jipura to Agara, who gets land, who E doesn’t P8 Professor offers political internships P10 BBMP isn’t accessible, feels Narendra Babu P12 Improvement is a continuous process: Dinesh Gundu Rao P14 Getting people to believe in the system was challenging: Ashwath Narayan P16 Treated water aplenty, not a drop for parks... P18
Citizen Matters Local news like no one else does
When a city on
steroids turned into
a shining saucer bengaluru
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13-April-2013
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comments
FEEDback When a city on steroids turned into a shining saucer I agree to a great extent with the points cited in this article. If we look at traffic issue, one thing that Ifeel is missed out is- too many cars in the roads. If people are motivated to use public transport, it will help a bit. Also, i often find many vehicles-2/4 wheelers which bear non-karnataka registration mark freely driving and adding to more traffic woes. Many simply escape saying that they are visitors and do not pay up road tax. ANother POV from real estate perspective - Newly added areas under BBMP is seeing lot of real estate development- the same water crisis, 8 am traffic jams with 30 ft road, we are seeing it day in and day out. Most of these projects display BBMP approved stamp in the Ads but finally when you get a loan, buy the hosue and move in and when it is time to take Khata (OMG ! this one piece of paper is making many civic authorities personal lives better through black money) home buyers realize that their apartment does not have teh required NOC from BBMP. I have read many articles in TOI wherein high court have reprimanded BBMP for not being vigilant to control illegal constructions, deviations etcetra. My only hope through this comment is that many more home buyers/owners/prospects/ affected home buyers would join hands, help government to improve and regularize this mess. Ramanujan Venugopalan
Well written article, nicely depicting almost every issue plaguing bangalore. Bangalore was brainchild of British who foresaw its central location in South India, and were trying to promote it as capital of South. City really had some issues in water etc from the very beginnings, which should have
email feedback@citizenmatters.in been planned with longer vision. The growth the city has attained, I strongly feel unsustainable. People from Karnataka, who are open hearted, don’t feel Bangalore the same, that is spurring an Identity crisis too, with massive migration happening from rural Karnataka to Bangalore. Vinay
Better Water, Power Management for Bangalore: JD(S) Instead of giving these clueless politicians a free platform to air their lies and hot air - especially by equally clueless correspondents in the mainstream publications - CitizenMatters should pin the politicians down for specifics of concrete plans, funding and implementation dates to see if they are serious and have raised these issues in their party circles. (Some of their stated items/proposals in their manifestos would cost more than the state's GDP I am told). Too many of them get away by stating platitudes and making political correct statements off the cuff to get good sound/print bytes. Nanda
Let independent dogs be There are about 200 dogs in my locality. Today they killed my cat, and no it was not a pure breed cat. tomorrow they may kill a child too. Too much of anything is bad, even if they are the lovely looking, disease carrying, innocent yet killer dogs. If anyone wishes to bring jungles to city, i’ll be happy to be an animal and kill them all. Abhinav
(B)looming disasters The bad town planning section of BBMP is the root cause for all the evils. There is no common sense, how many people can live
in a square-km and what are the facilities like roads, foot path, parking area, Transportation, water, sewage and many things. The Town planning has given plan sanction but building violating norms. How BBMP civil engineers allowed this kind of violation? The BBMP is so corrupt it cannot be corrected. It is better to hand it over to a foreign to run. The present BBMP officials are corrupt and anti social elements. Keerthikumar
Ejipura to Agara, who gets land, who doesn’t It only shows where the priorities lie for our politicians and the administrators that come below them! There's enough money in it for them when big land-deals 'for profit' are struck. There is no money for providing housing for the poor. But of course they too want their maids and security guards to show up for work on time! Mithun Divakaran
Please, please, mera change vaapas keejiye, please sir According to what I have heard, the routes are allotted based on conductors ability to corner money. Conductors pay the depot manager for getting preferred routes. They recover that money (and more) through the tactics of not returning change or not issuing tickets. Routes where higher revenue can be earned cost more. Based on the way the parallel economy works, the depot manager probably pays someone else and the money goes up all the way to the political class. That money is used to fight elections and party work. Similar trends with all other forms of corruption and thievery. In other words, we have a pretty sophisticated election funding model!
13-April-2013
Sanjay Vijayaraghavan
CITIZEN MATTERS 3
opinion
4 CITIZEN MATTERS
13-April-2013
opinion BENGALURU ON POLL MODE - I
When a city on steroids turned into a shining saucer In the first of a three-part series on what will happen to Bengaluru after the elections-2013, Subramaniam Vincent reflects on how Bengaluru was put on developmental steroids and pushed onto the sky like a shining saucer.
