Citizens remind BDA it's living in time warp

Bad roads, poorly managed water bodies, lack of coordination among civic agencies and garbage menace were the major talking points at the first public grievance meeting organised by the Bengaluru Development Authority here on Thursday.

Though BDA and BBMP officials were present to collect opinion for the future, they were flooded with complaints of the present.

“We were told by BDA that the thrust of the government was on protection of lakes and green spaces in their master plan 2031. But a report shows that Bengaluru will become a grey city by 2020. Also, the present of condition of lakes is so bad that I wonder what will remain for the future,” said Nagamani R, a resident of Gottigere.

This was the first public consultation organised by BDA, a week after the Authority released its pre-draft of the revised master plan 2031. The meeting was held for residents of Bommanahalli zone, covering the gram panchayats of Bannerghatta, Dodda Thooguru, Hebbagodi, Kaggalipura, Kammasandra, Konappana Agrahara, Mantapa, Muthanallur, Shanthipura and Yamare. Dr Shalini of HSR Layout referred to the garbage menace and urged officials to first tackle this burning issue before planning ahead.

“It is not right to collect waste from one place, dump it in a far-off place and then think of what needs to be done. Instead, the government should first scientifically handle it in the wards in a decentralised manner,” she said.

Krupa Chakravarthy, a resident, said there was a need to involve the public in planning and implementation. Muralidhar A N, former corporator of Arakere ward, said BDA had not left any sites for civic amenity purposes. All flyovers and road widening works that have been planned will have no use in this part of the city.