Bengaluru transport watchdog BMLTA 'dead on arrival'

Bengaluru: Three years after enacting the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) — conceptualised on the lines of Transport for London (TfL) — the Karnataka government has notified a set of rules, putting in motion the process of finally ‘operationalising’ the statutory watchdog. 

What was meant to be a unified transport planner for Bengaluru, however, may have little significance as the state government has kept the plans and decisions that are already approved out of its scrutiny. 

On January 3, the Urban Development Department (UDD) published the draft rules for governing the BMLTA, comprising detailed procedures for its composition, meetings, financial management and audit framework. Citizens have 30 days to share their objections and suggestions. 

Among the total of 24 rules mentioned in the draft notification, the last one specifically states that all previous decisions, plans, operations and pending proceedings on the date of commencement of these rules shall be deemed to have been construed under the BMLTA Act. 

The sequence of events is interesting. Projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, which the government has specifically proposed to decongest the city, including tunnel roads, 12 flyovers and new roads along the buffer zones of stormwater drains, will not come under the ambit of BMLTA as they are already approved by the government. 

Three years after enacting the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) — conceptualised on the lines of Transport for London (TfL) — the Karnataka government has notified a set of rules, putting in motion the process of finally 'operationalising' the statutory watchdog. 

What was meant to be a unified transport planner for Bengaluru, however, may have little significance as the state government has kept the plans and decisions that are already approved out of its scrutiny. 

On January 3, the Urban Development Department (UDD) published the draft rules for governing the BMLTA, comprising detailed procedures for its composition, meetings, financial management and audit framework. Citizens have 30 days to share their objections and suggestions. 

Among the total of 24 rules mentioned in the draft notification, the last one specifically states that all previous decisions, plans, operations and pending proceedings on the date of commencement of these rules shall be deemed to have been construed under the BMLTA Act. 

The sequence of events is interesting. Projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, which the government has specifically proposed to decongest the city, including tunnel roads, 12 flyovers and new roads along the buffer zones of stormwater drains, will not come under the ambit of BMLTA as they are already approved by the government. 

Hence, some experts view the BMLTA as dead on arrival. 

Sathya Arikutharam, an independent mobility expert, said draft rule 24 of the BMLTA is fundamentally wrong. "All urban mobility decisions and projects announced after the Act came into force must necessarily seek the BMLTA Section 19 approval," he said, adding that the government deliberately delayed the establishment of the BMLTA. "It is now trying both to escape scrutiny and achieve deemed approval status for its many flawed projects through this rule." 

There was a long demand to operationalise the BMLTA, especially after the state government announced the tunnel road project, which was not part of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan of 2020. Experts believed that with BMLTA in place, the tunnel road would not stand scrutiny for its faulty design and long-term goals. 

Tushar Girinath, Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department, said the rules can only be enforced prospectively. 

"We cannot seek approval of projects from the BMLTA that are already approved by the government in the interest of the public," he said, adding that the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) will continue to be the secretariat of the BMLTA and would be assisted by an expert committee. 

The BMLTA Act was passed by the BJP government in December 2022 and published in the Karnataka gazette on January 12, 2023. During its term, no rules were published, making the Act ineffective. The Congress government was under pressure to operationalise the BMLTA as the Centre had made it mandatory for the approval of future metro lines.