Model wards to be developed in city

The Hindu : Front Page : Model wards to be developed in city

Some wards in Bangalore will soon be developed as a model with all civic amenities, by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Among the facilities that are to be provided include 24x7 electricity, good drainage system, roads and drinking water.

To enable identification of the model wards, a sub-committee headed by Transport Minister R. Ashok and Minister for Excise and BWSSB Katta Subramanya Naidu, was set up on Friday to submit plans for developing model wards in the city. The action follows the deliberations at the fifth meeting of the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDe). The sub-committee also includes former Chief Secretary A. Ravindra.
Report

Briefing presspersons here, vice-chairman of ABIDe, H.N. Ananth Kumar, MP, said: “The sub-committee will submit its report on October 18, and the wards identified for this purpose will get all amenities. Resources needed to develop these wards and the mode of development would be recommended by this committee.” Among others, he said, chairpersons of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Commissioner of Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) and Principal Secretary, Urban Development, would be the members of the sub-committee.

A comprehensive policy to conserve and develop around 1,800 lakes in and around Bangalore would be formulated shortly by roping in several government agencies. A survey would be taken up to ensure proper conservation and restoration of lakes and a meeting of all stake-holders would be convened on October 30 to discuss the issue.

There are 278 lakes that cover an area of more than 40 hectares and 1,400 lakes that have an area of less than 40 hectares, while the Forest Department controls 114 lakes.

“The Lake Development Authority (LDA) is overburdened and around 20 lakes would be handed over to the BMRDA for development. Agencies such as the BDA, BBMP, zilla panchayat and Minor Irrigation Department would be involved in conservation of the water bodies,” Mr. Naidu said.

The Minister said: “In the first phase, around 60 lakes would be developed, including the 29 lakes that have been handed over to BDA and BBMP. The BWSSB will act as the nodal agency in development of the lakes.”

The ABIDe also felt the need for reserving land at the end of the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) for maintaining greenery and not to use the space for any commercial development.

It was also decided to have a 100 m wide PRR that can accommodate future expansion plans for monorail, Metro Rail and high speed rail corridor.

The issue of seamless traffic on the Outer Ring Road, road transport, traffic congestion and others were also discussed. Earlier, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said that inter-departmental coordination implementation needed to be strengthened.
Vision document

The Chief Minister said that the outline of the vision document “Bangalore 2020” had been prepared by the ABIDe convener Rajeev Chandrashekar in coordination with various civic agencies. “After all the civic agencies come out with individual vision documents, it has to be consolidated into a report, which will be the basis for monitoring commitments and performance of the respective departments,” he said.