BENGALURU: In a pointed response to prominent industrialists who have publicly criticised the city’s poor infrastructure, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, “If we forget the root, we will not get the fruit”.
During his ‘Walk with Bengaluru’ initiative at Veera Yodhara Vana in Koramangala on Sunday morning, Shivakumar, also Bengaluru Development minister, took an indirect swipe at Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and other industry leaders who have been repeatedly criticising on social media the government’s failure to fix Bengaluru.
“Some industrialists who owe their success to Bengaluru are now criticising it. They are forgetting their humble beginnings and how this city helped them grow. I believe that we should not forget our roots,” he said.
Asserting that constructive criticism is welcome as it’s vital for a healthy democracy, the DCM pushed back against “extreme targeted remarks”.
Shivakumar claimed that only Karnataka offers more freedom to the media to report on civic issues than other states, and asserted that the condition in cities like Delhi and Mumbai are no better.
The DCM announced plans to convene a meeting with representatives from the IT sector along with IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge, Industries Minister M B Patil and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Shivakumar also defended the government’s decision to split the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike into five corporations for better administration. “The proposal was there for over 12 years. Only we dared to act on it,” he said and highlighted mega infrastructure projects worth Rs 1.04 lakh crore, including tunnel roads, elevated corridors, double-decker flyovers and buffer roads to address the city’s civic woes.
Major complaints raised by citizens included inordinate delay over completion of the Ejipura Flyover; flooding in and around HSR Layout, Ejipura, ST Bed and surrounding areas, broken sanitary lines, vehicles flouting traffic rules, issues pertaining to civic amenity sites, absence of proper footpaths and garbage.
A citizen requested the DCM not to levy 5% of the guidance value for conversion of B-khata to A-khata, but instead collect a fixed amount based on the plot size. Shivakumar replied that citizens have to pay as per the guidance value.
Shivakumar, who later inspected the ongoing works at Ejipura Flyover, said they are hoping to complete the corridor by June next year.
Have criticised infra in BJP, JDS tenure too: Shaw
Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw refuted Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s allegations that she and former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai have a personal agenda as they didn’t complain during the BJP regime. Stating that the allegations are not true, Kiran said, “Both Mohandas Pai and I have criticised deteriorating infrastructure in our city to previous BJP and JDS governments. Our agenda is clear -- clean up and restore roads.” On Shivakumar setting a June 2026 deadline for completion of the Ejipura Flyover, Shaw said, “This is a positive development which will greatly relieve traffic congestion and has been 10 years in the making, which previous BJP and JDS governments did not prioritise. Putting this on a priority track is a good move.”