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 5
opinion
I
n the run up to elections in Karnataka, a nationally telecast TV news programme last weekend focussed on the massive deterioration of civic life in Bengaluru. On display was the breakdown of garbage management, water supply, rise of the contractor and tanker mafia and the link to politicians, the state's political parties becoming personality-led factions and in all, a capital city and the silicon valley of India hopelessly caught in a disastrous spiral. Citizen Matters was interviewed for the telecast as well. It ended though with a hopeful note that when voters have a chance to reverse things. (Headlines Today, ‘Bangalore Civic Mess’). After I watched it, I felt I have another story to tell about Bengaluru today. I will use two metaphors for it, one from agriculture and the second from outer space. Before that, a small anecdote. The chaotic state of affairs in the city is a telling reality we experience every single day. But it came home to me more emotionally and sadly when I met two youngsters from the Belgaum region at an expo in Whitefield last year. Like so many youngsters from tier-3 MBA colleges in the northern hinterland of Karnataka, they had to come to the great capital city for the one key thing that 20-plus youth rate highly - jobs. And jobs they did get. Both these youngsters were working in a local logistics firm in the city and in a casual conversation at the Citizen Matters stall, they shocked me with a single statement: "Sir, we have to decided to leave Bangalore and go back to Belgaum". "Why?" I asked, still wondering whether I had heard them right. And then came an outpouring of grief. When they came here they thought they could relate to their capital city to their future; 6 CITIZEN MATTERS
but what they did not account for was the massive traffic, constant construction, lost tempers on the roads and rage, the furious pace of everything on weekdays and a sinking feeling of a floating identity crisis in a big bad city. That Kannada is no longer spoken and heard on the streets in a widespread way made it worse, they told me, but mind you, these youth speak Hindi and English anyway. It is not that their jobs were not paying either. They said they felt let down. They could simply go back and work in a bank, or start a business which was anyway a dream, they added. A little more conversation and I start hearing from them about other youngsters who had already gone back in 2011, frustrated with the stress of living in Bengaluru. This is just really small side effect of something else that has gone totally wrong in the city. It is not just about government failing or politicians alone messing up. It is deeper.
City on developmental steroids I look at Bangalore as a city whose development has been put on steroids on the last ten years, with no plan whatsoever for the natural resources that are needed to support this super fast growth. If Bengaluru were a person running in a competition, s/he would fail every dope test. During India's green revolution, farmers figured out quickly that they can boost crop yields by pumping in fertilisers and pesticides. If you overdo this, this result usually is that yield goes high for some time, and then the soil collapses, devoid of everything. Nothing will grow well after that. Poisoned soil leads to contaminated water and food. Bringing this soil back to life takes years again. The politician-babu-industry
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nexus in Karnataka has done precisely this to Bangalore. Industrialisation brings jobs at every level and triggers a chain reaction of economic activity that every government wants to drive. Nothing inherently wrong there. But when your political party system is funded in mostly black money in part from the approval-and-permission raj we still run, greed and recklessness always take the centrestage at decision makers' tables. You know the results. This city has truly become a real estate playground. The Survey Department lost track of Bengaluru’s original land ownership maps in the 1970s. The BDA uses its own maps. Lakes have now been run over, public land being gifted by corrupt ministers and bureaucrats to private interests, and illegal buildings have mushroomed all around the city. Scores of buildings and heavily trafficked pathways have emerged in the neighbourhoods that are least suited to take such load. Imagine a massive apartment community coming up off a 30-feet road. It will only take a few hundred cars and a few water tankers to mess up things at 8 am. In 2010, the city commissioner had quietly shut down an important vigilance call centre that was processing whistleblower alerts on illegal buildings and seeing rising complaints. Citizen Matters exposed this. The demand for water has led to massive drilling of borewells which are predictably drying up; landfills located in nearby village areas have been topped up with muck so much that they have eventually collapsed. Near-riotous situations have prevailed for years at some of the worst landfills, where our garbage has poisoned villagers' lands, water and hygiene. Not surprisingly, crisis erupted in 2012. Respectable cities around the
opinion world use natural resource-based planning to balance, regulate, mediate and even cap growth, while on the other hand accelerating where it can still work — some of the greatest cities in the world are run this way. In Bengaluru, Karnataka’s messy politics has not only not done this, but has put the system on steroids. So then you end up with what reckless farmers sometimes do to their own soil. Kill it. This is what we have now: a waterless city, with land grabs ongoing, polluted lakes, persistent flooding risks when monsoons arrive since the exit channels (rajakaluves and other minor drains) for storm water runoff have been built over in many areas, roads repeatedly dug up by water supply, electricity and municipal authorities with no coordination, and of course massive traffic snarls and pollution. Water harvesting has only made a beginning, in part because some real estate developers are now using RWH to create groundwater sourced 24/7 water supply and cutting off reliance on tankers and the city’s water utility. But these projects are few and far between even today. Over 40% of the city’s piped water is unaccounted for — courtesy leakages and theft — and our officials have shamelessly come up with an abbreviation for it: UFW. It is almost as if denoting it this way somehow legitimises the problem and takes it off their hands. Real estate investors - citizens and firms - have played a role too. In addition to resident Bangaloreans themselves, citizens from New Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Pune, Sydney, San Francisco, San Jose, New York, Chicago, Houston, London, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and you name it, both Indians as well as NRIs and PIOs, have all 'invested' in apartments and homes in Bangalore. Everyone with access
to capital and land has gotten rich in the name of investing in a property in Bangalore. Yet, some of this has happened with buyers not having a clue to where the water will come from, where the garbage will go, whether the permissions were legal, whether the land itself is clear of title disputes, etc. In fact, such is our penchant for putting savings into land (it only comes next to gold), that real estate developers find it relatively easy to trick us with crafty graphics and a little poetry. 'A piece of Spain in the Bengaluru!' yelled one silly hoarding, missing the point that Spain is in deep economic shock, what with Barcelona (Catalonia) threatening to break loose in 2014. This is Spain's own Telengana. 'A home and landscape where you get clear unpolluted air and tranquility' is a common refrain in other advertisements. We need tranquilisers to use on the citizens who get into road rage first, before buying tranquility itself! The psychology of an investor who is not going to settle into a residential property is different from the one who is buying an apartment or a home to live there. Investors simply assume the demand for housing will always be high enough in India’s mega cities that they can sell and exit the asset regardless of the underlying fundamentals. That the water tanker mafia may one day lay siege is not a worry. That land on which their homes have been built inside 'layouts' may be snatched by the stroke of the pen or a verdict of a court is a reality that people wake up to one morning and then panic.
