A view of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) office
Credit: DH Photo/S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: In a bid to improve transparency and redress public grievances in a timely manner, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has introduced open house meetings.
Members of the public can raise long-pending grievances via a dedicated WhatsApp number, and the BDA will invite them for an open house meeting with the chairman within 30 days. The meeting will be live-streamed to ensure transparency in grievance redress.
Senior officials said the initiative followed government directives to improve transparency and accountability in the BDA.
“If you have a long-pending grievance with BDA, and if you are on the right side of the law, you can send a photocopy of your petition by WhatsApp. BDA invites you within 30 days for the Open House meeting chaired by the chairman and your grievance will be discussed threadbare and a final decision will be taken, unless legal complications are involved,” BDA Commissioner Manivannan P wrote on X.
However, BDA site allottees are not confident about the move. A site allottee from Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout called it “possibly an eyewash” and said “nothing fruitful would come out of it.”
“Maybe, they will address smaller problems. But they already know about the bigger infrastructure problems. I don’t think this will help address such core issues,” said a site allottee, who did not want to be named.
However, another resident said it was still a step forward.
“It is difficult to get even a small amount of work done in the BDA. Even if this initiative can help address small grievances, it will be a big relief for site allottees,” said a resident of Anjanapura.
The WhatsApp number for public to raise the grievances is 9483166622.