Bengaluru bill Rs 12,300 crores

Bengaluru bill Rs 12,300 crores
BENGALURU


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Former chief sec retary A. Ravindra says there is a severe dearth of funds for the comprehensive development of infrastructure in Bangalore Metropolitan Areas including Bangalore Urban, Rural and Ramanagaram districts. He is a member of the expert committee on governance of Greater Bengaluru.

Speaking at Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDE), an interactive workshop organised at IISc by the urban development department, Mr Ravindra said the fund shortage is as high as 12,300 crore. This can be solved only by mobilizing revenue through proper planning and reforms in administration.

The state government’s failure to form a Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) has lead to a breach of the 74th amendment to the Constitution, Mr Ravindra said. The expert committee had recommended the formation of a Bengaluru Metropolitan Authority by bringing various civic agencies — BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, BMRDA, BMLTA under a single umbrella in its report for proper co-ordination among them.

Bengaluru is facing critical challenges including providing basic services to the urban poor, water supply, sanitation, traffic management and adequate transportation. A budget should be prepared for the Metropolitan Region, Mr Ravindra said.

“To provide for better representation of the public, the MPC should have 63 members of whom 42 should be elected and 21 nominated. Of the 42 elected members, 31 should be from urban local bodies and 11 from rural urban local bodies,” he said.

“The committee has recommended that the Chief Minister be the chairman of the MPC to ensure better co-ordination between MPC and the state and the mayor the deputy chairman,” Mr Ravindra said.

The jurisdiction of BDA should be increased to cover Bangalore Metropolitan Region and BDA should be made a development authority instead of a planning authority. The BDA could be involved in building flyovers and grade separators.

The BMRDA should be made into the planning authority, he suggested.