Tunnels are costlier, but we don’t have any other option: D K Shivakumar at Bengaluru 2040 Summit

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar is the man at the centre of it all, from managing inter-state river water disputes to being in-charge of the state’s economic growth engine Bengaluru. As the city is grappling with the flip side of being the economic powerhouse that it is, Shivakumar is tasked with improving the quality of life in the city. Excerpts from a conversation with him on the as a part of the DH Bengaluru 2040 Summit:

DH: What is the unique idea of Brand Bengaluru?

DKS: Bengaluru is a global, international city. Bengaluru’s strength is its culture, its weather and that it is a knowledge centre. Compared to other parts of the country, it is far ahead on the technological front. It has attracted people from all over the world. People love to work here, people love to get educated here and apart from that in healthcare, it has taken a very big leap. It has a very high number of medical and engineering colleges, and manpower is very strong here. That is why it generates most resources in the state. It also contributes 39 per cent of the country.

Bengaluru is not a well planned city like Chandigarh or Delhi. But citizens are contributing huge taxes to both state and central governments. So it is our duty to ensure proper facilities for their development and satisfaction. So I thought we should brand them in a proper way.

DH: Ease of Doing Business and Quality of Life in Bengaluru is a big concern now. Surveys have shown that Bengaluru could be losing Rs 19,000 Crore and 7 Lakh productive hours annually to traffic jams. How do you plan to address this?

DKS: Now in our economy and our policies we allow any common man to buy a car even using a credit card. But we cannot expand road infrastructure, due to high compensation we have to pay, doing it is very difficult. The only solution is to go for public transport options like Metro and suburban rail. And some tunnels have to be built. Tunnels are costlier, but still we don’t have any other option. So through the metro, suburban rail and adding more buses for the common man, we can sort out this problem to some extent. It is not a permanent solution but still that is the only option available to us.

Another way out is to create satellite towns and cities around Bengaluru, 30 - 40 kms away from Bengaluru and see that the new population growth is diverted to these towns and cities.

DH: Bengaluru’s founder Kempegowda envisioned the city as a city of lakes. But now many of the lakes are encroached by land grabbers. How do you intend to address it?

DKS: It is a very important concern. We have a Lake Development Authority only to protect lakes. We are modernising and rejuvenating lakes. We are evicting those who have encroached on lakes for a long time. Lakes are a very big natural resource, which we need to protect for greener Bengaluru and to improve our underground water table. The government is committed to develop all these lakes.

DH: Bengaluru has a vibrant green cover and is known as the garden city. But in the last few years, we have lost a lot of this green cover to development projects. What is the government’s plan on maintaining what we have and improving the green cover?

DKS: Bengaluru is a very green city. It has been called a pensioner’s paradise, garden city and it definitely has a lot of trees compared to other cities. Now as we embrace high rises, some of the green cover may have disappeared. But still, we are committed to improving the city’s green cover and I have come up with a plan that every school child will take up one area, to have a tree in their name. They will be given the responsibility of that area, they will plant the trees with the Forest Department and BBMP.

We want to see that more trees are grown along all footpaths, to keep the city greener. This is one of the important initiatives I have taken up after taking charge as Bengaluru Development Minister.

DH: You have also proposed renaming Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South. and extending the Metro network to Bidadi. What is the progress on these proposals?

DKS: We want to modernise Ramanagara and I am committed to it. Bidadi Industrial Area is already on global standards and we want to extend the metro to this area. It is an important area, water table levels are very high. I think Ramanagara itself is part of Bengaluru and it was renamed for various reasons. I think it is in the best interest of all to revert to the old name.

DH: A longstanding complaint is that there has been no coordination between the various parastatals in the city, that they work at cross purposes. What have you been doing to set this right and ensure all these agencies work together for the city’s holistic development?

DKS: This perception is wrong. We all think together and work together and that is the secret of the success of Bengaluru’s development.