel the growth of Bangalore, public-private partnership (PPP) must be encouraged. It is the only answer to the city’s ills, especially after Greater Bangalore comes into being. The government should restrict its role to that of an enabler, ensure better coordination between various agencies, punish lethargic and corrupt officials, and avoid politicising every project. Let the private sector do the implementation. Brand Bangalore has had enough of bad publicity. It is time to move ahead and start a new chapter. Let’s put the bang back into Bangalore.