Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy on Saturday said there is a lot of confusion among the various agencies involved in the city’s governance and it is not possible for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) alone to solve problems of the city.
Speaking at a public consultation programme here on Saturday, he said, “Bangalore is maintained by various civic agencies, including the BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, BESCOM, BMTC and other departments. But, there is lack of coordination among these agencies.”
Problems related to water, electricity, roads, vacant sites, garbage and others are haunting the city, he said adding that there is a need for all these agencies to work under one umbrella.
Regarding the term of the mayor, Murthy said one year is not sufficient. “For me, initially, it took three months to get a grip and, in the last three months, I could not do much due to the Election Code of Conduct and we could not take up any works. I personally feel the Mayor-in-Council system has more advantages than changing the mayor every year,” he said.
He also felt that malls and apartments in the city, have added to traffic congestion. “We were not informed when these buildings get approval from authorities,” he said.
The democratic system is still run by bureaucrats, he said. “Elected representatives can just direct officials to take up works, but do not have implementing power,” he said. Both elected representatives and officials should be given equal responsibility and power as, only then the city can develop, he said.
The mayor also said the BBMP had earlier decided to widen 217 roads of which only eight roads were widened. “This is because public consultation was not done. Notifications were done for namesake,” he added.