Dear members, let us use this post to collect our expectations from parties in the coming BBMP elections. Please post short lists (your top 5) via comments. After a few comments, we will collect and merge the list, and create a poll/survey on the site to determine the most popular issues for BBMP elections.
Needless to say, issues have got to be local. And please post just your top 5, short and sweet, avoid essays on why and how (save those for separate post). That way, it will be easier for a moderator to merge the lists and create the 15-20 issues that we will put up in the survey.
Thanks for your help.
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My top 5
Let me try one.
[Frankly, I don't know what BBMP can and can't do, so it took time to write my top 5]
Here are my top five recommendations
1. Implementation of the 74th amendment in totality - decentralization and involvement of RAs and civic groups in ward level committees and decision making structure.
2. Introduction of comprehensive vaccination program for all urban poor families and better healthcare facilities in govt hospital in the city.
3. Environment - stop all tree cutting for road widening purposes and re-establish Bangalore's lost identity - trees (I hate these european styled parks with only lawns and no trees). Clearing all lake bed encroachments (please save Hebbal Nagavara lake system - it is being encroached upon).
4. Transportation - BMLTA to be established with real powers. Pedestrian friendly infrastructure, emphasis on public transport and cycling lanes.
5. Revamp solid waste management system and garbage collection system.
My top 5
a. Level and clean pavements - for starters at least along all the arterial roads.
b. Complete overhaul of garbage collection. It is simply disgusting to see garbage just thrown along the roads
c. Lake rejuvenation
d. Addition of green spaces
e. Eliminate corruption within the department - many problems will get solved (big one!!!)
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
My top 5
1. Mandatory disabled friendly pedestrian & cycling facilities
2. Quality road laying with mechanised cut and relay. Mandatory IRC standards
3. Improved drainage with zero stagnation. Block sewage entering lakes.
4. Consolidate and go vertical to increase density and make space for mandatory urban forests in each ward
5. Save Hebbal and Nagwara by leaving it alone as a green belt.
My top 5
1. Enforce (and revamp where needed) bye laws related to Building / Parking / Layout formation. Enforce in such a way that no one dares to deviate - ever.
2. Get out of road building exercise, instead make what we have better - create recessed bus bays, widen junctions, create turn lanes, ban slow moving vehicles at certain parts of the day... just ensure the lanes we have are really available for 30kmph largely uninhibited driving between well coordinated signals.
3. Create a (or better still - work with an external) non-political urban planning intellectual group; for generation / implementation of hollistic recommendations. Use them for 1, 2, 4 & 5.
4. Concentrate on Sustainance Aspects - Pedestrian Facilities, Lakes, Gardens, Pollution
5. Talk to people - Change organization culture to one that involves citizens and respond to them.
Ravi
Top 5 Expectation from BBMP Election
2. Good Roads and effective transportation from one part of the city to another. Check Pollution on every private and govt vehicle.
3. Rain water collection and effective utilization of the same.
4. Good Drinking water.
5. Waste Management and effective implementation of the same.
My policy top 4
1. Decentralize implementation and upkeep to wards and enable then to run like mini corporations with all decision making powers and its own budget, as long as they adhere to broad city wide guidlines on common facilities like roads, drains etc.
2. All infrastructure can city maintenance functions should be outsourced and nothing be done by BBMP themselves. Maintenance contracts shall be with single large vendor with tight SLA's and not your relatives contract. BBMP must strengthen contract management practices to enable this.
3. BBMP needs to have an environmental policy which specifies minimum tree cover in each ward including street tree cover and urban forests. The measurement of Tree cover has to be at a ward level. Less tree cover wards need to compensate the higher greener wards with carbon credits.
4. We need to get away from individual sites and get into apartments to save space and increase density. A policy level decision on such a strategy has to be adopted. Commercial activity in the CBD needs to be consolidated and space more efficiently utilised. FAR needs to be doubled or tripled for CBD areas.
My top 5
Majority of my major concerns have already been covered by most Prajas. But I think these are highly relevant :
1. Do not sponsor/programme foreign trips to City Father/Corporators at the drop of a hat to enable them to study how the foreigners........??!!
2. If there are slums, make it mandatory to elected reps to stay there for a day and if there are problems, they should not move out from there till they are solved and on other days, they must be available to people. When they are attending house meetings, they must be made to behave properly and not to destroy public property like microphones, benches, chairs in the council hall.
3. Create carbon sinks in Encroached/ Recovered land and in tank beds if there is no catchment area for inflow/storage of water.
4. Do not announce futuristic gradiose plans in the name of development, instead, vote for earmarking 50 per cent of budget for completing incomplete works so that people can see, touch and feel the tangible changes that were announced earlier when such projects were launched. Spend public money in a prudent way and as if you are spending out of your pocket (remember it does not belong to you).
5. On the day of swearing in/oath taking ceremony, swear/take oath that for one year you will not indulge in corrupt practices or have nexus with contractors or outsourcing agencies for any work to be executed with public money.
- Vasanthkumar Mysoremath
5 more from my side
Just to help build the list for survey, 5 more items.
6. Incentives for group housing, something to encourage small site owners to join hands to create apartments. Could help congested areas get organized.
7. Ban on some types of plastic carry bags, at least in central city area.
8. Online complaints management and RTI application system covering all public agencies of Bangalore
9. Establish a monorail agency to create a third mode of public transport in the city (after bus and metro)
10.All data on ward works (start date, end date, extensions, bill details, audit details, designs) to be mandatorily made available online
My 5s - Make the basic services functional
BBM needs to go back to its core objective - Managing City's Civic day to today problems and issues.
