Much talk about big infra, Brand Bengaluru, but real achievement is restructuring city governance
With the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar taking charge of Bengaluru Development in the incumbent regime, the city has, after a long time, got adequate 'political capital and will' over the last two years. What difference has it made for the city in real terms is now the moot question.
Much chatter over two years has been about big-ticket projects such as tunnel roads and skydeck, totalling a staggering ₹1 lakh crore, all championed by Mr. Shivakumar. The Brand Bengaluru campaign has received a good boost with the State Budget earmarking ₹7,000 crore for the city's civic body this year. However, the mammoth projects have not taken off the ground.
Restructuring governance
What remains a significant achievement of the Congress government is the enactment of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, to restructure civic administration in the city, with multiple corporations and a pan-city body called the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), led by the Chief Minister, which for the first time in the city's history brings all the parastatals on one platform. This raises hopes for a more holistic planning and coordinated governance.
The Act came into effect on May 15, even as the GBA is yet to be constituted and multiple corporations drawn up. This year, the city's administration is expected to transition to a new system, which the Congress has argued is a solution to the 'governance deficit' in the city. The Congress government had tried to push through the same reform in 2015, but failed as the Governor sent the Bill to the President.
Even as the results of this governance reform are yet to be seen, it is definitely a watershed moment, after the expansion of civic limits and formation of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 2007.
Even as this law is likely to be legally challenged by citizen groups, arguing it violates the 74th amendment of the Constitution, the government has also drawn flak over the inordinate delay in holding the civic polls. Come September, it will be five years without an elected council in the city.
When will big projects take off?
Since taking charge of the city, Mr. Shivakumar has articulated a vision for expanding the road network to ease traffic congestion. This includes nearly 40 km of tunnel roads, running across the city in two corridors, 17 grade separators totalling to a length of 110 km, double-decker flyovers with Namma Metro Phase III, 300-km-long roads in the buffer zones of storm-water drains at a whopping cost of ₹73,000 crore to be spearheaded by Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd., a special-purpose vehicle, and the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) at a cost of ₹27,000 crore.
In a city that saw virulent civic opposition to a steel flyover on Ballari Road in 2016, forcing the Congress government in its previous regime to withdraw, there is surprisingly little real opposition to such a large push for infrastructure for private vehicles in Bengaluru.
Fund crunch
Given the fiscal constraints of the State, funding any of these projects was not an option. But the last two years — with multiple tenders for PRR failing to attract bidders — have shown that neither is the private funding enthusiastic, pushing the government to go for long-term loans.
The State government has agreed to stand guarantor for a loan of ₹27,000 crore for PRR project and ₹19,000 crore for Phase I of the tunnel road project. Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) has agreed to give ₹27,000 crore loan for PRR project, and talks are on with various lenders for a loan to fund the tunnel roads. The ₹3,500 crore loan from the World Bank to implement climate resilience measures in the city will take the borrowing for city infrastructure to ₹50,000 crore.
A 250-m-high skydeck to boost tourism has also been one of Mr. Shivakumar's pet projects, which is put on the back burner till the location of the second airport for the city is finalised. Most of these projects are yet to take off as none of these loans have materialised yet. Preparation is under way to start work on tunnel roads and PRR soon, sources said.
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