Divest BDA of urban planning, says Ravindra

Divest BDA of urban planning, says Ravindra

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) should be divested of its role in urban planning and made an infrastructure agency to focus on development, said the former Chief Secretary A. Ravindra here on Saturday.

Making a presentation on the summary recommendations of the “Expert Committee on Governance in Bangalore Metropolitan Region and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike” headed by K. Kasturirangan, scientist, during the ‘Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDe), Dr. Ravindra said: “The planning and regulatory functions should be divested and transferred to BBMP or Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), while its jurisdiction should be enlarged to cover the entire Bangalore Metropolitan Region.”

The Dr. Kasturirangan committee has also suggested for creation of Metropolitan Planning Committee/Council (MPC) for the overall development of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR).

With the creation of MPC, he said that the local planning authorities, presently functioning, would not be needed. “The MPC with a strength of 63 members, including 21 of them nominated, would plan and coordinate development, besides preparing metropolitan development plan integrating spatial, economic and social planning,” he added.

He said that the MPC would also control the land use and land acquisition process in the BMR that were being coordinated by many agencies, including the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and BDA.