BDA and BBMP Pulled Up by CM, Asked to Plan Large Infrastructure Projects
The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Bengaluru have come under a lot of fire recently for inefficiency in dealing with many things, including property tax collection, the B-Khata confusion, the garbage problem and corruption. It is no surprise then that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in a meeting with MLAs, BDA and BBMP officials, has directed them on Monday and asked both BDA and BBMP to clean up their acts and also to draw up extensive plans to construct major infrastructure projects in the city.
The Chief Minister mandated that these projects are to be completed within the next three years, before his term comes to an end. He also examined the spate of bad work that the municipal authorities have been doing, right from BBMP’s revenue collection and garbage collection in Bengaluru right down to the BDA’s problems with its property tax collection. In terms of property tax collection, the Chief Minister has categorically stated that it should meet a target of Rs.2, 900 crore by March 31st of this year. He also reviewed the proposed garbage processing units and their progress.
BDA’s functionality to be revamped?
There has been a lot of talk about BDA’s functioning since its inception in 1976. It was instituted to consolidate some of the functions that overlapped between different planning and municipal authorities in the state and is primarily involved in planning and developing functions, including development plans for the city of Bengaluru, approving plans for instituting housing projects and layouts and building plans. Since 1976, it has constituted 62 layouts and its latest one, the development of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, is rumoured to be its last, with the government planning to shut the BDA and turn it into an organization that primarily builds infrastructure projects and not provide affordable housing, which is one of its main functions. The BDA has, in the past, been criticised for not acquiring land properly to build houses, with no projects coming up even a decade after their announcement. Even the House Building Cooperative Societies, which began in the 1990s have failed to help BDA to construct affordable housing projects diligently.
Developers are of the opinion that the BDA should focus on zoning regulations and give the responsibility of constructing housing projects to private developers, but doing this would mean dealing with skyrocketing land prices and would kill it purpose of make housing affordable. The Chief Minister’s directive to deal with infrastructure projects could give BDA the chance to use its authority more effectively.
Apart from its list of 13 ongoing housing projects, BDA has a host of other plans, including taking up group housing with other agencies, a trend that is common in Delhi and Mumbai. In fact, these 13 projects had been instated in 2007, with the state government giving 240 acres of land for the project.
Much like the plans to divide the BBMP, there are also plans to divide the BDA, due to its failure to distribute sites and form layouts. It had not, for instance, distributed sites since 2003, which was when it had distributed 10,000 sites in the Sir M Vishweshwaraya Layout. The state government will now focus on improving the functions of the BDA, with steps being taken to distribute sites in Akravathy and Kempegowda layouts.
The BDA’s other functions had also lapsed, with the development authority failing to allot sites properly due to mismanagement and inefficient procedures. The BDA, on its part, has blamed the state government for making changes to the Revised Master Plan, in which the commercial use of land were revised.
With so much on their plates, it remains to be seen if the BBMP and the BDA can focus on building infrastructure projects when they have a slew of housing projects and zoning issues to solve.
Bangalore Development Authority, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, House Building Cooperative Societies, Property tax collection
