BENGALURU: As Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar is talking of renaming Bidadi and connecting it to Bengaluru by Namma Metro, government sources said nothing is being spoken about or done to improve the town.
They told The New Indian Express that too many announcements are being made too quickly, but no meetings have been held on attracting investors, expanding the town or focusing on its growth. Though Bidadi was listed to be one of the integrated townships in the mid-2000s, nothing has happened on the ground.
The BJP-JDS coalition government in 206 had proposed to develop five townships around Bengaluru -- in Bidadi, Ramanagara, Sathanur and Nandagudi. It was decided to give the task to the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) at a cost of Rs 30,000 crore.
“The government later decided to develop Bidadi as a model township. But nothing much has been done to ease the pressure on Bengaluru. The government is now looking at developing it on the lines of Delhi-NCR and calling it Greater Bengaluru. But still, a lot of work on the ground needs to be done, including addressing connectivity issues and building government housing townships. A lot that was planned has not been executed since 2008,” the source said.
Four major aspects -- roads, civic governance, investment and industry -- need to be addressed while developing a township. “But these issues have not been addressed. It is too early to call it Greater Bengaluru. Just extending the Metro connectivity on the existing Bengaluru-Mysuru road will not be enough. All roads leading to Bidadi from Bengaluru and other districts need to be improved. The government should also look at drawing large investments into the town to increase settlements and industries. Meetings to discuss these issues are yet to be convened,” said an official from the Urban Development Department, not wanting to be named.