2THE ECONOMIC TIMES | BENGALURU | FRIDAY | 27 MAY 2016Namma Bengaluru

Chennai’s Karthik Kumar will perform along with local favourite Sanjay Manaktala in an evening organised by Evam. The session will also feature newcomers Manoj and Vi-kash. At Alliance Francaise, Vasanthnagar, today, at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at `400 and ̀ 500.

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@CMofKarnataka allots 300cr 4 silk-board flyover: @BBMP_MAYOR @BDA-

Bangalore v don’t want another disaster as KRPURAM or Iblur @WFRising

CASES AGAINST USE OF SHRILL HORNS BY TRAFFIC POLICE THIS YEAR

City in Numbers

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAYMembers of the Bengaluru Vision Group, tasked with the responsibility of scripting the city’s future, were handpicked by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself and are some of the most influential voices in the country’s technology business. Set up on the lines of its defunct predecessor, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force, the new vision group too has attracted

criticism that it is an elitist body. ET’s Bharath Joshi and Arka Bhattacharya find out from 11 of the Vision Group’s 15 civil society members what they envisage for Bengaluru. NR Narayana Murthy,

Sachin Bansal, TV Mohandas Pai and Ramesh Raman-athan were not available

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Weekend Delights in BengaluruBusy B

TEDx FluidTALK

TEDx Bangalore 2016 features writer and filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, VJ Bani, entrepre-neur Saurabh Arora, solo biker Rohith Subramanian, sportsper-son Mustafa Ghouse, retired geology professor from Swit-zerland Christian Schluchter and independent singer Gabriel Daniel. At Infosys Convention Centre, Electronics City, on May 29 from 9 am to 6 pm. Tickets are priced at ̀ 1,000, `2,000 and `4,000 and are available at Explara.

Drag Kings in CityTHEATRE

Patchworks Ensemble and Sandbox Collec-tive present TAPE aka The Gentlemen’s Club. Set in an underground pub in Mumbai, it tells the story of five drag kings — females cel-ebrating masculinity through music, cabaret and comedy. The main

act will see the protagonist taking over the persona of Hindi film legend Shammi Kapoor. At Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, on May 28 at 3.30 and May 28 at 7.30 pm and at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Indiranagar, on May 29 at 7pm. Tickets are priced at ̀ 300 and ̀ 250 respectively.

The Last SupperART

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), in association with Kolka-ta-based Seagull Foun-dation for the Arts, pre-sents a series of reverse paintings on acrylic by Madhvi Parekh. An art-ist from JJ School of Art, Madhvi’s art is inspired by rural India while her style is contemporary. At NGMA, Palace Road, from 10 am to 5 pm. The exhibition will be on till June 26. Entry free.

An Evening of GhalibMUSIC

‘Zikr-e-Ghalib’ is a musi-cal play based on poet Mirza Ghalib’s letters and ghazals. Presented by Kathputliyaan Thea-tre Group, it is directed by Zafer Mohiuddin and includes Kathak, flute, vocals, tabla and sa-rangi performances. At Ravindra Kalakshetra, JC Road, today, at 7 pm. Free entry passes are available at the venue 30 minutes before the performance.

The Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG), also known as the Bengaluru Vision Group, met earlier this week and surprisingly

took a decision to form sub-committees to look into various aspects such as transport, infrastructure, lakes, solid waste management, finance and power. With only two more years left for the Congress gov-ernment, the question that’s plaguing many people is the ability to execute the ‘vision’ that will be formed within this group and its sub-committees to ‘transform’ the city!

It is important for us to keep in mind the other less-er fortunate and ignored committee – the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC). Constituting BMPC is mandatory for the govern-ment of Karnataka for the metropolitan area of Bengaluru. The BMPC owed its birth in September 2014 to the deadline set by the Karnataka High Court after prolonged battle by many city activists. It was a stillborn MPC as it didn’t meet even once during its short lifetime of 20 months. It was then reconstitut-ed in February early this year. Like its previous stint, this MPC is yet to meet even after three months. A meeting is now slated for June 1, 2016.

