‘It is like walking in quicksand’

‘It is like walking in quicksand’
Prathima Nandakumar | TNN

Bangalore: A common man on Bangalore’s streets looks at the overflowing garbage bins, roads ridden with potholes, flooded drains and wonders why Bangalore can’t be spic and span. But when senior bureaucrat S Subramanya was appointed as commissioner of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), to take on the challenges of an expanded city, he knew what was expected of him.
Today, after more than a month in the hot
seat, he is still a commoner at heart, but has some workable solutions up his sleeve. As he describes his job, ‘heading BBMP is like walking in quicksand’.
In an interview to The Times of India, Subramanya says, 24 hours in a day is just not enough to solve the city’s problems.
Excerpts:
How will BBMP beat the monsoon blues?
With a contingency plan. We have reduced the number of vulnerable (flooding) spots from 248 to nine. Now, I will interact with Samparka Bandhus (citizen volunteers), who will brief me about the situation. All potholes in the city will be filled up before October, using emulsion tar and the black topping of the roads will begin only in October.
Is lack of interdepartmental co-ordination taking a toll on development?
The good news is that the chief minister has agreed to make some policy changes. Earlier, BBMP had to deposit money to get utility services shifted to pave way for our projects. Now, the state government will pay the agency concerned from the general infrastructure fund.
Will paid parking become a reality in the city?
Metered parking on 15 major roads in defined parking lots will end congestion.
There are a lot of grey areas in building deviations and regularisation rules...
The final notification of the regularisation rules will be out any moment. BBMP will have 150 help desks to answer citizens’ queries and media campaigns to enlighten people. A list of empanelled architects will also be published.
Any boosters for augmenting the city’s revenue...
The city has 17 lakh electricity meters. While 6 lakh properties have been assessed, only 1.5 lakh pay taxes. So, it is time to focus on coverage, not rates. We want to map every property. We will create a High Value Assessment Unit to deal with big properties. We have approved 361 high-rises last year and I am hoping to garner Rs 1 crore from each such property. Advertisements and BBMP-owned markets will be other good sources of revenue.
Isn’t garbage a mounting problem?
Tenders have been floated for garbage collection in the new zones, which includes doorto-door collection. There’ll be an impetus to garbage segregation at source and conversion of organic waste to compost.
PRIORITIES
Good roads Smooth traffic flow Solid waste management Development of new areas Basic services to the poor Greening Bangalore
PROBLEMS Lack of technical expertise leading to
Excessive reliance on consultants Development being ward-focused, not project-focused Cost and time overruns affecting project quality Lack of interdepartmental co-ordination Poor revenue