Two years on, why is BMLTA still a non-starter?

Bengaluru: It was envisioned as a unified planning and supervisory authority to coordinate government agencies and implement holistic transport and traffic measures in Bengaluru. 

But more than two years after it was given legislative teeth, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) remains on paper with no indication as to when it will be up and running. 

The delay in the BMLTA's formation has impacted Bengaluru's transport planning and management. Without a centralised authority to oversee transport planning, the city continues to grapple with traffic congestion, haphazard development, and inadequate public transport. 

A combination of political manoeuvring, bureaucratic hurdles, and vested interests have kept the BMLTA in limbo, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

The BMLTA Act was passed by the state legislature in December 2022 and published in the Karnataka gazette on January 12, 2023. The authority was mandated to be operational within six months, but its formation and the framing of necessary rules and procedures have been agonisingly slow. 

According to Umashankar SR, Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department (UDD), the names (for non-official members of the authority) have been sent to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and the matter is being looked into. "The rules are being formulated," he told DH, but declined to give a timeline. 

Umashankar said that the government might be reconsidering the BMLTA due to the proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). 

Modelled along the lines of the Greater London Authority, the GBA is designed to replace the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and is currently being reviewed by a legislative committee. 

A well-placed source said serious discussions on the BMLTA were yet to happen due to the government's other priorities. Political consensus may also be lacking, the source noted. 

Another well-placed source suggested there was also "no sincerity" about the GBA with things hardly moving moved on that front. 

Deepa Cholan, Commissioner of the Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) and designated member-secretary of the BMLTA, did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment. 

Independent Urban Mobility expert Satya Arikutharam, who helped draft the BMLTA bill, believes that certain sections within the UDD and the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) are resistant to the idea of the BMLTA as an independent body. He attributes this to either "apathy or vested interests".

Arikutharam suspects bureaucrats might have misunderstood and consequently "misled" politicians about the BMLTA Act. The act is self-contained and does not necessarily depend on the notification of rules to be implemented. For example, the BMLTA had reviewed and gave firm opinion on the BBMP's proposed Sankey Rod flyover in 2023. He argues that the need for rules is mostly related to recruitment and pay scales for BMLTA officials. 

Speaking about the GBA, he said that it should function as an agency to implement the decisions of the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC), a proposed quasi-political body with elected representatives. "The BMLTA has a purely technical function — it can't be put on hold on account of the GBA debate," he asserts. 

Arikutharam stresses that the BMLTA would function for integrated public transport much like the BWSSB does for water management and Bescom for power supply. 

Arikutharam underscores the BMLTA’s crucial role in updating the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), which aims to raise public transport usage to 80% and is now up for review. He also highlights its function in scientifically assessing the traffic impact of large-scale developments, and suspects resistance from the development lobby unwilling to undergo such scrutiny. 

Beyond mobility planning, the BMLTA would influence and inform land use policies for residential, commercial and other developments based on urban transport impact. It would oversee the transport implications of major projects and ensure compliance with public transport goals. It would also be the custodian of the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) policy, according to Arikutharam.

What is BMLTA? What will it do? 

The BMLTA will be a unified authority to regulate the development, operation, maintenance, monitoring, and supervision of urban mobility in Bengaluru. 

Currently, transport schemes in Bengaluru are planned and implemented by government entities like the BMTC, BMRCL, K-RIDE, the traffic police, and the transport department, causing an overlap in responsibilities and functions. 

Who will be its members? 

The BMLTA will have 32 members and two special invitees, with the chief minister as chairperson and the Bengaluru development and transport ministers as vice-chairpersons. The DULT commissioner will be its member-secretary. 

Besides representatives of government departments and transport agencies, the BMLTA will have 10 non-official members drawn from urban mobility, civil society, private sector, and academics.