BELAGAVI: To bring all transport and allied departments under a single umbrella to decongest and manage traffic better in Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Bill 2022 (BMLTA) was adopted by the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
The Bill covers 279 sqkm of the Bengaluru Metropolitan area and is a precursor to a similar Bill at the central level, where all departments concerned with transport will be brought under one roof, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhu Swamy, who introduced the piece of legislation.
The Bill will come into effect immediately with the CM being its ex-officio chairperson, Bengaluru development and transport ministers being vice-chairmen and the chief secretary and other officials concerned with the transport department being ex-officio members.
‘Multilevel structures on cards to address B’luru’s parking woes’
The authority aims to promote seamless mobility through sustainable urban transport and integration of land use and transport planning in the Urban Mobility Region (UMR) by preparing and updating the comprehensive mobility plan.
The authority puts in place frameworks and regulations to establish an effective coordination mechanism, covering all strategic and operational matters among agencies handling urban transport, infrastructure development and traffic management. The authority will prepare norms for the implementation of transportation projects on a public-private partnership basis. It assists, aids and advises the state government on urban mobility matters in UMR by providing inputs for policy formulation for comprehensive, integrated and efficient urban mobility.
The authority will borrow, lend, fund or facilitate the financing of all urban mobility projects. It will devise regulations, and guidelines and provide guidance to all transport, infrastructure development and traffic management agencies on matters pertaining to data sharing, data access and intellectual property rights.
The Bill was well received by the members, except for a few doubts and suggestions.
Bommanahalli MLA Aravind Limbavali wanted to know whether there was any proposal to end the parking menace, while Deputy Leader of Opposition UT Khader sought the inclusion of a local MLA or minister in the authority.
“They will have local knowledge as the transport minister can be from outside Bengaluru,” he said.
Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai, who returned from New Delhi by noon, said the Bill is crucial, considering that Bengaluru is the fastest-growing city in the country.
Stating that over 5,000 new vehicles are added to city roads every day, he said, “The city has a massive population of 1.25 crore and more than 1 crore vehicles. Soon, the number of vehicles will overtake the human population. To decongest Bengaluru, we have taken various institutions together. Places like Gorguntepalya and Hebbal need to be decongested. The construction of multilevel parking lots to address parking woes is on cards. The traffic needs a scientific study, which will be done by IISc experts,” he added.
The Bill was passed without any objection.