Another year without elections

Another year without elections


In the absence of an elected body, one-upmanship ruled the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike leading to a chaotic Bangalore in 2008. While garbage management was in disarray and roads were widened without a thought for greenery, development on some roads with “magic boxes” failed to weave much magic on the motorists.

The BBMP remained without an elected body for the third consecutive year, although the State got a new government. Talks about BBMP elections remained strong throughout the year, although delimitation was not finalised. Two ministers from Bangalore - R Ashok and Katta Subramanya Naidu - kept the election rhetoric on.
The year 2008 can well be described as one of experiments for the BBMP. The experiments were conducted mainly on the city roads with a catchy “magic” ring attached. Road widening programmes often meant loss of greenery. Such exercises taken up without public consensus meant the Garden City had virtually turned a Garbage City. To add more to the damage, scamsters authored a garbage scam. Land meant for garbage dump yards were sold and houses came up there, while the entire Bangalore city was full of filth. As if these weren’t enough, trees were chopped off for widening roads.

The BBMP may pat itself on the back for introducing the magic boxes in the city but the purpose was hardly served due to poor design. The Cauvery underpass was one classic example, where the design was hardly good enough to facilitate smooth traffic flow