CM Siddaramaiah’s poll largesse too little for Bengaluru

Bengaluru: For a city plagued with multiple infrastructure problems and struggling to meet the demands of a population of one crore, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s announcement to release Rs 1,000 crore to Bengaluru seems a drop in the ocean.

The delayed allocation of funds has affected many projects in the pipeline such as solid waste management, asphalting potholed roads, damaged footpaths and developing parks. Incidentally, the chief minister has been condemned for not giving the IT city its due attention, with Bengaluru getting a mere allocation of over '4,500 crore in the state budget this year.

For a city that has seen unprecedented growth in the last one decade, is this untimely allotment of Rs 1,000 crore sufficient?

“Not at all,” says urban planning expert Ashwin Mahesh. He notes that the Congress government in Karnataka has taken decisions all by itself and has 250 cities to look after. Once in a while, the government’s attention falls on Bengaluru.

“However, the chief minister didn’t release funds when the budget was announced. Why now? The best thing to do is to give the local government money every year,” he said. He suggested that the government needs to give at least Rs 6,000 crore to BBMP every year if it wants to see a change in the local administration.

“With the Rs 1,000 crore, the BBMP should focus on projects proposed by the Decongestion Committee,” he said.

While corruption and misuse of funds have deterred the development of the city, the BBMP’s new administrator seems to be keeping his promises.

The need-of-the-hour, however, is deliverance by both the BBMP and state government. This is especially crucial because the BBMP getting only 3 months to utilize the funds, is the allotment just a pre-election strategy?  So what projects have to be taken up on priority basis?

“The city needs long, sustainable development plans,” asserts CIVIC executive trustee Kathyayini Chamaraj.

She further adds, “I have heard that these funds will be utilized for an elevated expressway which is an unnecessary expenditure because Namma Metro is already under construction. Instead, the focus should be on adopting sustainable water supply for Bengaluru.

“The government should find ways to increase groundwater level in the city and improve the social infrastructure.”