feels like we have built this giant shining saucer and it suspended at 10,000 feet above the real land of this city. And there is one single pipe holding up the saucer - our suspended city - above. Through this pipe, water, services, resources and low-income jobs are sucked through to the fastpaced life above. Life on the saucer is different – fancy and glossy buildings stand tall, cars zip around, and 'tranquility' and 'live in espana or scotland' is paraded for the stressed souls. The pipe though is now bursting at the seams, because the social fabric that holds it together is seeing unrest and cracks. So some day, in my nightmare, the pipe will give way and the shining saucer above will simply crash to the ground, crushing lives. One fracture will be water, there may be others. Before that kind of crash happens, society hopefully will reverse the course, though by then a lot of damage would have already happened. This is no pipe-dream, if you pardon the pun. The next article in this series will show you a real example from 2012.
Subramaniam Vincent is co-founder and editor at Citizen Matters.
Shining saucer suspended above us I also look at Bangalore through another metaphor. So disconnected is the sheen of jobs and money from the rest of the real city, it sometimes 13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 7
opinion
I
n part-I, I argued that our planners, politicians and administrators put Bengaluru's development on steroids over the last 10 years, the way farmers sometimes do for agriculture, only to find that the soil dies later. I also argued that we have built a Bengaluru in the form of a giant shining saucer that is suspended at 10,000 feet above the real land of this city. There is one single pipe holding up the saucer and through this pipe, water, services, resources and low-income jobs are sucked through to the fast-paced life above. The pipe though is now bursting at the seams, because the social fabric that holds it together is seeing unrest and cracks. One example will tell you how my super-story above is actually real. This is no dream. The Ejipura housing disaster near Koramangala was manufactured by the city administrators in callousness and cynicism in 2004, leading up to heartless razing of tin shed-homes to the ground this January. When the old buildings first collapsed in 2004, it was already one disaster. Around 1500 families were promised the new flats to be built on those 15 acres of land owned by the city. The city could have simply cordoned off the area, called EWS colony, built the flats in one year and handed it back to the low income folks and moved on. They did not. Having issued entitlement papers to those slum dwellers, they asked these allottees to leave. And then, under the guise of not having funds to build the new flats, city administrators floated a massive cross-subsidising mall project on the same land, splitting it 50-50, with the low income flats to come up only on one half. The idea: the mall builder will construct the flats on land given by the city. What transpired was something else. The tender was mired in 8 CITIZEN MATTERS
BENGALURU ON POLL MODE - II
Ejipura to A gets land, w
When it comes to adequate, planned h government offers little land and lesser m layouts and apartments, there is alwa dispute for five years and settled in court only in 2011. (Court gave the order in 2010, the petitioner filed an appeal, but withdrew it in 2011). During this time, a new generation of squatters came into the colony, became tenants of the old residents' sheds and structures, set up new sheds, and ended up getting their own set of ID-cards and benefits from the government. Little surprise then that when the High Court settled the tender dispute and ordered the city to let
13-April-2013
the awarded builder start work in 2012, this second generation of residents too asserted their right to receive the original 1500 flats or suitable rehabilitation, if they had to move out. From then on, one thing led to another including tensions between the original allottees and the new settlers. Finally, they were pushed out over a three-day operation using earth movers and heavy machinery. City officials heartlessly asked them to relocate far away to
opinion
Agara, who who doesn’t
housing for the poor in Bengaluru, the money. But when it comes to SEZs, hotels, ays land available. Part II of the series. Sarjapur to a so-called slum housing project that was shown to not exist readily anyway. None of this would have happened if the city or the state government had coughed up the money to build 3000 flats on the whole chunk of land for both the original 1500 families and to house more families, since in any case demand for low-income housing was going to skyrocket. But the city administration preferred a real estate deal. You connect the dots.
