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Request for suggestions for inputs to CDP-2035

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murali772 - 19 June, 2012 | Bangalore | CDP | Masterplan | BDA | Planning | urban development | Citizen Reports

The following is the request sent out by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) to all Civil Society and RWA groups, across the city, with their having taken the initiative to set up a dialogue with the BDA and other government agencies involved in the process of forming the Comprehensive Development Plan (now termed CDP-2035) for the city. A back-grounder on the subject, and some discussions thereof, may be accessed here.

Dear Bengalurean,

Greetings from Namma Bengaluru Foundation.
 
BDA has sent out a public notice for Revision of Master Plan 2015 (check this) for which citizens can give inputs/suggestions in writing to BDA by July 7, 2012. This is a statutory requirement starting the process to define and guide how Bengaluru needs to develop till 2035. The document that will finally result from this exercise is Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2035.
 
We request all Bengalureans, resident welfare groups, NGOs, industry associations, social groups to take this opportunity to send their suggestions to BDA as soon as possible. In asking for citizen inputs ahead of the process to construct RMP 2035, BDA is being sensitive to the views of citizens. We welcome it and hope to catalyse citizens inputs for Master Plan 2035.
 
You could choose one of two ways to participate in this exercise:

  • Write directly to BDA to the Office of the Town Planning Section of Bangalore Development Authority, T. Chowdaiah Road, Kumarapark (West), Bangalore-560020.
  • You could consider copying us at Namma Bengaluru Foundation at # 3J, NA Chambers, 7th 'C' Main, 3rd Cross, 3rd Block, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034 or email copy to us at NBF@namma-Bengaluru.org. In our consolidated submission to BDA we will be referencing your inputs.
  • Write or email us directly at the above addresses of NBF – we will consolidate and send it across to BDA. Please ensure you give us your name, address and Organization name if applicable when you send us email or postal mail directly.

We request you not to miss this opportunity to voice your views to BDA. Together we can ensure that we all play a collaborative role in determining the destiny of Bangalore. We at NBF in consultation with interested, knowledgeable citizens have been articulating a few generic views about RMP 2035 with the BDA which we reiterate below:
 
RMP 2035 must emanate from a grounds up exercise involving citizens and agency stakeholders. Widespread public and inter agency consultations should be held throughout the process.

In phasing the activities leading to the final notification of RMP 2035, a visioning exercise about the future of Bangalore needs to be the starting point. All other activities must flow from the overarching vision and guiding principles for the development of Bengaluru city which is developed in a consultative manner.

For RMP 2035 to be successful, alignment across multiple government agencies is critical. For starters, the BMRDA regional plan and BDA RMP 2035 needs to be in sync and developed simultaneously. Secondly, the various civic agencies (BBMP, BWSSB, BESCOM, KPTCL, BMTC, BMRCL, DULT, RTO, Police, etc.) need to be an integral part of the emerging vision and more importantly, adhere to the guiding principles of RMP 2035 as they go about their plan implementation – we are essentially asking BDA and the State Government to ensure that this alignment happens between the agency plans and RMP 2035.

We advocate the setting up of a Bangalore Spatial Information Centre (BASIC). We need one agency that is the custodian of the base map for Bangalore and keeps it continuously updated. Other civic agencies can build application layers for their use around this base map. Spatial planning has to become an integral part of RMP 2035.

We need a ‘As is’ mapping of the current ground realities followed by thoughts about what the ‘Should be’ state of Bangalore. And RMP 2035 should set out a road map to get from ‘As is’ to ‘Should be’ that is achievable in practice. The ‘As is’ exercise would also help identify the deficits existing on the ground across planning districts and fixing them planning district by district should be part of the details of RMP 2035.

There is the issue of the 74th Constitutional amendment that requires planning to be the role of the locally elected local government (BBMP in our case). In principle, we believe this is the right way to go about it but there is a need for the State Government to enable the local government to play this role. Till this happens, we believe we ought to work with the existing structural arrangements in place – in this case it is to ensure that the RMP 2035 driven by the BDA is a robust document built with citizen and civic stakeholder inputs.
 
