Course correction is needed to fix Bengaluru’s road infrastructure and waste management issues in a bid to make it a world-class city, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday.
Speaking at Deccan Herald’s ‘Bengaluru 2040’ Summit in the city, he said smaller cities such as Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Davanagere and Ballari have better roads than Bengaluru. “If those cities can do it, why not Bengaluru?” he asked the audience in his address ‘Fast Forward 2040’. “Let’s do it,” he exhorted.
Much of Bengaluru’s present woes, he pointed out, are because of the amalgamation of the corporation with municipalities and gram panchayats. “While the core area has pretty good roads, drains and water supply, we have not been able to address these issues on the outskirts,” Bommai said.
To that end, he said the government will hold the first meeting of the soon-to-be formed Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority, and it will draw up a new plan for waste management to ensure every ward has a processing unit.
“We have been able to address the traffic congestion by introducing simple measures… We have also prioritised completion of the peripheral ring road, suburban rail project, and Metro expansion,” he shared.
Time-bound course correction is needed because Bengaluru has a tremendous capacity to grow as one of the finest international cities, he emphasised.
“It is blessed with the best natural and human resources. While the natural resources are god given, the human resource was nurtured by our forefathers… We have got the more than 400 research and development (R&D) centres in the city. No other city can boast of having these many centres. Not even America or Europe,” he shared.
He illustrated the city’s draw -- 400 of the 500 fortune companies are in Bengaluru, more than 5,000 scientists and technologists travel to Bengaluru daily, and job opportunities are set to cross the three lakh-mark this year. “The world is converging in Bengaluru,” he remarked.
Closing his address, he hailed Karnataka as God’s most loved state in the country, and Bengaluru as the future city.
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