There is never a shortage of money in Karnataka to build underpasses and flyovers at the cost of Rs.10-20 crore per structure using taxpayer's money. Hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent already. Yet, there is always a shortage of money and land when it comes to housing for lower income citizens - domestic workers, drivers, mechanics, errand boys and others. Bangalore is among the cities with highest range of rent in India. Conveniently located
low income housing simply preempts the continuous emergence of squatter slums and more Ejipuralike disasters. Here is the part that will amaze you. Around the same time the Ejipura EWS colony residents were chased out of their sheds and made to wander on the streets looking for shelters in grief, another project had broken ground just a few kilometres away near the Agara lake between Koramangala and HSR Layout. This is a Rs.2300-crore, 72-acre real estate project, co-promoted by one of the city's most famous and reputed developers. The state government acquired the 72 acres from farmers a decade ago and allotted the chunk in the name of industrial development at a throwaway price of Rs.80 crore for this massive project. It includes a 27-acre SEZ, office space, a 5-star hotel, a two-star hotel, two residential apartments for the wellheeled, and more. The massive water requirement of 45 lakh litres/day for this project is not available either from the city water utility or from groundwater. Borewells are not permitted here, the central groundwater authority has stated plainly. And yet the builder secured clearances and has started the construction. Worse, the minimum goals of social justice any elected government ought to deliver using its power to acquire land was not served. Low-income housing was not even thought about. This is your classic real-estateon-steroids land deal of 21st century Bangalore, and also a piece of the shining saucer being built above the real city, literally in the air. Is there a silver lining? And is this a political one, given that the elections are an opportunity? That is part III.
Subramaniam Vincent is co-founder and editor at Citizen Matters.
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 9
city news CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE FOR YOUNGSTERS
Rajeev Gowda
Professor offers political internships IIMB Professor and Congress Party leader Rajeev Gowda is looking for interns interested in getting first-hand experience of the practical aspects of electoral politics.
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His individual initiative, Political Action Internship, hat is the root cause behind ineffective political leadership? Lack of training, among many is designed to provide a mix of background knowledge other reasons, plays a major part. So will training the and on-the-ground fieldwork. "Since fieldwork becomes change-agents and policy makers change the course meaningful only when it is part of a political party's campaign, I have worked out an of politics too? Yes, says Prof Rajeev arrangement with some Congress Gowda, professor at the Indian candidates to work with their teams Institute of Management, Bangalore Two types of in Bangalore," informs Prof Gowda. (IIMB). He is planning to prove it by internships are offered What is the aim of this internship? offering Political Action Internships, in the programme: 1) "In India, generally, many people scheduled from 11 April to 9 May. Campaign internship interested in participating actively in Prof Rajeev Gowda is one among 2) Strategy internship. the democratic process don't know those Bangaloreans who grew up Registration for the where to start or how to go about in Bangalore, and later watched internship is free. it. Large numbers of urban dwellers, Bangalore expand beyond limits. especially the educated middle He has been a part of the Centre class, have no connect with political for Public Policy (CPP), an initiative of the IIMB, a think tank focusing on research, training, parties or activists. This internship aims to bridge that consulting and active engagement with policy issues, gap and make it easier for youngsters to participate in a aiming to influence policy outcomes and developing live election campaign," explains Prof Gowda. Who does the programme target? "I have found that leaders who will improve governance. 10 CITIZEN MATTERS
13-April-2013
city news
Prof Gowda says his experience conducting the India-Women in Leadership programme (www.womenleadership.in) has reinforced his confidence that well-designed and executed political training can enhance the capabilities of people. Pic courtesy: www.womenleadership.in
‘A learning experience’ Jayanth Bhoopalam, an engineering graduate, the founder of Kivash, a visual art space, who had worked with Rajeev Gowda during 2009 Lok Sabha elections, says that working for election campaigns is a learning experience. Those who campaign do so for two reasons: One is passion, another is money. The educated don't care much about the money part. "You have to connect to such people; only then they will campaign or vote for you. It's a challenge to get the educated on board in such campaigns," he adds.
many youngsters are keen to enlarge their horizons, to actively engage with politics and to improve the system. This internship is aimed at helping such people. Even purely resume-points seekers will end up working hard and learning a lot, or will drop out." Mainstream political campaigns currently face a challenge. Traditional campaign methods like door-todoor may not work with those voters who live and work behind security in apartments and offices. "Part of the effort in this internship is to see whether we can break new grounds on how to engage with such voters, e.g., through social media," says Prof Gowda, adding that he wants to hear out the ideas of the interns on this. What inspired him to start such unique programme of political internship? "As a professor, I am always looking for ways to share knowledge and strengthen people's capabilities. My experience in conducting the India-Women in Leadership programme at IIM Bangalore has reinforced my confidence that well-designed and executed political training can enhance the capabilities of people." What would be his reaction if the students/ interns get disillusioned by the murkier side of politics? "I doubt that we are going to be exposed to the murkier sides of politics much during this internship though some of that will be covered in the preparatory lectures." "I expect that interns will gain an appreciation for how challenging it is to reach out to voters in a meaningful manner, and by interacting with candidates, they will also appreciate how hard they work and their human side as well. The lessons our interns learn here will enable them to participate more actively in political activity, even if they don't want to be politicians," signs off Prof Gowda.
