After refusing to toe the BJP government’s line on the appointment of the Lokayukta, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Friday directed his energy to criticising the government for its lack of vision and poor governance which has severely affected the state’s capital – Bengaluru – in the recent past.

Unscientific constructions and rapid urbanization has changed the face of Bengaluru—once considered a people’s paradise— for the worse, he said. Speaking at the 60th National Town and Country Planners Congress on “Planning and Development, 2025: Challenges and Reforms”, Mr Bhardwaj singled out the capital and expressed dismay over the fact that statutory bodies like Bengaluru Develop-ment Authority (BDA) have failed to check unplanned urbanisation. The result: All water bodies have been encroached upon by builders, sanitation facilities have been damaged beyond repair while the roads are in a permanently dug-up state. There is a deficit in governance, he remarked. “A former IAS officer submitted a report to me on how builders have encroached on water bodies in Bengaluru. I told the chief secretary about this. The government should check illegal builders and regulate construction activity”, he said.

Mr. Bhardwaj also criticized the government for unnecessarily acquiring agricultural land in the name of development. “This trend of needlessly acquiring land should be avoided. The government acquires land and lets it lie idle. Vested interests encroach on the land which should not happen. Once land is acquired, the government should utilize it properly”, he said and felt equal impetus should be accorded to rural planning. Mr Bhardwaj asked the Institute of Town Planners of India (ITPI) and other participants in the conference to prepare a comprehensive plan addressing key issues and submit it to the government.