Bengaluru: From a faster commute and better integrated waste management to launch of two new urban lung spaces, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has promised much for Bengaluru as his government plans to revamp the city by 2022.
The chief minister Thursday unveiled his government’s ambitious “Bengaluru Mission 2022”, which promises a cleaner, greener, citizen-centric and well-connected Bengaluru.
The launch of the document, however, comes ahead of local civic body polls that are to be held in the city from 22 December to 27 December this year.
According to the blueprint, the government plans to overhaul the city’s infrastructure by focussing on four major areas — enabling a faster commute, ensuring a clean Bengaluru, increasing the city’s green cover and citizen connect.
Speaking at the launch, the chief minister said he has allocated a substantial budget for the project despite the economic constraints due to the Covid-19 situation.
“The financial distress caused due to Covid-19 will not come in the way of these projects and the government will provide world-class infrastructure to make Bengaluru a global city,” the chief minister said.
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The blueprint
Faster commute: The government plans to build 12 high density corridors to connect 190 km in the city. It has also promised to ensure roads of over 400 km are well connected using synchronous signals lights and are regularly maintained.
Smart mobility: The blueprint states that the government will ensure faster completion of the Namma Metro project and operationalisation of the suburban rail to ease traffic woes.
Integrated waste management: This is expected to address one of the biggest issues Bengaluru faces — waste management. The BJP government has promised to leverage technology to process and manage garbage collection and disposal.
The blueprint also states that the government hopes to increase citizen participation in the Namma Kasa Namma Javabdari (our garbage, our responsibility) project launched in 2019. It has also promised to set up Kanika Kanyas (learning centres) to educate people on composting and zero waste homes.
Cleaner Bengaluru: The ambitious project also stresses on recovering Bengaluru’s ‘Garden City’ tag through the launching of new urban lung spaces by repurposing state public sector unit (PSU) lands in the city.
Having faced negative publicity over contaminated lakes, the government has decided to prioritise restoration of 25 lakes and real-time monitoring of water quality.
Citizen connect: The government has proposed to provide online access to services such as land records, and road history. It has also promised to revamp the redressal portal, Sahaya, which helps Bengaluru residents to register their grievances. The blueprint also promises a dedicated innovation centre to help in entrepreneurship, innovation and the biotechnology industry.
Speaking to the media, BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta said the government will also establish a Bengaluru Culture, Heritage and Crafts Museum and that “this is an effort to get the huge migrant population residing in the city acquainted with the state’s culture”.
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