<p>Bengaluru: When the BBMP presented its budget on Saturday, it also marked a record as the fifth budget to be presented by a group of senior bureaucrats in the absence of an elected body. The presentation drew criticism from citizen groups and experts, who pointed out that it would result in a lack of transparency and accountability in the utilisation of the budget.</p>.<p>People also took to social media to criticise the state government for failing to make any effort to hold the BBMP elections.</p>.<p>Sandeep Anirudhan, convenor of the Citizens' Agenda for Bengaluru, raised concerns about the legitimacy of the budget in the absence of a democratic process. "The fundamentals are broken. There has not been an elected council or mayor for the fifth consecutive year. Public inputs have not been taken," he added.</p>.BBMP garbage truck mows down 8-yr-old boy on Thanisandra Main Road in Bengaluru.<p>"It is time for the citizens of the city to wake up and demand the operationalisation of the Metropolitan Planning Committee and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority, the issuance of the Master Plan for the city, and the city's compliance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment - Nagarpalika Act, 1992," Anirudhan further emphasised.</p>.<p>Professor Ashish Verma, Convenor of the IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST Lab), stated that this BBMP budget is a classic example of misplaced priorities and unscientific projects, particularly regarding mobility. "While we had earlier assisted the BBMP with the Brand Bengaluru report on mobility, none of the recommendations from that report have been included in the proposed interventions and budget allocation, except for the mention of Quality of Life as a development goal. What has been proposed (tunnels, flyovers, double-decker roads, etc.) will only degrade the quality of life and offer a bleak future for Bengaluru," he lamented.</p>.<p>Srikanth Narasimhan, General Secretary of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP), said that the real issue lies in the lack of transparency, citizen participation, and accountability. "The BNP has extracted information from the BBMP on 63,629 ward-level projects worth Rs 21,653 crore during the 2015-2020 tenure of the BBMP Council and displayed it on its website. Can the BBMP also display details of its projects and expenditures on its website?" he questioned.</p>.<p>Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya took to social media to criticise the BBMP for failing to conduct elections after five years without an elected body. However, he later deleted the post.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: When the BBMP presented its budget on Saturday, it also marked a record as the fifth budget to be presented by a group of senior bureaucrats in the absence of an elected body. The presentation drew criticism from citizen groups and experts, who pointed out that it would result in a lack of transparency and accountability in the utilisation of the budget.</p>.<p>People also took to social media to criticise the state government for failing to make any effort to hold the BBMP elections.</p>.<p>Sandeep Anirudhan, convenor of the Citizens' Agenda for Bengaluru, raised concerns about the legitimacy of the budget in the absence of a democratic process. "The fundamentals are broken. There has not been an elected council or mayor for the fifth consecutive year. Public inputs have not been taken," he added.</p>.BBMP garbage truck mows down 8-yr-old boy on Thanisandra Main Road in Bengaluru.<p>"It is time for the citizens of the city to wake up and demand the operationalisation of the Metropolitan Planning Committee and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority, the issuance of the Master Plan for the city, and the city's compliance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment - Nagarpalika Act, 1992," Anirudhan further emphasised.</p>.<p>Professor Ashish Verma, Convenor of the IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST Lab), stated that this BBMP budget is a classic example of misplaced priorities and unscientific projects, particularly regarding mobility. "While we had earlier assisted the BBMP with the Brand Bengaluru report on mobility, none of the recommendations from that report have been included in the proposed interventions and budget allocation, except for the mention of Quality of Life as a development goal. What has been proposed (tunnels, flyovers, double-decker roads, etc.) will only degrade the quality of life and offer a bleak future for Bengaluru," he lamented.</p>.<p>Srikanth Narasimhan, General Secretary of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP), said that the real issue lies in the lack of transparency, citizen participation, and accountability. "The BNP has extracted information from the BBMP on 63,629 ward-level projects worth Rs 21,653 crore during the 2015-2020 tenure of the BBMP Council and displayed it on its website. Can the BBMP also display details of its projects and expenditures on its website?" he questioned.</p>.<p>Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya took to social media to criticise the BBMP for failing to conduct elections after five years without an elected body. However, he later deleted the post.</p>
