Karnataka Elections 2023: Bengaluru's development hangs on political promises centred on the city

For example, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pledged to launch a “mission” to reclaim rajakaluves, or storm-water drains, to create new drainage systems, connect missing links and desilt existing drains.

The Congress party has promised to set up water treatment plants at storm-water drains.

Urban experts say a political divide has prevented the city from strengthening its municipal corporations. Additionally, the absence of a wetland policy and a defunct State Finance Commission (SFC) has led to corporations relying on property tax to generate funds.

Strengthening local corporations

According to officials of the Br̥uhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic body has completed more than 70 percent of the work on the removal of encroachments on storm-water drains.

Yet parts of Bengaluru continue to be waterloged after sporadic rainfall.

Srinivas Alavilli, former head of civic participation at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, an NGO, said the 28 MLAs from across Bengaluru come from different political backgrounds and lack a common platform to engage in a conversation on strong policymaking.

"In 2021, the (Basavaraj) Bommai government bought BBMP Act (conferring independence on the civic body). That is, today they recognize that Bengaluru needs special remedies. However, these are not transformative changes," Alavilli said.

For BBMP, the highest source of revenue is property tax. Alavilli said.

As of February 10, 2023, BBMP collected about Rs 3,050 crore (including cesses) in property taxes. Previously, a senior BBMP official told Moneycontrol, "The total target for property tax collection for this year will be Rs 4,189 crore. About 26 percent, or Rs 1,089 crore, will be collected in addition as cesses."

Apart from the state grants and property tax, BBMP does not receive share of other taxes for example roads. However, BBMP earns through providing about 15 services like transfer of khata and related services, birth and death certificates, issuing commercial licenses for properties, occupancy certificates, permission for film shoots etc.

"A way of strengthening the local bodies is by proper fund allocation. The Karnataka State Finance Commission that is responsible for the distribution of funds between the urban local bodies, panchayats and villages has been defunct for several years," he noted.

The new government needs to look at strong policymaking to empower such committees so that taxes paid by the citizens can be streamlined, he added.

Experts say Bengaluru lacks a Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC), a constitutional body responsible for preparing a vision document on the future of the city.

"We need a planning committee that can coordinate between the local municipal bodies like BBMP, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) under one umbrella. This will also provide a forum for the new MLAs to come together and debate," Alavilli said.

Most importantly, experts say the city needs a Revised Master Plan (RMP). "The Karnataka High Court has already struck down the RMP 2031, and we need an RMP within at least a year to control the explosive real estate growth in the city," Alavilli said.

Wetland policy

Experts say Bengaluru is located on an undulated (rising and falling) terrain. The water bodies are a lifeline for the city and also act as a sink in case of surface runoff.

A census report released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti last month said that out of all water bodies in Karnataka, 21.7 percent (5,874) are in use while the remaining 78.3 percent (21,139) are not in use on account of having dried up, siltation, salinity and been damaged beyond repair.

"Ahead of elections, the political bodies pledges for transformation without a plan. However, the plan is already there in state water policies that still remain on paper. The new government should focus on the implementation of these policies," Sandeep Anirudhan, an environmentalist, said.

For example, he said, the Wetland Rules 2017 (under Environment Protection Act) have not been acted on by the state government. The policy directs the government to set up a State Wetland Authority to notify, protect and revive all wetlands, such as ponds, lakes and storm-water drains.

"A water policy draft commissioned by the state government has been gathering dust at the Karnataka Knowledge Commission since 2019. If adopted, it would redirect actions towards more holistic water and infrastructural management in the state," Anidurdhan added.

Unplanned development

Several political bodies pledged to increase the Floor Area Ratio across the city, but civil activists think such arbitrary promises will lead to more slipshod development in Bengaluru.

Floor area ratio is the ratio of a building's total floor area to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning.

"If we suddenly increase the FAR ratio in an area, more development will take place leading to an explosion in population. However, this will also put more pressure on the land, especially the drainage system in the area that was built for a certain capacity," Anil Kalgi, a civil activist, cautioned.

For example, he said, the 40 Feet Road in Indiranagar and Majestic areas were classic examples where increased FAR has led to more congestion and infrastructural failures such as floods.

Kalgi added the new government needs to set up a committee that can look at such FAR regulations while considering the ecological parameters in Bengaluru areas.