Bengaluru to get a facelift by 2020

Bengaluru : An
elaborate blueprint to pull Bengaluru out of the urban chaos is finally taking
shape. R Chandrasekhar, MP and President, FICCI who is also the Convener, Agenda
for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development (ABIDE) has presented to BS
Yeddyurappa CM, Karnataka, a status progress report of his Task Force. ABIDE is
an initiative of Yeddyurappa to deal with the multiple problems of one of India's
fastest growing cities.

'Plan Bengaluru 2020'
envisages a host of measures to tap the potential of the city to become India's
showpiece city and an internationally prominent metropolis. It looks at new
urban models, upgrading of infrastructure and a better quality of life. The Task
Force under the supervision of Chandrasekhar is looking at roads, traffic
management, transportation, water, sanitation, power, airport, railways,
policing, enforcement, law and order, city facilities, citizen centric
governance, heritage, environment, government schools and colleges and a better
deal for the urban poor.

Chandrasekhar said that his
key objective is to make Bengaluru the preferred metropolis of India, which will
serve as a gateway of investment and prosperity into Karnataka. ABIDE is working
on Plan Bengaluru 2020, which is a comprehensive, ward wise, Integrated
Development Plan for the much debated IT city.

Participating agencies like
the Bruhath Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport
Corporation, Bangalore Development Authority, Karnataka State Road Transport
Corporation, Namma Metro, High Speed Rail Link and others will now have to
submit plans to the Task Force so that work could be started. Dates are being
fixed for completion of various projects and will be constantly monitored by
ABIDE.

Among many plans on the anvil
is to build new roads, over bridges, develop water bodies, set-up water and
sewerage systems, work on alternative transport systems and computerize RTO's to
regularize tax collection and empower officers to collect fines.

Bengaluru will have a water
shortage of 655 million liters a day by 2020. The Bangalore Water Supply
Sewerage Board has been asked to take up water works without waiting for
approval under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. There is a
proposal to make rainwater harvesting mandatory. In four wards to be selected by
the government, water is going to be supplied all round the day. One of these
wards will probably get it within the next three months.

ABIDE's findings on planning
and governance show that there are too many plan documents and no integration of
plans and jurisdictions. It also pointed out that there was no single blueprint
to manage the cities growth and its services. This is crucial as the population
of Bengaluru is expected to touch 160 lakh by 2020.

The Task Force has recommended
that planning for the city must be from a metropolitan region perspective and
therefore it was necessary to strengthen the Bangalore Metropolitan Region
Development Authority. Another idea is to develop model wards, as it will help
set-up examples that will help in further planning and execution. New townships
are envisaged too with proper distribution of population that would follow
specified planning guidelines. It said that the townships had to be positioned
in such a way that connectivity, transportation, water and infrastructure
expansion was underway.

Land acquisition all over
India has been a problem as new projects come up. To overcome disputes and speed
up development, a new model is suggested where landowners are given compensation
through cash or land that can be developed. They can also be offered employment.
New roads would have a green ribbon of trees on both sides with provisions for
future elevated transit systems, metro or mono rail to be made.