Bengaluru: Urban expert R.K. Misra, who is also member of Technical Advisory Committee, BBMP and BDA has trashed state government for not recommending Bengaluru city for smart city project.
“Bengaluru again loses out on Smart city. Karnataka is the only state which chose to ignore its most important and economically significant city Bengaluru. Hyderabad is included and so are other state capitals such as Lucknow and Jaipur, but our bureaucracy and political leadership do not find Bengaluru important enough to be included in this ambitious national agenda. It is a major loss for Bengaluru and Karnataka. It is sad that Bengalureans are once again reminded that they don’t matter in government’s agenda,” said Misra.
He said that Bengaluru was not figuring in the list of 98 urban centres unveiled by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu Thursday. However, six other cities from the state have qualified for the project — Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharawada, Tumakur and Davanagere.
According to highly placed sources, the reasons for losing the race have been attributed to rampant corruption, poor revenue mobilization, failure to handle solid waste management and failing to comply with parameters laid down by the union government to qualify for the smart city project. Based on parameters, the performance of Bengaluru was not satisfactory vis-a-vis other smaller cities.
It is premature to say if Bengaluru will be included in the coming days. Unless parameters are changed, the government cannot recommend Bengaluru. Besides, Rs 100 crore for five years is not sufficient at all. A city like Bengaluru needs at least Rs 1 lakh crore to see physical change, sources said.
