In city of potholes, Rs 5 crore home for mayor?

Bengaluru: The BBMP might quickly identify pieces of land at Gandhinagar and Shanthinagar to  build the Mayor and Commissioner Bhavans, ignoring the guidelines of the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), which specify that all-weather shelters should be built for the urban homeless in cities with over one lakh population.

Going by the population of Bengaluru, which is over one crore, there should be at least 100 community shelters which can accommodate a minimum of 100 people with proper ventilation, beds, blankets and toilets. But the city has just six such shelters that too in a shabby condition and the officials have not heeded to the requests of activists to first focus on the needs of the urban poor.

Mr Vinay Srinivasa, a civic activist, told Deccan Chronicle, “It is the responsibility of the civic body to identify lands for the construction of permanent shelters for the homeless. While they can immediately identify lands for building bungalows for the mayor and commissioner, why is there a delay in doing it for the poor?”

Activist P.V. Narasimhappa has been fighting for the cause for the past eight years. “In 2011, the city had 14 shelters, but now they have reduced to six. We have pointed out to various locations in the city that need night shelters,” he said.

“Hundreds of farmers and vendors come to K.R. Market and other places to do their business. They sleep on the roads as they have no other option. Many can be seen sleeping on pavements near the Cantonment Railway Station and Bowring Hospital too,” he said.

“Under NULM guidelines, the civic body should identify the land and send a proposal. If it is approved, 75 percent of the funds come from the Centre and the state has to bear only 25 percent of the cost. Because of the careless attitude of BBMP welfare commissioners, thousands of homeless are still suffering, braving rain and heat without knowing that they have a right to a proper shelter,” he said.

“On the one hand, we have lack of affordable housing, while on the other we want to spend Rs 5 crore to build these palatial homes for the mayor and commissioner. This will definitely send a wrong message on BBMP’s misplaced priorities. It reconfirms the belief that those in power only fend for themselves,” said Mr Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder, Citizens for Bengaluru. Mayor Sampath Raj said, “We are not using the money reserved for urban homeless to build bungalows. We too should have designated houses like ministers to allow people, corporators and officials to have easy access to us round the clock." He defended the decision, saying the bungalows would be an asset for the BBMP and it would help improve the productivity of the mayor and commissioner. “It will be a matter of pride as they can host guests at these bungalows,” he said.