Bengaluru: The scenarios for 2031 that the BDA has published paint a bleak future for a city known for its green lungs and lakes. The BDA predicts that in 14 years, the city will generate over 18,000 tonnes of garbage a day. The demand for power will double and there will be a shortage of water.
“The BDA has planned for a city with a population of 2.03 crore, which the agency says is optimum. The scenarios only seem to be an extrapolation of today's mess 15 years later. Bengaluru needs immediate course correction to make it sustainable and habitable, which is not reflected in the BDA scenarios, which lack imagination,” said Leo Saldanah, Environment Support Group.
Architect Naresh Narasimhan of Citizens for Bengaluru said that accepting population growth without any regulation as inevitable and planning for the increasing demands for infrastructure is wrong. “Planning needs to be done based on quality of life indicators. The city should set aggressive targets for indices like quality of air, water, sewerage and availability of healthcare, education, parks. What we get is a plan philosophy to provide infrastructure for unbridled growth,” he said.
