BENGALURU: With the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council now in place and the mayor and his deputy elected, residents of the city have expressed diverse opinions on their expectations over development of the city. While a few sought “systemic changes”, others feared that the problems in BBMP will only get worse in the next five years.
Speaking to Express, Rajkumar Dugar of Vasanthnagar Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) said that the BBMP required an “image makeover” as people have come to term it a corrupt and inefficient body. “Systemic changes have to be brought in and work culture of BBMP officials should change,” he said.
Mukund Rao of Jayanagar RWA said that ward committees should be actively involved in all activities of a ward. The new mayor and corporators should ensure that all potholes are filled and garbage issues are sorted out. “Corporators should interact more with the public,” he felt.
No Hope
Radhakrishna of HSR Layout RWA said there were no expectations from BBMP as 75 per cent of the promises made during the last elections in 2010 were yet to be fulfilled. Despite the pessimism about the attitude of elected representatives, he said there were many expectations. “Looking at the behaviour of corporators prior to mayoral polls, I cannot see any development in the foreseeable future,” he said.
Dr Meenakshi Bharat of Malleswaram RWA, expressed disapproval over Bengalureans electing the same faces who had failed to work in the last term and said she was expecting the city’s problems to get worse. “Yet, expectations are that stringent action will be taken while dealing with garbage, waste, traffic and power supply issues,” she said.
Vishwanath B S of Basavangudi RWA said the opportunistic politics witnessed over the past week-and-a-half was not a good sign for Bengaluru.