A functional BMPC will be far more impactful as it will approve all major infrastructure projects and planning in the city. It furthers the spirit of decen-tralisation and devolution of powers outlined in the 74th Amendment as only third tier of elected repre-sentatives — BBMP councillors and the Zilla Panchayat members — will have voting rights over MLAs and ministers who are currently calling the shots in most of the big-ticket projects. Unless the city embraces a planned urbanisation roadmap, any vision group’s ability to fix many of Bengaluru’s ills will be limited.

What makes it all the more difficult for this vision group to take off will be the need to first arrive at ac-tionables within the sub-committees followed by reconciling these actionables into a cohesive action plan at BBPAG and finally execute them within the next 24 months.

It still leaves a very important question to be an-swered: certain powers and functions granted to the BBPAG by the government order of 28th April 2016 are in direct conflict with the powers and functions conferred on the BMPC by the 74th amendment and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. Be it the mandate to finalise the Bengaluru Blue Print or the power to monitor and guide implemen-tation of various schemes – these are the powers be-stowed upon the BMPC. Handing over these vital powers from the statutory BMPC to the ad hoc Bengaluru Vision Group is both arbitrary and un-constitutional.

Hopefully this anomaly will be set right by the state government at the earliest and Bengaluru can get back on track to planned growth and development in line with the mandate of the Constitution of the country.The writer is CEO of Namma Bengaluru Foundation

By Invite

SRIDHAR PABBISETTY

AZIM PREMJI,CHAIRMAN, WIPRO

Isee three major priorities. In 15 years, average speed of traffic has fallen from 40 km/hr to 10

km/hr. Short-term plans can be im-plemented — fixing potholes, resur-facing roads, improved traffic man-agement and zero tolerance for traffic violation. On garbage man-agement, it is critical that garbage generation is halved. Water security is crucial. We spend ̀ 400 crore to pump water from Cauvery, of which 40% is wasted through leakage and

pilferage. Bengaluru has the larg-est concentration of lakes per

sqkm compared to any other city in Karnataka. Rejuvenating 190 existing lakes can supplement the city’s water needs.

KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW,CMD, BIOCON

Quality of life has been rapidly declin-ing over the past decade due to poor planning and lack of future-proof-

ing. Infrastructure and civic amenities have not kept pace with the exponential growth in population and the geographic expansion. This city accounts for 65% of Karnataka’s GDP and is India’s growth engine for investment and jobs. We are the IT, startup and science capital of the country. Underinvesting in Bengaluru will be dire for the state and country. There are short, mid and long-term plans that revolve along mobility, infrastructure, waste management, sewage, wa-ter, lake revival, slum develop-ment, health and education. We should focus on action and im-plementation.

SWATI RAMANATHAN,COFOUNDER, JANAGRAAHA

It’s not about having just a vision. We actually want to go in for im-plementation. Mere talking will

not help. Bengaluru needs a multi-pronged approach – planning on how the city is developing, a thorough study of technical and financial ca-pacities as well as governance capac-ities, participation by people is an absolute necessity and the interven-tion of political will, systems and empowerment for creating change is also important. The major issues fac-ing us today are the lakes, the water supply, congestion and transporta-tion. There should be an integrated approach between agencies.

KALPANA KAR,DIRECTOR, MICROLAND

The world is a new place. Things cannot function the way it did ten years ago.

Citizen engagement and working a vision inclusive of citizen’s views, guided by their interests and re-porting back to citizens, is a must. Agencies should work in synergy. A number of projects which don’t deliver on time and don’t take off are inter-departmental projects. Have a robust system that brings in roles and responsibilities. Integration of data is something that we should wake up to. The right information should be in the public domain. We can’t be asking how much garbage is generated. Why is it a myth?

