BENGALURU: The long-pending demand of Bengalureans and experts on improving the city’s infrastructure and expediting development works by decentralising the functioning of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been met. Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan on Friday said the state government had signed the order to decentralise BBMP. The order was signed on Thursday and states that every two zones will have one special commissioner, and all the works will be handled by them at the zonal level itself, he said.
He was speaking at the panel discussion organised by The New Indian Express and B.PAC, titled ‘Bengaluru Forward — Infrastructure and Mobility’. The DyCM said, “This was the long-pending demand of many experts, which has now been addressed, and it will work. It has been decided that for every two zones, there will be one special commissioner.
He will have all the powers of the commissioner so that all the works can be handled at the special commissioner’s level, and in the respective zones. They will be given most of the powers of the commissioner to address most of the problems at the zonal level itself.” With regard to Bommanahalli and Mahadevapura zones, he said they will soon be appointing joint commissioners (IAS rank). He added that all works of all departments will also be decentralised, and a formal order was issued on Thursday.
Bruhat Benglauru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner B H Anil Kumar acknowledged that the order was issued, and the idea was to ensure speedy execution of works and improvement of infrastructure.
Adding to this, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar told The New Indian Express that the government order will be made public on Monday and it will clearly define the role of the commissioner, special commissioners and joint commissioners. Their role and working will be defined. At present, there are four special commissioners in the BBMP and eight zones. They will handle the zones along with the roles they have been assigned.
‘Clearing footpaths a challenge’
The Deputy Chief Minister admitted that making footpaths pedestrian-friendly was a challenge as they were encroached by vendors, toilets and transformers, among other things. He said that those evicted from footpaths return after 15 days.
“There is a need for strong political will and the government is working on it. To start with, at least 2,000 km of footpaths on arterial and sub-arterial roads will become pedestrian-friendly,” he said. He said the issue of mobility (on road and footpath) was the biggest challenge before the BJP government, with regard to Bengaluru.
The second challenge was keeping the city clean and addressing the issue of waste management, he said, adding that utility challenges like law and order, open spaces, water, parks, playgrounds and hospitals came next. Ashwath Narayan said the government was already very late in improving the city and in a few days, the challenges will be addressed.
ROAD HISTORY PROJECT
Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan was quick to add that in another 15 days, the state government will announce the road history project. “In the next 15 days, the government order will be issued, after which it will be mandatory and agencies will have to implement it 100%. It will bring in transparency... This will address most of our concerns about illegal road digging for laying optic fibre cables etc... all illegal works can be avoided.
This will ensure better coordination between agencies like Bescom, BWSSB, BBMP and others. It will also ensure there are no incomplete works. When there is complete coordination, shame and blame will stop. Trust factor can increase only through displaying road history. There will accountability regarding inflow and outflow of money. The CM is making progress on the issue,” he said.