Bengaluru infrastructure needs the support of corporates, real estate sector: Namma Metro MD Anjum Parvez

CiRe, which comprises more than 120 corporates, including representatives from Google and Microsoft, has proposed a strategy to take over the maintenance of the highly-congested 30-km stretch between Silk Board and Hebbal.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director, Anjum Parvez, said that the city needs the support of corporates and the real estate sector to solve several infrastructure issues, including the city's infamous traffic congestion and water-logging.

Speaking at a conference titled ‘Better Bengaluru’ on May 19 held by a commercial real estate association named Corporates in Real Estate (CiRe) in collaboration with Bengaluru-based developer Puravankara, Parvez said, "With a sudden development of once suburbs, Hebbal and Whitefield have developed steadily over two decades. In the process, a majority of constructions have violated the building bylaws."

Parvez is also the principal secretary of the transport department of the Karnataka state government.

Parvez added, "While other cities developed way ahead, in Bengaluru, we started talking about urban planning only in the 1990s. We have achieved an impossible feat till today with a target of 40 km of metro line by 2023; we have already completed 17 km."

Parvez said, going forward, the city needs multi-modal integration where all the transport systems, including suburban railway, buses, and metros can be integrated to decongest the city.

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"The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Act passed in 2022, will be a game-changer for us to integrate all transport bodies. Additionally, we are looking forward to transport-oriented development (TOD) between Silk Board and the international airport," he said.

We want to densify that stretch to attract more people, with the help of mixed development of commercial and residential segments. "Additionally, we want to increase the FAR, with the first 500 metres up to 5 FAR. The city cannot survive without contribution from corporates and the real estate sector," he added.

Parvez also said that the unfinished metro stretch between Byappanahalli and KR Puram on the recently-launched metro line will be completed by mid or end of July.

Parvez added that currently, Namma Metro is on a revenue positive and a change of government (with a new state government being elected) won't affect the targets already set for the department.

Corporates propose solution

CiRe, which comprises more than 120 corporates, including representatives from Google and Microsoft, has proposed a strategy to take over the maintenance of the highly-congested 30-km stretch between Silk Board and Hebbal.

Jayaram Shivanasadra Govindaiah, President of CiRE, suggested that the 30-km stretch will be managed by corporates present across the IT corridor. "We will deploy traffic wardens, about 600-700 of them, and include four to five control rooms to monitor the traffic. The stretch will be divided between the corporates who will invest in the operations. The entire proposal will require a capital expenditure of at least Rs 30-40 crore."

Aditya PS, Chairman of CiRE, told Moneycontrol, "We have already discussed this with the former Basavaraj Bommai government bureaucrats, who have supported the idea. Once the new government cabinet is formed, we will resubmit the proposal. This will be a stepping stone for us to decongest the city in phases."