In that context these are my top 5 priorities for BBMP:
Syed
My hope 1. Enforce laws
My hope
1. Enforce laws regarding encroachment of footpaths etc.
2. Garbage collection.
3. Enforce traffic laws.
4. Improve roads and traffic by improving junctions, making footpaths walkable, building roads tilll the kerb, bus bays - and ensuring the BMTC drivers actually used them - etc. and NOT by meaninglessly cutting trees and widening.
I think the people of Bangalore should stop taking pride in their `swalpa adjust maadi' attitude. While I suppose it has its benefits - it is also one of the problems. We have gotten used to accepting crap as if it is normal. I really hate it when some bozo - like Prahlad Kakkar - makes a comment - ` Its like driving in a foreign country' - when refering to pleasantness of the Bandra Worli Sea Link. Its a really sad state of affairs when we start thinking that anything of quality or pleasantness is foreign to this country. I think it stems from decades of accepting shoddy work.
Ramesh
BBMP responsibilities
Here is the list of the main functions that BBMP is supposed to perform (not exhaustive though) -
i) Collection and removal of garbage.
ii)Removal of accumulated water on streets, public places due to rain and other caused;
iii)Health immunization services;
iv)Improvement of slums including its clearance wherever necessary in accordance with the established law;
v)Redressal of public grievances pertaining to the Ward Committee;
vi)Maintenance of essential statistics;
vii)Organizing people’s participation with regard to the functions allocated to the Ward Committee;
viii)Numbering of streets and premises;
ix)The timely assessment and collection of property tax, advertisement tax, fees, rents and other sums due to the corporation;
x)The utilization of budget grants and compliance of audit reports;
xi)The maintenance and repairs of roads;
xii) The execution of public works;
xiii) The issue of the license under Chapter XVII of the Act and the relevant bye-laws;
xiv)The maintenance of sanitation and public health;
xv)The prevention and control of dangerous diseases;
xvi)Issue of birth and death certificates;
xvii)Issue of permission letter for burial/cremation in the grounds belonging to the Corporation;
xviii)All Urban Poverty Alleviation Programs of the State and Central Governments;
xix)Tree planting in the Corporation properties;
xx)Maintenance of parks, tanks and other Corporation properties.
xxi)The Corporation may issue such direction to the Ward Committees in discharge of its functions and Ward Committee shall carry out such directions.
xxii)The Corporation may call for extract of any proceedings of the Ward Committee or any return, statement of account of report relating to its functions, modify, and cancel as the case may be.
My current list - will add
My current list - will add more as we go along:
1) Adopt the Kasturirangan Committee report, and therewith the Metropolitan Planning Committee concept for city governance.
2) In addition, adopt the 'upper house' concept suggested by Mr Manivannan, with 'praja.in' as the medium for citizen engagement - check this
3) Convert all parastatals such as BWSSB, BESCOM, BMTC, etc into expert 'cells' (or, call it by some other more appropriate name) under BBMP, with the operational functions outsourced to reputed private contractors, like JUSCO for water supply, TATA's/ Reliance for power supply, TVS for bus services.
4) Incentivise usage of public transport services, and disincentivise usage of individualised forms of transport. Phase out auto's with NANO's from within the city limits over a 2-year period.
5) Pedestrianise business districts like M G road/ Brigade road/ Commercial St areas; Jayanagar 4th block; Koramangala 7th/8th blocks, etc, with provision for passage of only public transport vehicles (including taxies) between 8 AM and 8 PM.
6) Design a total water management system, including rain-water and ground water, whereby dependence on external sources like Arkavathy, Cauvery etc reduces to the bare minimum.
7) Build de-centralised Sewage Treatment Plants (de-wats), one for every 5000 persons, across the city.
8) Build more Nirmala type of tiolets across the city, and tie up with local eateries for their operation (24 hr) and maintenance, by offering them suitable property tax concessions.
9) Re-establish Bangalore as a green city, particularly by nurturing the right species of avenue trees.
10) Establish a net-based complaint redressal mechanism - PRAJA can help here.
Muralidhar Rao
Suggested List - Reclaiming Koramangala
All IT /ITES companies in Koramangala should pay an "exploitation toll" of Rs 2000 per employee to compensate for the congestion and inflation that they cause. Money can be used by a trust with a proven track record to address the tree planting exercise.This donation has to be non-tax deductible. .
All houses/flats that use a borewell need to pay a charge of Rs 2000 per house to compensate for the theft of water resources from the Koramangala aquafurs. This again has to be non tax deductible.
KC and Vrishabhavati valley Green Belts
Agara, Bellandue and Vartur Lakes are in the KC valley which continues further than the Vartur Lake. See the map. This valley and similar valleys like Vrishbhavati valley and one more (name forgotten) are three major valleys of Bangalore. These valleys could be developed as massive green belt for much needed Bangalore Lung space. The steps to be taken for this lung space development are:-
my expectations
i dont know what the appropriate legal terms are. but this condition where we have no any ULB for years together and only due to political and cynical manipulation of the system - i dont want this to be ever repeated again. i want that the powers that be make such manipulation illegal in future.
roads, pipes and drains etc come later. first and primary thing is to adress the defficiency in the system that can snatch people of their representation and with such impunity.