News Desk 13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 11
city news MLASPEAK: NARENDRA BABU, MAHALAKSHMI LAYOUT
BBMP isn’t accessible, In an exclusive interview to Citizen Matters, MLA of Mahalakshmi Layout expresses his unhappiness about the inadequacy of the LAD funds.
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arendra Babu's phone keeps ringing. Some are from his office, but many are by the voters of his constituency. One such phone call is from a worried woman whose child has to undergo an operation; she doesn't have funds. Her husband is an auto driver. They are not sure how to get government aid. He tells her to meet him along with all related documents if any, at his office on Monday or Thursday, during the official public meetings. The venue is Anushrutha Foundation, his NGO, a little ahead of his office-cum-residence. Another woman who has come to the NGO wants to get her daughter admitted to a school but doesn't have any funds. The mother has cleared seventh standard and is not sure if she can get a job to support the family. The MLA tells his PA to take her details and tries to give two or three solutions. While doing all this, he's also scrutinising and signing probably the applications for Aadhar cards, BPL cards etc. Two German economics students are visiting his office to see and experience what it is like to be a legislator in India. As I start asking the questions, he flips out his Samsung tablet and shows our website to the German students. On his request, I visit all the floors of the building which imparts
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skills and training to urban poor and lower middle class. The courses vary from basic computer courses to English classes, tailoring and interior decoration to beautician's courses. Some from higher economic strata also volunteer here. He insists his vision could be executed only because of a dedicated team effort and quite proudly shows each floor to me and the German students. How does he bear the costs of running an NGO, I ask. He replies that they get donations from philanthropists and wellwishers. It does not come under the Government scheme, he states. As I start the barrage of questions, the MLA continues with his multitasking, speaking in Kannada and occasionally translating in English to the Germans. What are the problems faced by your constituency? The biggest problem is water. Then of course there's housing, unemployment, school admissions and law and order. The other problems are civicrelated issues, for example, storm water drains cleaning. The civic issues need much co-operation from the BBMP. What are the projects executed by you as MLA? Can you give us some details of significant achievements/contributions
from 2008 to 2013? Using the JNNURM funds, I have successfully installed a Ground Water Reservoir (GLR) of 9 MLD capacity of water. The GLR cost six crore rupees with another two crores for the pipeline and connection. This connects to Cauvery IVth stage, phase II. Out of the seven wards, it helps solve the water problems of two wards - 43 and 45 - and also, partly, to wards 75 and 68. Other achievements? In Education (sector), two high schools have been sanctioned, the land and money for a first grade college have been sanctioned. As many as 28 Anganwadi schools have been sanctioned, with 15 of them having their own buildings. Permission has been sanctioned for around 2000 houses in wards 43, 44, 74 and 75. I have developed 25 parks in my constituency. The Shankar Nag Bus stand has been built in Shakti Ganapati Nagar, Ward 74. An indoor youth centre named Rajkumar Youth Centre has been built in Ward 67 at a cost of six crore. Also, did I tell you about the padayatra we initiated to bring water from Western Ghats to Bangalore? However, the environmentalists have opposed the initiative. But aren't they right?
city news
feels Narendra Babu Especially now that the region has been declared as World Heritage zone by the UNESCO. Well, Bangalore is growing and it needs water. Can you give me a better solution? You asked 233 questions in the Assembly. Did any of your questions get responses that helped your constituents? Several. I can't tell you offhand but if you show me the questions, I can give the status. According to the DC's office, LAD funds were sanctioned for about 70 works. What kind of works were these? Was it possible to do all these works with the LAD funds? We get one crore annually as LAD. This is hardly enough for a constituency. I have used around ninety nine per cent of the funds, mostly for education Anganwadi schools, water supply, environment, welfare etc. What do you suggest is the ideal amount of LAD that has to be provided to the MLAs? Funds should be released considering various factors such as population, necessity etc. of the constituency. It should also be categorised under various sectors such as education, infrastructure, health, welfare, youth empowerment and housing. What are the key problems/ challenges faced by MLA? The biggest problem is inaccessibility to the BBMP commissioner. No, don't write
it down because I say so. I'll call him. (Flips out his cell phone and calls the BBMP office. After quite some time, someone picks up and informs him that the commissioner is busy in a meeting.) Most of our problems need co-operation from the BBMP, otherwise they do not get solved. One of the biggest problems of the city is garbage. How do you ensure proper waste management and segregation of waste? (Takes out his tablet and shows the photographs of segregation of residential waste) See, the system should be in place. The waste segregated later gets mixed because the system is not in place. The collecting vehicles should be colour-coded for the type of waste. We have ensured these points in the new tenders, but work orders are not issued to the new contractors and the old vendors stick to the old ways. Three key reasons why the voters should vote for you again?
