
BENGALURU: With the Karnataka government promoting Brand Bengaluru, experts stress that instead, resources and manpower should be enhanced to address Bengaluru’s infrastructure demand.
Speaking about Bengaluru’s plight, a senior BBMP official said, “There is at least a 50 per cent shortage across all wings of the BBMP, especially in the engineering section, which demands works on the ground. Additionally, there is a severe lack of funds to execute works,” he said, and added that BBMP is exploring various financial models to address this, including aggressive tax collection, penalties and reviving shelved schemes such as Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Public-Private Partnerships are also being considered for key projects under Brand Bengaluru (BB).
Experts argue that BB is more a brand name and logo than a project. “The government is focused on quick solutions, using BB as a name rather than long-term planning. Bengaluru already has a 13,000-km road network, but the government’s focus remains tunnel roads, underpasses and flyovers, instead of improving footpaths. Though over 40 per cent of Bengalureans rely on buses, there are only 6,000 buses in the city. Now, bus fares have been hiked and soon Metro fares will be hiked too, forcing people to use two- and four-wheelers,” said an expert who works with the government.
Urban mobility expert Prof Ashish Verma from IISc criticised the lack of inter-agency coordination, a key factor in Bengaluru’s infrastructure challenges. “The BB is a PR exercise of the state government. One of the major issues is lack of coordination among government agencies in executing works. But BB does not talk of it,” he said, and added that before BB was launched, the state government had formed committees and verticals to come up with recommendations, but nothing was implemented.
Further, experts point out that though the idea of merging government bodies under BBMP for execution of works is good, it is impractical. “BBMP lacks expertise and Bengaluru roads and garbage management are examples of it,” said an expert.
An official from Smart City Mission revealed that its tenure ends in March 2025 and its 32 staffers will be sent back to their parent departments, with no plans for continuation.
An official from DULT said that previously, Smart City Mission was executing projects under funds from the Central government, but has now been directed to work with BBMP.
Civic expert Srinivas Alavilli suggested that civic works in Bengaluru should be executed by BBMP, which is the only agency with an elected council. “But it is already overburdened and lacks resources like engineers. Instead of introducing new projects or allocating additional funds, the government must first strengthen BBMP by filling vacant positions,” he said.