Experts split hair over BBMP division

BENGALURU:  A day after Siddaramaiah announced that BBMP will be split into multiple corporations before the end of his government’s term, think tanks and former mayors deliberated on the issue and some welcomed it with cautious optimism.

In a chat with Deccan Chronicle, they help us understand factors such as resources, political undertones and the time required for the multiple corporations to become a reality.

Urban expert Ashwin Mahesh felt that splitting of BBMP should have been done 2-3 years ago. He said, “I am in favour of smaller municipalities. But I feel the split should have been done before the BBMP elections. The very purpose of going for the split after the corporators have been elected is leading to suspicion. If the Congress government loses its seat in the assembly elections, it wants to be in power at least in the BBMP.”

Explaining further he said, “If the BBMP is split into 3 or 4 micro corporations, a new Mayor has to be elected for each corporation. Numbers play a very important role in electing the Mayor and with a very thin margin elections are won or lost. Congress MLAs who have voting rights in BBMP now may lose their right after assembly elections. So if the BBMP is split before the Congress rule ends, their strategy is to have their candidates as Mayors in some of the new BBMP corporations at least.”

But for all physical purpose Bengaluru is one city. All the smaller municipalities should work in coordination, he added.

Siddaiah, member of BBMP restructuring committee said, “With the present population, Bengaluru deserves more corporations. It is difficult to manage this much population with one corporation. If you look at Tokyo, London and Paris, all have multiple corporations. London has 32 corporations.”

When queried about the infrastructure for the new corporations, Siddaiah said, “Infrastructure is not at all a problem. There are many existing buildings of BBMP spread over the city. Some of these can be converted into new headquarters. For example, the zonal office at Dasarahalli and BBMP office at Jayanagar 1st block are in very good condition and they can be turned into offices for new headquarters.”

However former mayor Katte Satyanarayana was sceptical about splitting BBMP and felt it would no way improve the city’s administration. He said, “BBMP at present has one mayor, one commissioner and eight zonal commissioners. In addition, it also has special commissioners and additional commissioners. If they are not able to do any good work in this present arrangement, I doubt what purpose the splitting of BBMP will serve, he said. “BJP is against the splitting of BBMP and we will not let that happen,” he added.

Congress trying to divert people’s attention: BS Yeddyurappa
 BJP state president B. S. Yeddyurappa has hit out at the chief minister’s proposal to split BBMP.  “The BJP has been consistently opposing the trifurcation of the BBMP for right reasons. The party continues to nurse the apprehension that the trifurcation has a political agenda and is not aimed at looking after the day-to-day interests of the people. We are of the considered view that the Congress has an ulterior motive. All its efforts are to counter BJP which is a potent force in Bengaluru City, as it is elsewhere in the state,” he said.

 The BJP leader said the Congress party has subverted the people’s mandate by entering into an unholy alliance with the JD (S).

This ‘marriage of convenience’ has not benefited people and done little to improve the city’s infrastructure, especially with regard to the quality of roads and pavements, which has even led to deaths of motorists and pedestrians.

The Chief Minister has suddenly propped up the idea of trifurcation to divert the attention of the people from its abject failure to deal with issues plaguing the city.

BJP will continue to look at trifurcation proposal with the contempt it deserves. The intricate details of the trifurcation - which is expected to be known in the coming days will prove that the BJP is right, the former chief minister said.

 The JD (S) has also come out against moves to split BBMP. “JD(S) will fight to the last to stall Siddaramaiah's decision to trifurcate the BBMP. We will take every possible step to convince him to reconsider his decision,” said Y. S.V. Datta, JD(S) deputy floor leader of the Assembly.