Issue 10 | 20 Jan. 2007

Greater B'lore or Crater Bangalore??

It's now official. Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is now history, and the future of our city is with Greater Bangalore aka Brihat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

With the Governor TN Chaturvedi giving his nod for the final notification on Greater Bangalore on Jan 16, the confusion over the proposal has ended, but this has now been replaced with yet another confusion about the administrative structure of BBMP. The JD(S)-BJP government has not initiated any administrative changes in any of the urban local bodies.

The Greater Bangalore proposal was first approved by the State Cabinet on Sep 13, 2006, and the government invited objections from citizens on Nov 2. The final notification brings under BBMP, seven CMCs, one TMC and 110 urbanised villages. The seven CMCs and one TMC are Rajarajeshwari, Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli, KR Puram, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Yelahanka (all CMCs) and Kengeri (TMC). Following this, Bangalore now boasts of 741 sq km of area instead of the previous 225 sq kms.

Greater Bangalore has been envisaged with a view to upgrade and enhance infrastructure in the city like roads, underground drainage, water supply and solid waste management.

Here's hoping that Greater Bangalore will put an end to Crater Bangalore…