Bengaluru Traffic, Civic Issues: Krishna Byre Gowda Meets Former Mayors, Calls for Parking Discipline and Tougher Enforcement
Bengaluru: Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday held a meeting with former mayors to discuss Bengaluru’s overall development and major civic problems, saying the city’s traffic crisis cannot be addressed unless residents develop greater self-discipline, particularly over parking and the use of public spaces.
The meeting was held at the minister’s office in Vikas Soudha to discuss issues concerning Bengaluru’s comprehensive development and obtain suggestions from former mayors. Traffic congestion, parking regulation, pedestrian mobility, building-rule violations, construction and demolition waste, potholes, stormwater drains, streetlights, flyovers, public toilets, parks and other civic services figured in the discussions.
Addressing the discussion on solutions to Bengaluru’s major problems, Byre Gowda said traffic congestion ranked among the city’s most serious challenges and warned that unless it was brought under control now, it could worsen to a point where finding solutions would become increasingly difficult.
He said successive governments had continuously built roads in Bengaluru, but around 60% of road space was being taken up by parking. Even on narrow roads, people park vehicles on both sides, disrupting the continuous movement of traffic and worsening congestion, he said.
The minister said this meant that irrespective of which government was in office, it could continue constructing roads and still face public criticism because the available road space was not being used efficiently.
Byre Gowda said disciplined parking could significantly reduce the traffic inconvenience faced by residents. He also called for a micro-mobility approach that would encourage people to walk on footpaths for trips of up to two kilometres.
He said the government was currently working to clear pedestrian pathways, but argued that micro-mobility could not succeed without parking regulation. Residents must therefore be encouraged and required to follow parking discipline, he said.
According to the minister, enforcing such regulation entirely through civic bodies and the police would require more personnel than are currently available. He suggested that an agency would have to be engaged specifically to implement the system.
Byre Gowda also raised concerns over violations of building regulations in Bengaluru. He said rules had collectively been disregarded in construction, contrasting the situation with places where construction without approval was not possible.
He said rules were frequently not followed in the city, sewage lines were not changed as required and many houses did not provide space for parking. Such practices could not be tolerated indefinitely and tightening the law had become unavoidable, he said.
On construction and demolition waste, Byre Gowda told the former mayors that vehicles transporting C&D waste were now required to be registered and fitted with GPS. Waste must be dumped only at designated facilities, he said, adding that five locations had been identified for the purpose and compliance with the rules had been made mandatory.
The former mayors placed a wide range of civic recommendations before the government. They called for the development of burial and cremation grounds across the city and for potholes to be repaired scientifically rather than through temporary measures.
They sought an effective solution to Bengaluru’s garbage problem and called for the Rs 2,000-crore major stormwater-drain development works to be completed quickly and properly.
The former mayors also suggested giving greater priority to the construction of buffer or traffic-carrying roads as a means of reducing congestion. They called for better maintenance of public toilets and immediate repairs to non-functional streetlights.
Another suggestion was that the civic body establish its own asphalt plant instead of depending entirely on contractors for road asphalting. The former mayors also sought proper maintenance of flyovers and inspections of bearings on older flyovers so that necessary action could be taken based on their condition.
They called for strict action against people dumping waste along roads and measures to prevent indiscriminate garbage disposal. They also recommended a complete ban on single-use plastic.
The former mayors suggested conducting an e-Khata mela once every month, arguing that it could help the civic administration increase property-tax revenue.
They also raised concerns over sewage treatment plants, saying the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board was not maintaining them properly and that greater attention was required to improve their functioning.
Another recommendation was to curb unauthorised road cutting through better coordination among departments. The former mayors said greater attention should be given to routine civic problems such as pothole repairs, restoration of streetlights, garbage clearance and park maintenance.
They also called for proper implementation of individual-house schemes under welfare programmes, regular pruning and removal of tree branches where required, and replacement of play equipment in parks.
Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao M. attended the meeting. Former mayors J. Huchappa, M. Ramachandrappa, Mumtaz Begum, K. Chandrashekar, S.K. Nataraj, D. Venkatesh Murthy, B.S. Satyanarayana, Shanthakumari, Manjunath Reddy, G. Padmavathi, R. Sampath Raj and Gangambike were present.
Former ruling-party leaders Satyanarayana, Shivaraj, Abdul Wajid and B.T. Srinivasa Murthy, along with other officials, also attended the meeting.
About the Author
