Bengaluru: The maiden Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) meeting was held at the Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday, several months after it was formed. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was unanimously elected as the chairman, but no major decision was taken on Wednesday.
After the committee meeting Mr. Siddaramaiah told reporters that Chairman of the committee has been elected unopposed and it was decided that the committee must meet frequently, at least quarterly. The agenda of the first meeting was to discuss on the staff, office and budget for the committee. Temporarily it will function at BDA head office as the BDA commissioner also happens to be member secretary of the committee.
BTM Layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy said that issues like office and staff were decided. One of the suggestions was that MPC must get one per cent of the revenue of the BBMP and BDA. However, it is not finalised yet. The suggestions and plans from various groups including recently constituted vision group – Bengaluru Blueprint Action Group (BBAG) will be placed before the MPC, he said.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar suggested that BMRDA region should be brought under the MPC purview for better planning, to which Mr Siddaramaiah responded positively. Although the committee comprises 88 members, only 30 have voting power. Already 28 members have been selected and only two members of ZP, TP or Gram Panchayat have to be nominated, he said. One town planning expert and economic expert must be added, he suggested.
