Governing the city: Divided we stand...

Bengaluru is badly in need of better governance - that hardly needs pointing out. The BBMP's most recent answer to this is to divide the city into 10 zones as opposed to the existing eight. Commissioner Kumar Naik justified the recommendation saying that by ensuring the zones are more evenly sized, decentralisation of power can be brought into place. It also means more officers to manage the city and the distance travelled to one's local zonal office will be reduced.

While the Palike seems to be making the right noises - decentralisation, more officers, etc, is the mere re-organisation of zones the answer? And will the basis of reorganization be the number of wards in the zone or area or population? Back in September 2014, a three-member committee headed by Chief Secretary B.S. Patil was constituted to look into the re-structuring of the BBMP. Their report, submitted in July 2015, recommended five municipal corporations with 400 wards as against the existing BBMP, which oversees 198. The Bangalore Political Action  Committee's proposal was in keeping with this too. The bottom line was more wards, an administrative structure that provides greater autonomy with more accountability and a better governance mechanism  all intended bridge the gap between the authorities and the citizens and improve revenue collections and service delivery.  

Bengaluru is located across an expanse of over 700 sq. km, a vast area with a single, centralised municipal body. The BBMP is twice the size of Chennai and four times that of Kolkatta in terms of area. Reorganisation of zones will not affect the higher seats of power, the BBMP Commissioner will remain in charge of the city as a whole. The need to split the corporation grows more pressing each year, for the BBMP has witnessed 51% decadal growth between 2001 and 2011, the highest in India. In 2013, the population that constitutes the BBMP stood at 91 lakh, including areas like Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, RR Nagar, Mahadevapura and Bomanahalli. The BBMP’s estimated population density is expected to surpass 26,000 by 2024. This means wards need to be divided scientifically, keeping in mind the equitable distribution of population.  

No other city in the world has a single centralised authority overseeing such a large area. London, for instance, is decentralised into 33 borough councils, even though their population growth per decade has been only around 14.1%. Jakarta is divided into five kota, each headed by a mayor and together they take care of 740.3 sq. km. Closer home, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into three sub-geographical local bodies, the North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations. Each has its own mayor and commissioner. The Thane, Navi and Brihan Municipal Corporations constitute Greater Mumbai.

The BPAC rationale for splitting the BBMP included using existing administrative boundaries and retaining core Bengaluru's existing three zones. It also involved setting up four new corporations for peripheral areas based on population.Importantly, each corporation was to have its own mayor and commissioner, each with a tenure of five years. They would have been supported by a Joint Commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners.

The reason for this is that urban administration is a hyperlocal activity. The BBMP handles services like solid waste management and the maintenance of roads. The fact that both are shoddily done clearly points to the Palike's ineptness. It is not humanly possible, after all, for a single commissioner to see to the problems encountered over 700 square km. Whitefield has suffered for years with bad roads simply because our ministers and administrators don't live there or have reason to visit. They completely disconnected from the local people of that areas and their problems. Solid waste management also has to be tackled at the local level and solutions are different depending on the composition of the wards, type of industries and other economic activity.

Some zones like Mahadevapura have just 17 wards with a large geographical area to cover and again, whereas developed zones of erstwhile BMP have upto 44 wards for a lesser area..  198 wards are simply too few and unevenly distributed and B.PAC proposed increasing the number of wards based on a combination of area and population.  Revenue per capita  across zones showed a wide variation with some zones showing high concentration of revenues without corresponding investment back into the zone to develop infrastructure and amenities to sustain and grow these revenues If the Palike is divided, professional tax collected in respective corporations could have been earmarked for the corporation limits. This is another, overwhelming issue that reorganisation of zones does not address.  

Corruption is crippling Bengaluru and the BBMP has gained a reputation for it. Splitting the municipality will definitely do its bit to reduce corruption, for transparency is inevitable in a decentralised structure. Needless to say, this doesn't work too well for the powers that be. The reorganisation of zones appears to be a means of paying lip service to the bevy of experts calling out for restructuring. The change, if it is brought about, will not affect the common man in any way. Bringing more bureaucrats into the fold is good because administrative capacity is always necessary.

However, the BBMP really needs skilled resources such as urban planner, water , waste management and health experts and engineers to develop road and associated infrastructure etc. at every level. So far, every decision, whether it is fixing roads or managing waste, has been motivated by the idea of a few people making money and the latest proposition seems to be a step in the same direction.The changes that are required need to take place at every level – both in the administration of the municipality and the political oversight with a clear focus on governance, revenue mobilisation and service delivery. This needs focused intent and a leadership that is truly interested in making the city a better place. Feasible solutions have been put on the backburner in favour of simplistic solutions. The problems have been identified and solutions offered. What, then, are we waiting for?
 
(The writer is CEO and Managing Trustee, Bangalore Political Action Committee)

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