In a city struggling with a series of key infrastructure and planning issues, getting a master plan to chart the way for the future may be a crucial task. But the Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) decision to hold a public hearing to move forward with a revised Master Plan 2031, on Wednesday, seems to have only sparked off strong opposition.
In fact, many urban planners and civic groups have sharply criticised the BDA for going ahead with a public meeting without even divulging key details or considerations for the Master Plan 2031, setting the stage for what could be a stormy meeting, if the BDA goes ahead with it as announced.
This is the second time that the BDA has called for a public hearing. In November 2014, the BDA called off the meeting at the last minute, amidst tough opposition from civic groups.
BDA had hired a Netherlands-based company ‘Royal Haskoning DHV’ to prepare the Revised Master Plan 2031. Sources said that the first stage of the plan has been completed with the population projections for 2031 and a base map after a detailed survey of the city.
This was done even as questions have been raised over the BDA’s locus standi to prepare a master plan for the city in the first place. Civic groups argue that it is the Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC) which has to plan for the city. However, the legal position on who has to plan is yet to be decided by the High Court.
C.N. Kumar, activist, said that BDA was exceeding its brief by going ahead with the master plan. He claimed that it was unlikely that the master plan would stand the test in court.
Though the State government has constituted the BMPC, which is mandated with the planning function, the committee is dysfunctional.
As a majority of the 18 elected members of the BMPC were from the BBMP council, it fell apart once the council was dissolved. Besides that since the time it was formed last year, BMPC has not held a single meeting.
BDA Commissioner T. Sham Bhatt maintained that the authority was still the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for the Bengaluru area and was hence legally mandated to prepare the Master Plan 2031.