VIVEK MENON,CEO, INVICUS

The key factors for deteriorat-ing quality of life are lack of mobility, a clogged ORR and

polluted lakes. Like TenderSURE, where we created urban streets of international standards, our free-ways should also be of the same standard. A drive from Electronics City to Airport should take one hour and not three. A lot of public projects have stalled. These proj-ects which should have three phas-es — planning, design and imple-mentation — have had Rs 1,000 crore invested in them. But there have been no results on the ground because there is no programme management.

RK MISRA,DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR SMART CITIES

My vision is to make Bengaluru India’s most livable city. Cities are economic growth en-gines. The most important factor is mobili-

ty. We should focus on fast-tracking the metro, bus priority lanes, elevated corridors and the peripheral ring road. Once you are able to move around, you also want a neat and clean place. So, water and sanitation comes second. Third, we need to protect the environment. The city is also about the several underprivi-leged people. So we need to take care of the poor. For this, we need to fo-cus on health, educa-tion and housing. Otherwise, the city will have more slums.

NS RAMAKANTH, SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT EXPERT

Bengaluru is the best city as far as policy is concerned but enforcement is weak. Right now, for 198 wards, we are short of 80 health

inspectors. In some cases, junior health inspectors are assigned two wards. A Solid Waste Management Cell must be created and each ward should have a

health inspector. An environment engineer should be appointed for every two wards

exclusively for solid waste manage-ment. We have a segregation policy

and even the High Court has stipu-lated fines but there is no enforce-ment. Government buildings

themselves are not following the two-bins-one-bag rule.

V RAVICHANDAR, CIVIC EVANGELIST

The focus has to be on sustain-able, eco-friendly outcomes, be it mobility, waste, water,

air etc. Integration across agencies is critical and the newly set up co-ordination committee of govern-ment agencies can help achieve this. We need to learn from the wis-dom of the crowds through regular citizen outreach using technology. We should work on strengthening and operating through institution-al frameworks. Transparency is necessary to address the serious trust deficit between citizens and government. A half-yearly public summit involving civic agencies can provide visibility about perfor-mance, future plans and build ac-countability.

K JAIRAJ, FORMER ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY

Ican see two major roles for the Vision Group. One, to assist the government in executing

plans for a better city. Second, to provide whatever expertise pos-sible and supplement efforts of civic authorities. Time for plan-ning is over and we need to focus only on execution. We should not raise expectations of people be-yond a point. There’s no magic bullet by which all of Bengaluru’s problems can be solved in 2-3 years. We should also overcome the ‘elitist’ tag. So one of our focus areas should be housing for the poor or some such ameliorative measures.

THE VISIONARIESWill ‘Vision Bengaluru’ Take Off ?

SIDDAIAH,FORMER BBMP COMMISSIONER

We must regain the Bengaluru of 40 years ago and it is possible.

Infrastructure has come under tre-mendous pressure, so there’s an im-mediate and urgent need to pay ade-quate attention to upgradation and creation of infrastructure. The city has become highly insecure as far as drinking water is concerned. The Central Groundwater Commission estimates 21-22 TMC of rainwater availability in Bengaluru. What are we doing to capture this water? On garbage, with what authority can anyone say that the city generates 3,500-4,000 tonne? It can’t be more than 2,500 tonne. A fresh field survey is needed. BS PATIL,

FORMER CHIEF SECRETARY

Bengaluru needs a blueprint not for the next two years but for 2030 to 2050. We can give a roadmap

but the implementation de-pends on the agencies working

on the ground: BBMP, BDA, BMRDA etc. Capacity-building for these agencies must be car-

ried out first. In 10 years, Bengaluru has expanded from 220

sqkm to 1,000 sqkm. The BBMP needs young blood. About 70%

staff come in through deputa-tion after spending 25-30

years in other departments. They have no passion for work. Make corporations

smaller, viable units. Planning should be done for the entire city re-gion, not just for the city.