The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is a major contributor to Karnataka and India and yet, it is short-changed when it comes to funds. Unless a State Finance Commission works out a revenue sharing formula, all cities and villages in Karnataka will be at the mercy of the State government for grants instead of a fair share of tax revenues.
That’s not an excuse for the BBMP to not strengthen its own finances, and this Budget clearly shows that BBMP is going all out to make the most of the limited opportunities it has – premium FAR, advertising policy, rationalising property tax are all efforts to bring in more revenue.
It is a pleasant surprise to see the intent to decentralise governance at zonal and ward level. It is impossible to govern a city of 1.4 crore population, larger than many countries in the world, in a centralised model. The continued allocation of ₹2 crore to each of the 225 wards, of which ₹25 lakh is earmarked for footpaths, ₹30 lakh for drains, ₹15 lakh for potholes is much appreciated. BBMP has been taking this progressive measure for the last three years to devolve funds at ward level so decisions can be made locally on projects that can be undertaken in the year.
However, as the ward committee meetings have now all but disappeared, it’s not clear how citizens can participate. The Budget says Zonal Committees and Ward Committees will be empowered to take decisions but without BBMP elections, these are meaningless. It is imperative that the State government holds BBMP elections immediately, so that zonal committees and ward committees can come to life, not to mention, the Council itself and 225 councillors who can be held accountable by the citizens.
Regardless, the outer wards of BBMP deserve a lot more than ₹2 crore as the infrastructure gaps relative to core city areas are huge and cannot be ignored.
The Budget gives a much needed boost for Indira Canteens which we need a lot more of.
Instead of decentralised processing of waste within the city limits, the approach seems to be about buying land around Bengaluru to set up four plants. The goal should have been to reduce the distance garbage needs to travel by localizing the processing having seen the horrors of Mandur and Mavallipura. Brand Bengaluru shines when everyone segregates waste at source and ward level composting and dry waste processing units get established. We need to rethink our approach in this regard.
The big news is Climate Action Cell to coordinate activities under Bengaluru Climate Action Plan with ₹10 crore funds and various actions have been listed. Though this is a small step it is significant as we now have a commitment to meet our goals.
Bengaluru City Comprehensive Mobility Plan seems to be yet another comprehensive mobility plan; we already have a Comprehensive Mobility Plan and it is unclear what this plan is expected to do without a Master Plan for the city. BBMP has a limited role in planning mobility of the city and the right organization for any mobility plan is Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA). The State government must constitute BMLTA this year along with BBMP elections.
