Development works listed in BATF progress report

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 5. There is much to cheer for the people in the City in the progress report being submitted to the State Government by the Bangalore Agenda Task Force.

The period between February and August witnessed the addition of the Richmond Circle flyover and the Mekhri Circle underpass/grade separator to the infrastructure in the City. It also saw the opening of bus terminals at Shivajinagar and Banashankari and on Mysore Road, and addition of 258 more buses to the BMTC fleet.

Other highlights of the period were installation of 647 new power transformers, provision of 1.3 lakh new telephone connections, introduction of one-way traffic on major roads, a modern fingerprint system for crime detection, renovation of five ground-level reservoirs and allocation of 5,000 housing sites in Anjanapura.

As part of the rejuvenation of the old City areas, renovation and expansion of the S.K.R. (City) Market was taken up by the BMP at a cost of Rs. 44 crores with the involvement of various agencies. The work involved clearing of encroachments, intensive repair of roads, desilting of stormwater drains, renovation of parking lots and other infrastructure work. Public-private partnership continued for the improvement of the City with many corporates coming forward to adopt parks. To ease traffic congestion on Hosur Road, bridges at Viveknagar and Adugodi and the ``chicken neck'' at Madivala were widened.

BMP, Government sign MoU

A landmark development was the signing of the MoU between the BMP and the State Government, which is the first of its kind in the country. It is considered as ``the first exciting step towards innovative urban governance and symbolic of the reforms taken up by the BMP''. The MoU provides for project-based support and financial assistance from the State Government based on certain monitored parameters in the areas of financial, administrative and legislative reforms. The MoU was the culmination of 18 months of preparatory work by the BMP in partnership with the BATF.

The BMP introduced reforms such as the radio paging network for the Health Department for activities, including monitoring of dumping yards. Other moves initiated by the civic body were for more precise accounting of revenue collection, works expenditure, payroll computerisation and MIS for analytical information. The Sarala Khata scheme taken up with the BATF is to simplify procedures for obtaining title deeds within the stipulated time frame.

The BATF in collaboration with the BMP, the Bangalore Traffic Police and the BMTC has taken up a Central Area Traffic Management Plan. This will help in reducing air pollution, travel time and fuel consumption, and make pedestrian crossings safe. A move against drunken driving and coordination with the KRDCL and the BMP for building passovers, flyovers and grade separators like the one to come up at Hebbal were being taken up.

The initiatives involving citizens included the Swacha Bangalore programme for cleaner neighbourhoods. This includes the Shuchi Mitras, local volunteers who monitor the sanitation work in their areas, and waste minimisation measures. The Nirmala Bangalore project is to upgrade public sanitation facilities in the City with sites selected based on citizens needs and feed back.

The work taken up and completed by different stakeholders such as the BDA, BWSSB, BMTC, Police, KPTCL and the BSNL will be detailed in the progress review to be presented to the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, on Friday.

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