I have kept up my word, my promises. I am accessible to my people around the clock and I have maintained my wards well.
Poornima is a heritage and a travel enthusiast. She is founder of http://www.unhurried.in and conducts heritage walks and tours across Karnataka.
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 13
city news DINESH GUNDURAO, GANDHINAGAR
Improvement is a continuous In a telephonic interview, Rao talks about the challenges he faced and his achievements as an MLA.
D
inesh Gundu Rao, three-time MLA of Gandhi Nagar constituency in the heart of the city, is considered one among the youth leaders of Congress party. Son of ex-chief minister of the state Gundu Rao, he is an engineering graduate. He is contesting from Gandhinagar constituency for the fourth time. In a telephonic interview to Citizen Matters, he shared his views on the development of his constituency. What were the topics of your focus in your constituency? The prime focus was development of each ward; ensuring proper facilities- roads, drains, water, garbage, footpaths, safety, education, cleanliness, hygiene and proper housing. In my constituency, I have achieved all these and work is still on. It is a continuous process. There is always scope for improvement. What changes have you made in your constituency in the last five years? Some slums had to be shifted because of Metro construction and railway tracks. The areas were cleared by convincing residents of Basaveshwaranagar, Jayabheemanagar near Metro construction site, Arasanagar behind Binney Mills and Lakshmanapura near Khoday factory in Gandhinagar. People were not only shifted but were also given houses on Hosur Road and Tumkur road. The whole project cost around Rs 600 crore and was funded by the slum board and Metro. The task was achieved smoothly in coordination with people. How much money have you spent for the constituency's development ? How much was collected from people in various forms? Have the funds been sufficient? We have spent around Rs 200 crore which was allocated by the BBMP and state government. No money was collected from the people. All the money has been spent for developmental works alone. Funds given were sufficient; there was no dearth. With regard to ongoing works, the BBMP has no funds since last two years. There are problems in their own funding and resources.
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Over the years, it has been observed that you have only been inaugurating projects. Has there been any project which was initiated by you and you take credit for? Yes, I have been present at various functions. But I take credit for a unique school project which was started by me, even though it is in my neighbouring ward- Srirampura, Rajajinagar constituency. Around six years ago, in coordination with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a CBSE school was started in the old corporation building. We not only improved the building but also reconstructed it at a cost of Rs 5 crore. The school was officially inaugurated three years ago. Fifty per cent of the children here are admitted by the BBMP, rest 50 per cent by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. This is a unique concept. According to you, which is the most problematic ward? and why? The problematic wards, in my opinion, would be Chickpet and Cottonpet as the roads are difficult to walk on and drainage pipes are too narrow. It is difficult to construct anything new as the area is old and wellestablished with dense population. Thus the problem
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s process: Dinesh Gundu Rao which we are facing is of laying new drainage and water pipelines. In case of Akkipet, Sultanpet and Cottonpet, it has been done at a cost of around Rs 12 crore from JNNURM funds. We have cleared the storm water drains and encroachments. We have observed that the drainage situation is the same since the last 10 years. There has been no change or improvement, why? Cleanliness and maintaining it is a constant process. Since now there has been upspring of multilevel constructions in these areas, cleanliness should also be maintained continuously. Though new pipelines are built, ultimately how to maintain them is important. Is there any project or task which you have not been able to do or you regret about? I have been unable to start the project of constructing a main drain in the middle of BVK Iyengar road which is wellconnected with all sides and areas in the vicinity. The project should have started a year ago. I aim to start its work in another two weeks. The delay has been in the contract process, though grants were sanctioned from JNNURM. In case of the heavily populated areas of old Bangalore and your new wards like Avenue road, Chickpet and Cottonpet, there was a lot of tussle regarding Metro construction. How did you cope with it?