The time is short but this is only the beginning of the RMP 2035 process. Let us use this opportunity to get engaged by sending our views to the BDA.
 
Yours sincerely,  
Sudhakar Varanasi,
CEO, NBF

COMMENTS

Thanks Murali

silkboard - 25 June, 2012 - 09:42

Thanks Murali! Look fwd to some material or session to understand the utility and usage of CDP. If it really is followed, and examples can be provided, people will get some confidence in this CDP building process. I first need to know what CDP gives me, or else, how do I put in what should be covered?

Will add some inputs after some reading of existing material around.

visioning first

murali772 - 23 June, 2012 - 12:41

At a recent meeting of a group of Civil Society members with the new BDA Commissioner, a member suggested that firstly, the city has to spell out its vision - not in terms of just motherhood statements, but, in fairly specific terms.

Now, going by the fact that "we have only 18 four wheelers per 1,000 persons, which is much less compared to US (809) and Germany (554), we cannot be adopting the western road designs which are meant for homogeneous traffic (because almost everyone there is on a car). We have to cater to our local traffic which include pedestrians, cyclists, animal-driven carts and a large number of two wheelers using the same road as heavy motor vehicles" (check here for more on that). And, the question of aspiring to reach western levels of car usage does not arise at all, considering the size of our population.

In view of the above, it is crystal clear that we have to design our cities providing for primacy to public transport, and, alongwith it, for pedestrians and cyclists, and even NMV's. The roads of course need to be there for reaching goods, services, etc, and select runs of personalised forms of transport (cars, bikes, etc), but, for which privilege, the citizen will have to pay a much higher price.

Many cities in the world, notably Singapore, London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, etc have already adopted the above principles, in general. As such, once we too are agreed on them, we can also adopt some of their practices (like London's congestion charging, etc), based on which suits us best.

And, once we have decided on this kind of a vision for the city, as far as mobility is concerned, then it becomes the guiding principle for every facet of planning thereafter, from which no deviations are possible, unless it is changed by 75% of the voters in say a referendum of some sort.

This, in my opinion, is where we need to start from before we move on to the details.

PS: Yes, we have a serious problem wiith our public transport system in the city, and that can perhaps be addressed this way.

modal share targets

idontspam - 23 June, 2012 - 16:02

From a transportation perspective, I have said this somwhere else that modal share targets need to be defined and stated explicitly. 

Sorry NBF / BDA, but need a session

silkboard - 25 June, 2012 - 03:09

Citizen's interest levels in providing feedback on this document (assuming RMP-2035 is in the works) will go up if BDA can do the following please - a few open house sessions + a written FAQ to cover the following

  1. What exactly is a Master Plan
  2. How exactly is it used when "developing" Bangalore
  3. How does a citizen complain when the masterplan is violated
  4. Who does a citizen complain to - BDA all the time, or one of BBMP, BDA and BMRDA depending on the location?
  5. What punishments are given out to people (whoever that might be) if Masterplan is "violated"
  6. Examples of "adherance to published Masterplan", good cases, the bad ones where a punishment was handed out

Sorry NBF team (thanks for trying to play the filter for citizen feedback), and BDA. But please don't assume that

  • a) citizens understand what this Masterplan business is.
  • b) and those who do, have faith in a published masterplan being followed and enforced.

Most of us do NOT get both of above. Without educative sessions or FAQs (these must come directly from BDA, and not NBF, Janagraha or even Praja RAAG type groups), there is either not much point in providing feedback, or not much feedback will come.

Recommendations:

  1. Move out the July 7 deadline
  2. Hold at least 4 "education sessions", one each in North/South/East/West corners of Bangalore. Weekends please, unless you only want the retired folks to attend.
  3. Publish an FAQ which should incorporate most/reasonable questions gathred from these sessions.

And then lets get into soliciting feedback.

thanks,

SB aka Pranav

BDA endorsed FAQ will also do

silkboard - 25 June, 2012 - 03:38

To lessen the work load on BDA, perhaps citizen groups can join hands to publish and circulate FAQs on Masterplan / CDP. But BDA would have to publish a RAQ starter doc that we all can take in, re-format, de-jargonify etc.

