By 2018, Bengaluru will be the smartest city in the country: KJ George
When taking over as Bengaluru Development Minister, Congress veteran, K. J. George had his task cut out with its roads in badly need of repair, its streets filled with garbage and mass transport hard to come by. But since then 35 kms of the 42 km Namma Metro stretch has been completed and was launched by President Pranab Mukherhjee last week. And now the government seems set on bringing futuristic podcars to the city to provide people a different kind of transport in addition to the mono rail and suburban rail planned for it. In the first phase the podcars will connect Byappanahalli Metro station and the Whitefield Railway station, reveals the Minister. He also spoke of the government's plans to name a Metro terminus after Kempegowda, the 16th century chieftain and founder of Bengaluru in an interview with Deccan Chronicle in the run up to the Kempegowda Jayanthi celebrations on June 27
Q: How did the government suddenly wake up and decide to hold the Kempegowda Jayanti celebrations?
KJG: (Smiling) It is wrong to say that we have woken up . The fest was limited to Bengaluru alone and now with Chief Minister Siddarmaiah taking the lead, we have decided to celebrate it on a grander scale to tell people how good at planning our forefathers were. This is an occasion to look into our own failures. I agree that we as planners and city administrators have failed our forefathers like Kempegowda, who did not want Bengaluru to grow beyond a point. He was an environmentalist and a protector of our rich heritage and culture. I humbly concede that none of us are as good planners as Kemplegowda and this is why Bengaluru is facing problems. No one thought that Bengaluru would grow into an internationally acknowledged city. We could have developed it into a model city. But in the absence of proper planning for over two decades, the city has grown to be chaotic and now we have to focus on undoing the damage of several decades. With the completion of the Namma Metro first phase, we must shift our focus to providing on-demand origin-to-destination travel on a network of dedicated guideways.
Q: Can you explain what you mean.
KJG: The state government has invited expression of interest to build podcars, which will provide on demand origin-to-destination travel on a network of dedicated guideways. Three companies have already shown interest in carrying out the project on an experimental basis. In the first phase we are planning to connect Byappanahalli Metro station and the Whitefield Railway station with this facility. This is in addition to the Mono Rail and Suburban rail that have been envisaged for the city.
Q: Over a period the city has lost a large number of trees to infrastructure upgradation and rapid industrialisation. How will you restore Bengaluru's lost greenery?
KJG: My aim is win people's hearts. This time we have roped in many NGOs and techies to carry forward the message of green Bengaluru. The idea is to plant as many as one crore saplings by the year end. Besides this, the state has taken steps to refill quarries with garbage and debris so that they can be converted into tree parks and green parks over a period of time.
Q: What about the Greater Bengaluru project? Where does it stand today?
KJG: We have already decided that Bidadi and its surroundings will be a part of the Greater Bengaluru project. This is where the next development boom will take place as many industrial layouts have come up here. We plan to develop Bidadi as the next hub under the Greater Bengaluru project.
Q: There are complaints about neglect of monuments built by Kempegowda. How are you going to address them?
KJG: We have already prepared a blueprint to protect monuments built by this great visionary and are working with the archaeological department to preserve them. We will also name a Metro terminus after him like we have with the airport. Be it by air or land, those who come to Bengaluru will know who Kempegowda was.
Q: What is your message to Bengalureans worldwide?
KJG: It's nothing special. Bengaluru is a big brand in itself. The only appeal I have is that we should make Bengaluru a vibrant city by working together. Let us not spoil its brand name by listening to rumours and uphold our values.
Smart cards issued for cashless bus rides:
BMTC launched their new hi-tech buses, smart cards and a spanking new Foot Over Bridge, in co-ordination with the inauguration of Namma Metro Phase-1 on June 17. The event was attended by CM Siddaramaiah, Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy and others. Over 1500 buses out of the 3000 new buses have been paid for by the state. According to statistics BMTC buses carry 52 lakh Bengalureans on a daily basis.
These include 4 kinds of buses, having variety of features like Bus ramp, dedicated seat for the disabled, emergency switch, request stop switches, Vehicle Health Monitoring systems and more. As for the much delayed Smart Cards brought about in collaboration with Axis Bank, 4 Lakh discounted passes smart cards have been distributed to students. The card roll out was done in phases starting with the student/college passes, E-Purse, and monthly passes. Smart cards are being issued from BMTC counters and select Bangalore One counters.