Slum-dwellers and those residing in other establishments were convinced. There was no problem even in case of Magadi Road, as the compensation was good. The only problem was with those in Cottonpet and Chickpet, pertaining to underground water. As many depend upon borewell, when underground work started, their borewells ran dry. Which is the topic you have raised in the assembly pertaining to your constituency? Have they been met, if not why? One topic on my constituency I raised is improving the entrance to railway station from Rajajinagar. It has been a long-pending issue. We have had meetings with the railways. The project was even sanctioned two months ago. Rs 200 crore was allocated for road widening and bridge construction. We aim to construct it on the lines of Hebbal Flyover, which is well-connected from three sides. But the work is yet to start. What is your view on ward committees and direct governance for Bangalore? Work on ward committees is on. Presently there is a combination of political and non-political people. There should be more and better involvement from the non-political people like NGOs, citizen welfare groups, resident welfare associations and residents who have sound knowledge of the subject. It is a challenge to get people together and involve them. In some places like Gandhinagar and Kumarapark we have managed to do this. For direct and better governance, the ward committees should be strong and have adequate power and knowledge. According to you which is the best ward in your constituency and why? I think it would be Dattatreya temple ward No 77, because of the development it has seen in the last few years and the direct involvement of the people. For instance, the residential property in Munishwara block in Vivekananda colony which was under litigation for 30 years was fought in the court. The case was passed in favour of the people and land acquisition was cleared with a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. The government, four months ago, ordered that the land be sold to the residing 450 plus people in the area at 5% of the subregistrar value.
News desk
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 15
city news MLASPEAK: ASHWATH NARAYAN, MALLESHWARAM
Getting people to beli challenging: Ashwath In an interview to Citizen Matters, Ashwath Narayan reveals his efforts to reach out to the people of his constituency and win their trust
I
t's 9.40 pm. I wait patiently outside Dr. Ashwath Narayan's chamber in his house. I was supposed to catch him at 9 pm; but was told that 'doctor is running 15 minutes late.' Here I am, waiting for him to finish his interview with another media person. The assistant sitting at the desk politely explains the situation: "We were on a padayatra; it got late when we returned; then the doctor attended this scheduled meeting, hence the delay." Quite understandable, given the fact that the 'doctor' is trying hard to retain his constituency for the second term. Finally at 9.45 pm, the door opens. The 'doctor' himself welcomes me into his chamber. Adorned with the saffron scarf around his neck and a broad smile over his face, he looks fresh, even after a hectic day mired with various political activities. No time for small talks, as it's already late; the interview begins. How was your experience in the last five years as an MLA? It has been a mixed bag of sweet and sour. There were positive things, negative ones too. People
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have many expectations, we try to deliver them. It is not possible to do all the things which people expect. People too know our limitations. How much funds have you got sanctioned for your constituency in the last five years? Around 200 to 250 crores... Including Local Area Development funds? LAD funds is not much, it is just a crore per year. Apart from that there is more fund generated. This has been utilised to build schools, colleges, seva kendras, gymnasiums, playgrounds, parks, waste disposal systems and many other projects. Our constituency has been allotted the least funds among all, but the difference is, we have planned the proper, effective utilisation of the funds. Getting money is not important, utilising it to the best extent and getting the works done is more important. What is your achievement as an MLA? People are able to identify me through my work. 90 out of 100 people in Malleshwaram know Ashwath Narayan is the MLA of this constituency. This is the beauty.
What is the major change you have brought about in last five years? Getting people to believe in the system. Citizens when faced with no response from the system, start losing trust in the system. In last five years, we have been trying to work hard to win their trust, by making the system work, to get them to believe in the system, and be a part of it. That's the major, major change. What is the major challenge, major problem faced during your tenure? Again, winning the trust of the people. But we have overcome it successfully. With our work on improving overall lives, we have tried t o
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ieve in the system was h Narayan improve the Human Development Index in our constituency. If the HDI is measured, it would be a telling example of our work. Better water supply, Sulabh toilets and solving garbage problem have improved the quality of life in the constituency. Thus we have won people's confidence. What is the status of garbage disposal in the constituency? We have put in a system in place where in the waste produced in every ward is disposed within the ward. One or two systems have started functioning. Biogas production and composting through aerobic method have been implemented successfully. Other projects of this initiative are pending implementation due to the code of conduct. Many people have started waste segregation at source, but more people should adopt that system. If they do not cooperate, the system will not fall in place. Do you think your
party's image might affect your performance in the upcoming poll? See, I'm an individual. Individuals will be there, but party is more important. If the party does good things, take credit, if there are negative things, disown the party - it doesn't work that way. I won because of the party, I'm here because of the party. Mass media gives publicity to negative things. It's all part of the power game; one has to play it cool. We let people see our work. Three reasons why people should vote for you again. I'm accessible, I'm credible, I have delivered the goods. I have been the voice for the voiceless. People have seen my work, rest is in their hands. I will accept anything they decide. Okay, that concludes the interview. "Did I address all your questions properly?" he asks politely. As the 'doctor' bids a typical ‘neta' style farewell with folded hands and broad smile, I thank him and depart.
Shree D N is Associate Editor at Oorvani Media.
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 17
city news WATER MATTERS
Treated water aplenty, not a drop for parks... Even when parks are drying up slowly, there are few takers for treated water. Cost of transportation is said to be the major reason.
