The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is mooting making installation of windmills mandatory, just like rainwater harvesting, for certain categories of properties, initially.
“Looking at the power crisis, it will be beneficial if all high-rises start generating energy from wind. If investing in solar and wind energy and rain harvesting are made mandatory, a lot can be achieved,” said Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy during a discussion with the members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in Bangalore on Friday.
‘No coordination’
The Mayor conceded there was lack of coordination among various civic agencies, including the BBMP, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom).
He pegged this as the reason for the state the city finds itself in.
Business licences
Responding to a long-pending demand of the business community, the Mayor announced doing away with the annual system of renewing trade licences, which will henceforth be called business certificates and will be valid for three or five years.
When a FKCCI member raised the issue, Mr. Murthy said business certificates would be issued online similar to the system proposed for khata, and birth and death certificates.
“Instead of trade licences, we have called them business certificates. They can be renewed every three years or five years instead of [annually],” he said, while stating that it is not possible to abolish them as it entailed a law amendment. Among the other projects in the pipeline are construction of 500 toilets across the city and multi-level parking facilities, especially near Namma Metro stations.
Ruing BBMP’s lack of real power, he said it had to approach the State government for everything. Also, the Mayor’s yearlong tenure is inadequate for any real achievement.
Mr. Murthy spoke about areas that are yet to be converted into revenue layouts, due to which they still come under the agriculture zone. “In the name of development, it has become unauthorised Bangalore,” he commented.
