BDA’s public meet on master plan: Chaos, protests, boycotts rule

BENGALURU: Uproars, boycotts and smashing a photo of the BDA were the highlights of the “public interaction and suggestion on Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2031”, organised by the BDA in the city on Wednesday.

Though the BDA will organise four more public hearings, does the authority really care for public opinion and holistic growth of the city it the question that haunts the citizens. Those who attended the public meeting protested and questioned the BDA’s authority and constitutional validity in holding meetings and drawing up the RMP– 2031 to envisage the future growth of the city. “The Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) is the authorized body to draw up the RMP for the metropolitan area. The BDA meeting is in violation of Article 243 ZE of the Constitution,” they said.

Mr N.S. Mukunda, member, Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF), alleged that the BDA is hoodwinking the citizens by giving a very short notice for the public to air their opinion. “Over 8,000 suggestions given by the public were thrown into the dustbin by the Thomas Committee when the 2015 master plan was being drawn up. Needless to say, it created havoc in the city. If the consultation process is not organised properly, CAF members will launch a movement,” he warned.

Mr Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), asked whether the chief minister has authorised the BDA to formulate the RMP with the help of a Netherlands company. “MPC is powerless after the dissolution of the BBMP, as two-thirds of the members of the MPC should be from among the members of municipalities,” he said.

Dissatisfied with the way the consultation process was being carried out, NBF and Bengaluru Residents Welfare Association Confederation Ensemble (BRACE) walked out of the meeting. They warned that they will challenge the RMP, which is being prepared at a cost of Rs 15 crore, in the court of law.

MLC Ashwath Narayan too criticised the BDA’s move said that RMP cannot have farmers’ land as green belt. The meeting should be convened in developing areas where it affects most, he said. Mr Dhananjay Gowda, member, Arkavathy Villagers’ Welfare Society, said that the Master Plan 2015 has put the lives of Bengalureans in misery.

Another citizen said that though the RMP – 2015 had proposed four roads to connect Byatarayanapura, none of them exist. “Money has changed hands to close these roads down,” he alleged. “Some of the villages have remained in the green belt for the last three decades. Doesn’t the BDA want the condition of the villagers to improve? Some of the villages have remained underdeveloped, while their surroundings are getting better,” he said.

Government allows BDA to draw  up RMP: commissioner

Amid doubts whether the Bengaluru Development Authority is authorised to hold public hearings and consultations on the Revised Master Plan – 2031, BDA Commissioner T. Sham Bhat on Wednesday clarified that the BDA commissioner, being the secretary of the Metropolitan Planning Committee, the government has authorised the BDA to draw up the RMP - 2031.

He said that HaskoningDHV Consultancy, though a Netherlands firm, has a large number of local people and has been working on the RMP. “The opinion of the public will be placed before the MPC, and the draft and final copy of the RMP will also be placed before MPC for approval,” he said.

Announcing that public meetings will be organised at all the four zones, he said that public will be given adequate time to express their opinions and apprehensions. Mr Leo Saldanha, coordinator, Environment Support Group (ESG), questioned the short notice given for public hearing and said that entrusting the RMP to a Netherlands company is in violation of Constitutional norms. Mr Bhat, however, clarified that the company has been shortlisted after a global tendering process.