W
ith the onset of summer, many of the parks in the city have dried up. Most parks maintained by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) were using up water from the bore wells on their premises. But over the last few months, many borewells have been drying up. Parvathi Srirama, Joint Secretary of Koramangala 4th block RWA, says that compared to December, there is much water shortage now in parks. Parvathi, also a ward committee member of Koramangala, is in charge of monitoring parks in the area. Swabhiman Fountain Park, one of the well-maintained parks here, is also facing water shortage now. "For now there is water, but 18 CITIZEN MATTERS
The plants and lawn in this Koramangala par
we have requested BBMP to build an overhead tank in the park. When there is shortage, we can buy tanker water and store it in the tank; there are RWA members willing to pay for such water," she says. Where RWAs are active, water might be managed this way, but many other parks are simply drying up. According to the BBMP's Horticulture Department, 386 parks are facing water shortage now. 152 of these are expected to go dry this month. There are 955 parks overall in the city. The highest number of parks are in South zone, where also the highest number of parks - 64 are going to dry up in April. In East zone, there are 177 parks, of which 127 are facing shortage already,
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and 24 are expected to go dry this month. The BBMP has decided that it will set up only tree parks from now on, and do away with landscaped parks which consume a lot of water. But what about existing parks which have been developed and maintained so far at a high cost? Watering one acre of park area alone requires about 81,000 litres of water per day. No takers for treated water Citizen Matters asked if the BBMP can use treated water from BWSSB's Tertiary Treatment Plants (TTPs) for watering parks. Currently, BWSSB's TTPs are producing treated water in excess. TTPs treat water to a high degree than the usual STPs (Sewage
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rk are dying because of water shortage. Pic: Navya P K
Treatment Plants). TTP water is non-potable, but can be used for gardening, industrial purposes etc. The original idea behind setting up the TTPs was to sell treated water to industries, and thus conserve water. But there has been not enough demand for treated water, and the BWSSB is now letting out excess treated water back into a lake. However, the BBMP says that it has not yet considered the option of using TTP water in parks. Brijesh Kumar, BBMP Chief Conservator of Forests, says that the cost of transporting water from TTP to parks using tankers will be high. He says that this option can be considered if the condition of parks gets worse. Of BWSSB's four TTPs,
the biggest is the Vrishabhavathi Valley (V Valley) TTP located near Rajarajeshwari Arch, along Mysore Road. This TTP has the capacity to treat 60 MLD water. Currently, only 20 MLD water is being treated here. Out of that, 2.5 MLD is being sold to Arvind Mills, NICE Ltd etc. All the remaining 17.5 MLD is released back into the Byramangala lake, says V C Kumar, BWSSB Executive Engineer in charge of waste water treatment. He adds that this will make the groundwater table get recharged with better quality water. However, the actual purpose of setting up the TTP - to conserve water by reusing it - is not served. The treated water is priced very low. While the cost of regular water is Rs 66 per kilo litre, that of TTP water is less than one-fourth of this - Rs 15 per kilo litre. However, V C Kumar says that the treatment plant is too far off for most industries, and hence transportation cost is high, which is a major reason for lack of demand for treated water. V C Kumar opines that using TTP water is a good option for the BBMP. "If the BBMP uses a 6000 litre water tanker, they can get that water at a cost of Rs 90. There are no other options for water now." Brijesh Kumar of the BBMP says, "Supply lines to parks cannot be laid temporarily criss-crossing the existing supply lines; tankers are expensive. Monitoring the quality of treated water is also difficult." He says that even if use of tankers is considered, it will take time to discuss costs and work out logistics. There are many parks closer to the V Valley TTP. But so far, the BBMP has not estimated the cost of using TTP water. Y N Ashwath, Chairman of the BBMP's Horticulture Standing Committee, confirms that use of TTP water for gardening has not been considered yet. "Nothing can be
done now; the only option is to wait for rains." The BBMP parks are maintained by contractors at a fixed cost of Rs 3 lakh per acre annually. This package is uniform, and there is no separate estimate for water. "When borewells go dry, we cannot force the contractor to get water from elsewhere as the cost of this would be high," says Brijesh Kumar. TTP water is already used by the two major parks in the city - Cubbon Park and Lalbagh. These parks have their own TTPs - each with a capacity of 1.5 MLD. V C Kumar says that the plants generate enough for the parks' needs, and no excess water is generated. The BWSSB has a fourth TTP in Yelahanka. Like the V Valley TTP, this plant is also not working to its full capacity. The capacity of Yelahanka TTP is 10 MLD, but only 6 MLD is processed. This is because, there is not enough water supply in Yelahanka, and hence not enough sewage is generated. The treated water is sold completely though, to organisations like BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd). There are also residential apartments that have excess treated water as many of them are mandated to set up STPs. Brijesh Kumar says that buying water from apartments is risky, as there is no way to monitor water quality. "If we buy this water, the cost of quality enforcement will be more than that of the water. Park is a public utility, and we cannot take chances. We cannot post a person daily in each park to monitor water quality," he says. For now, it looks like parks may wither for some more time before they are hopefully saved by the rains.
Navya P K is Senior Staff Journalist at Citizen Matters.
13-April-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 19
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