Dam at Mekedatu, splitting of Majestic bus stand into four proposed
From a rebate in property tax for adopting rainwater harvesting to augmenting Bangalore’s drinking water needs to extending the night life in the City to 1 am, the BJP’s ‘Road map for Bangalore 2013-18’ makes big promises for the citizens of the State capital, if voted for a second term.
The document released by BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka on Thursday promises to extend Bangalore’s cinderella hours beyond midnight.
Now, the night life in the City comes to a halt at 11:30 pm, the deadline for clubs, restaurants, eateries and food joints to down their shutters. Adopting a liberal approach, the BJP promises to allow hotels to remain open till 1 am and bars till midnight.
Most of the promises in the document are extensions or a repeat of those made during the 2008 Assembly polls. However, there are some new gems. The party has promised to look into the feasibility of constructing a dam at Mekedatu to augment Bangalore’s drinking water requirements. An expert committee would be constituted to look into the viability of the proposal.
Another initiative is to split the present KSRTC bus station at Majestic into four and relocate them to Tumkur Road, Bellary Road, Hosur Road and Kanakapura Road.
The BJP has also promised a comprehensive law exclusively for the management of the BBMP by bringing the civic body under a single agency, covering all service providers like water supply, transport, housing, power and developmental activities.
The party had made the promise in 2008, but failed to implement it. Ananth Kumar and Ashoka said the new legislation could not be passed as the BBMP Council had to be constituted in 2010. The law could become a reality immediately after the completion of the tenure of the BBMP Council (2015). It has also promised to introduce a system of direct election of Mayor.
Another promise is to extend the Metro line to Bangalore International Airport and also put in place a commuter rail service for the City. It also promises to develop 50 parking lots in the City under public-private partnership model.
Kumar blamed the UPA government for the deliberate delay when sanctioning projects which need its clearance.
Bangalore North MP D B Chandre Gowda accused Governor H R Bhardwaj of crossing his constitutional limits by not giving assent to the legislation to regularise houses built on revenue land (Akrama-Sakrama scheme).
“He cannot sit on a piece of legislation passed by the legislature. He should either clear it or send it to the President,” Gowda said.