BMTC’s Smart Card is helping in carrying out cashless transactions to purchase tickets and passes. A new method called Open Loop Smart Card based fare collection system‘s has been implemented. BMTC claims to be the first among the country’s city transport organizations to have introduced the smart card. It will help in supporting an interoperable multi modal transit ecosystem which is the need of the hour in the city. These cards are basically EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) enabled cards and can be used as an E-Purse. BMTC with its partner Axis Bank in association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have together developed these RuPay contactless enabled Smart Card based fare collection system.
Commute on the fast lane: Metro makes it happen!
For Bengalureans, it is a dream come true. The gleaming namma Metro is the new definition marker for the IT city. From East to West and from North to South, the purple Green Lines run, connecting the ends of the Namma Metro Namma Metro’s East-West corridor - 18.10 km long, stars from Baiyappanahalli in the East and terminating at Mysore Road terminal in the West and the 24.20 km North-South corridor begins at Nagasandra in the North and terminates at Puttenahalli in the South. It is the first Metro project in India commissioned with 750V DC Third Rail on Standard Gauge.
The two corridors. Purple and Green intersect at Kempegowda station which is a two level interchange station. A commuter who intends to travel from a station in one line (say Trinity in Purple line) to a station in another line (say Peenya in Green line) will have to change the train at Kempegowda station without coming out of the paid area. The commuter can buy a single token for the complete journey.
On July 21, The Purple and Green Lines of Namma Metro carried more than 3 lakh passengers. Surely, by 2025 when the city’s population is expect to cross the 12 million mark, we will have Namma Metro carrying at least two million passengers. With Namma Metro, many civic problems are solved. The gleaming, air-conditioned coaches, which arrive every five minutes, make commuting a pleasure. For those living on the edge of the city, commuting distances of 30 kilometres that would take two hours at the least during peak hours, will now be about 40 minutes or less.
The silently cruising beauties of Namma Metro add to the beauty of Bengaluru, and like all world class cities, Bengaluru now a a world class Metro. Its gleaming stations are the new definition of Bengaluru. Soon, they will become cultural centres, as the MG Road Metro station has already done, hosting cultural groups and events. It has now become the new ‘adda’ of the cultural cognoscenti of the city.
BWSSB to supply water to 110 villages in 2 yrs:
The city, which has seen its population grow steadily over the years, depends mainly on the Cauvery water to satisfy its needs now that its lakes don’t serve the purpose they once used to. While borewells continue to supplement Bengaluru’s needs, its groundwater table is falling, making it essential for it to conserve water, especially with the Cauvery basin dependant on the vagaries of the monsoon. Besides trying to plug leaks in its distribution network and replace old, rusted pipelines, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is opting for several schemes to help the people with their water supply.
Unaccounted for Water:
The project to save Unaccounted For Water lost in the distribution network was launched in 2013 at a cost of Rs 700 crore. Its aim was to reduce the UFW percentage from 46 to 16 , but to date only 80 MLD is being saved every day. In terms of percentage the UFW has fallen from 46 to merely 42. With the BWSSB supplying 1350 MLD to the city, the water conserved through the UFW project will be supplied to 12 lakh people of the 110 villages added to BBMP’s jurisdiction.
Drinking water for 110 villages:
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently launched the much awaited drinking water project for the 110 villages on the city’s outskirts. Estimated to cost Rs 5,052 crore, the project will benefit the 12 lakh people of the five zones of Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Dasarahalli and Byatarayapura. Once completed, 10 TMC of water will be provided to these villages under the Cauvery V Stage in addition to the water saved through the Unaccounted for Water project. The BWSSB hopes to complete this ambitious project in 24 months
STPs for apartments:
The BWSSB has made it mandatory for apartments with 20 units that have come up after February 2016 to install Sewage Treatment Plants. All existing apartments with 50 and more residential units/buildings measuring 5,000 square meters and above, must also install STPs and dual-piping systems. The same rule applies to existing commercial buildings on sites measuring 2,000 sq meters and above.
AMRUT scheme:
Under the AMRUT scheme, the sewage treatment capacity of the city is being increased from 721 million litres to 1576 million litres at a cost of '1209 crore. While five sewage treatment plants of 75 MLD capacity are being built under the scheme, construction of four 440 MLD sewage treatment will be taken up under the mega city project.
Rainwater Harvesting:
The BWSSB has made rainwater harvesting for existing buildings on sites measuring 60 x 40 ft and new constructions on sites measuring 30 x 40 ft a must. The rule applies to apartment complexes too. Of the 1,39,049 properties that are supposed to harvest rainwater and use it either to recharge groundwater, use it for gardening, flushing toilet, wash cars etc, over 72,000 properties have complied to the rule and have RWH structures in place.
