Kasavanahalli Development Forum(KDF) hosted a meeting of many Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and forums that represent more than 10,000+ citizens across Bellandur and passed a ‘Bellandur Development Resolution 2018′ to address the critical infrastructure issues in the ward.

In Bellandur, the IT hub/SEZ ORR zone alone contributes to ~12% of IT Services GDP for the country, and 30% of Karnataka’s IT Revenues. In addition, Bellandur is one of the highest contributors of tax to BBMP with no proportional investment coming back in infrastructure. Citizens’ right to life is being challenged, with no basic amenities of water, drainage, road infrastructure, public transport connectivity. The ward has been completely neglected by consecutive governments and elected representatives over past decade.

Our resolutions are here:

[embeddoc url=”https://citizenmatters.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/BellandurInfrastructureResolution_20Jun2018-1.pdf” download=”all”]

Key demands:

1. Cauvery water, under-ground drainage works need to be expedited with close monitoring by Bangalore Development Minister. Today it lacks coordination and timeline-driven approach across departments. We need the plan and the budget to include road restoration work once the digging works get completed.

2. Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) has to work with citizens and experts on an integrated transport plan to holistically address connectivity of key hubs with last mile connect to inner areas.

a. Expedite metro line from BTM Silkboard to KR Puram and include Iblur to Carmelaram line in Phase 2C. Bellandur roads are already overloaded and Iblur-Carmelaram line for Phase 3 cant wait.

b. We request a Hub-and-Spoke model implementation by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Company (BMTC) to make it a win-win for both citizens and BMTC, by increasing BMTC’s productivity and efficiency. Suburban railway connection to all IT hubs has not progressed as expected. Government of Karnataka (GoK), Government of India (GoI) should sort out the infrastructure blockers to enable this, as it is force multiplier for transit with shortened commute times.

c. Legislate for car-pooling, cycling, congestion tax to reduce vehicles, promote alternate commute options.

3. We have identified 61 kms of road infrastructure development, key junction upgrades that include Panathur Road, Sarjapur Road, Gunjur road, Kasavanahalli Road, Harlur Road, Kanneli-Gattahalli Road, Halanayakanahalli and sub-roads to offload traffic gridlocks of 90-100 PCUs. Pragmatic land acquisition policy and budget are needed for implementation.

4. Roadside drain infrastructure is missing for more than 100 kms with pedestrian infrastructure non-existent. We request the government to cover the drains with gradients in 40 kms of identified areas and an entire walking infrastructure through ‘Bellandur Walks’ programme to enable a healthy Bellandur.

5. Lake infrastructure that includes identification, safeguarding of lakes, adding STP capacity, treatment of storm water drains lake inlets, wetland development, treatment of phosphates and nitrates in water is completely missing. Ad-hoc repealing of Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Act (KLCDA), passing Tank Development Act without constituting the Expert Committee from 2016 is retrograde. This needs a holistic fix, else we end up denying water to our next generation.

6. Bellandur has turned into garbage capital in Bengaluru. Now that the BBMP micro-plan has been approved, the implementation needs to happen with right intent, detailing and in coordination with citizen audit, to mitigate the current situation. There are pending issues like garbage management infrastructure for Dry Waste Collection Centre (DWCC), construction debris, e-waste management etc, which need to be expedited soon.

We appeal and request our government of the day, to act with intent i.e. both in the state and the centre. We urge the elected representatives to get back with an Integrated Action Plan(IAP) on the above requests and execution timelines by the end of August 2018. In absence of such action plan, we will consider the lack of response as denial of right to life as per Article 21 of the constitution and will unitedly pursue legal steps on all concerned. In addition, we will also initiate a ward level movement and protest rally for the implementation of the requests.

Note: This pressnote was shared in Kasavanahalli Development Forum and republished here with minimal edits.