BENGALURU: As Bengalureans enter 2025, their wishlist for the New Year more or less remains the same as 2023’s. From better mobility to top-notch infrastructure to better governance, residents of India’s Silicon Valley are yearning for policies that’ll make their city more liveable.
Several long-pending issues, such as conducting elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and setting up of Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC), are expected to see the light of day in 2025.
Convener of Bengaluru Coalition, R Rajagopalan, says his simple wishlist is significant progress in key urban governance areas like administration. “Elections to BBMP must be held in 2025. Besides, the setting up of a strong BMPC, a functional Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) with improvements to the Act, and an overhaul of our law and order and traffic and capacity building should happen this year,” Rajagopalan added.
He also stressed that a permanent and effective solution to the existential solid-waste management crisis, aka garbage crisis, should be found and effectively implemented. “The nearly abandoned waterbodies must be secured, rejuvenated, and made functional. Biodiversity and science-based creation of tree parks, avenue and gap planting, ways to address pollution, heat islands, and urban flooding with tangible projects, and enforcing rainwater harvesting should be given importance,” he elaborated.
Rajagopalan also added that a fully operational Namma Metro’s Yellow Line will help address mobility issues in the city’s southeastern localities. Also, accelerate execution of planned phases of the Metro and suburban rail project, a comprehensive local loop and last mile connectivity from BMTC, adding several new BMTC routes, completion of 75 key junctions and execution of road infrastructure repairs will improve mobility, he added.
Convenor of Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru, Sandeep Anirudhan, stressed that instead of the proposed tunnel roads, skydeck, and other projects, better sense should prevail among the elected representatives and concerned officials, and they should take steps to add more BMTC buses and improve the last-mile connectivity.
Urban Conservation Vijay Nishanth opined that the Bengaluru administration should focus more on blue-green infrastructure. The development will be more in the city, and as a result, there will be a direct impact on trees and waterbodies, he said. “Chopping more trees and encroaching on waterbodies will eventually lead to a gas chamber-like condition,” Nishanth said, adding that more stress should be given to environment-friendly projects.