Panel will chisel out city’s growth strategy

Panel will chisel out city’s growth strategy
The Times of India

Bangalore: Noted space scientist and Rajya Sabha member K Kasturirangan will head the expert committee constituted by the Karnataka government to suggest strategies to ensure planned growth of the city under Greater Bangalore. The committee will work on a new comprehensive law that will deal with the development and regulation of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) that has been witnessing rapid economic and demographic growth.
The members of the Kasturirangan committee are former chief secretary and deputy chairman of the State Planning Board A Ravindra, Public Affairs Centre chairman Samuel
Paul, founder-director of International Institute for Information Technology-Bangalore S Sadagopan and retired bureaucrat Sivaramakrishanan. The government on Nov. 2 officially notified creation of Greater Bangalore.
Guidelines for the committee:
n Review the administrative structure and legal framework operative within the BMR. This includes appraisal of the role and functional responsibilities of urban local bodies.
n To make recommendations regarding the structure of the new legal framework for governance in the BMR which will cover all ULBs and also other organisations such as BDA, BMRDA, BWSSB.
n Spell out the coordination mechanism and accountability of such bodies.
n Recommend alternative models for effective governance in accordance with the tenets of the 74 Constitutional Amendment Bill.
It also has the freedom to refer the recommendations of the committee on Urban Management of Bangalore (1997) and suggest those that can be adopted with or without modifications, sources told the Sunday Times of India. BRUHAT PALIKE COMING
Greater Bangalore has been rechristened ‘Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’. The decision to name Greater Bangalore was taken a few days ago. The cabinet meeting on Friday also decided that BBMP will consist of 150 wards, for which Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 will be amended. Two more new panels formed
Bangalore: A committee on infrastructure development (resources mobilisation) and another to study organisational structures and staff requirements for Greater Bangalore have been set up.
The infrastructure development committee headed by additional chief secretary A K Agarwal and comprising 12 senior bureaucrats, will estimate the resources required for infrastructure development (road network, water supply, underground drainage and others) for Greater Bangalore. The committee will take into account
ongoing projects under different budgeted schemes.
The government has asked the committee to engage CRISIL to prepare the background papers and provide technical support. The committee has been asked to submit a report by December 15.
The organisational structures and staff requirements committee headed by BMP commissioner K Jairaj and four other bureaucrats, will look into issues relating to organisational restructuring of Greater Bangalore and staff requirements across different cadres. It will also propose modalities of recruitment based on requirements. This committee has been asked to submit its report by December 1.