For a very long time, urbanists have pointed out that our large metropolitan cities are unlike other urban areas, and therefore their governance should be thought of in a distinct way. In Bengaluru too there have been efforts to enact a law for the city, separate from the one that governs other cities and towns in the state.
In 2010, the ABIDe Task Force proposed the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Governance (BMRG) Bill, a draft law which presented comprehensive reform options in regional planning, strengthening the executive powers of the Mayor, ensuring greater citizen participation in local governance, integrating all infrastructure development, and celebrating and preserving the heritage of the city. More recently, the Restructuring Committee proposed a version more focused on administrative efficiency, including the division of BBMP.
In the decade during which all of this has played out, the city has grown by another three million people, and its sprawl looks unlikely to slow anytime soon. As a result, each time we deferred a decision on reforming the governance of the region, we knew at the same time that we were only postponing the inevitable.
Now, with the Deputy Chief Minister speaking about a new law for Bengaluru, that inevitable moment may be at hand. We've been down this road before, and the Constitution is quite clear on what needs to be done. The BMRG Bill was essentially a proposal to implement the 74th Amendment Act, which has been left dangling since its passage in 1992. With that kind of history, the only question, really, is - will it happen this time?
The earlier drafts, and recommendations from various committees here in Karnataka and at the national level provide enough material for what the new law needs to include. Whichever government eventually passes it, it will be long remembered for doing the right things at last. One can only hope.