I am posting a second comment in a row here because we MUST understand that not many get what a "Masterplan" is and how it is used. This fact must be recognized and taken seriously first before asking for feedback.

very true, SB

murali772 - 25 June, 2012 - 05:25

@ SB  -  Agree fully with what you have stated. So, for whatever it's worth, I shall send out an official letter to BDA (by regd post as well as e-mail), accordingly.

But, either way, we can go on adding, whatever each of us thinks should be covered by the CDP, here, I guess.

Namma Railu devpt too should be covered by CDP

murali772 - 25 June, 2012 - 13:27

Excerpts from RITES report on Commuter Rail System (CRS - Namma Railu) for Bengaluru.

A commuter should be able to travel a distance of about 70 Km (or even 100Km) in about an hour so that areas like Hosur, Tumkur, Mandya, Bangarapet etc get developed fast and pressure on main hub Bangalore shall be eased. Namma Metro, Mono Rail, High Speed Rail to BIAL, rejuvenated BMTCservices etc cannot really provide this type of solution. They only provide some relief in a limited extent to very highly urbanised Bangalore area. Commuter rail has got all wherewithals to effectively provide solution to this problem. Any commuter transport plan (rather any transport plan) shall be incomplete, if it does not integrate rail system into it apart from other modes.

In case of roadways, KSRTC’s mandate is for long distance bus services. It cannot cater for commuter traffic. Another entity BMTC exists for this purpose. Similar way, IR cannot be expected to take care of the commuter rail services. Its mandate is long distance travel and not urban transport. Therefore, to tap the full potential of Railway network and to effectively integraterail network into commuter system of Bangalore, Government of Karnataka has to take the lead (rather, an extra lead).

Structure of Indian Railways is very complex and it needs a great deal of time and energy to push through the issue. CRS development is not a one time activity. It is a continuous process. For metro rail, there is an entity BMRCL. For roads, there is BMTC. Similarly, for commuter rail, an exclusive entity BCRCL (Bangalore Commuter RailCorporation Ltd) should come into existence. Then only CRS will get upgraded continuously in tune with demand.

The full report may be accessed here.

Now, I would like to think that the CDP-2035 should cover the "Namma Railu" development too, apart from Namma Metro, BMTC, KSRTC, and all other public transport systems. Only then do they qualify to become "Namma". Today, they are all 'avara-avara', nowhere close to Namma.

letters sent to BDA

murali772 - 5 July, 2012 - 10:51

Two letters addressed by me (on behalf of PRAJA-RAAG, and sent by regd post), and another addressed by Consumer Care Society, Banashankari 2nd stage, to Member, Town Planning, BDA, have been added as attachments to the original blog, today.

Will also send letter to BDA

Sanjeev - 5 July, 2012 - 11:52

@Murali,

Good work done to remid the BDA on commuter rail report by RITES.

Similar letter,  I will also write to  BDA  to include in all its future plans of twon planning.

sanjeev

Mysore forging ahead, while our plans put on the back-burner

murali772 - 17 August, 2012 - 08:49

Addressing the public at en exhibition organized by MUDA about the plan, commissioner said the main aim of the MUDA is to protect and extend the vision of then Maharajas of Mysore, particularly Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar who made Mysore the second city in the country to establish a city improvement trust board to develop city in a planned manner and prevent haphazard growth of the city. He said CDP has been prepared scientifically based on satellite images by a private company from Ahmadabad.

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

Mysore seems to be forging ahead, while Bangalore's appear to be on the back-burner, with the agency in-charge, viz BDA, having only a part-time Commissioner, presently.

Praja to buy/host the Mysore CDP?

srinidhi - 18 August, 2012 - 09:58

"One can buy the CDs of this plan by paying Rs 2000" he said and added : Public replies to the plan will help the MUDA in altering, changing and modifying the plan to augur well with the city's systematic growth .

Can praja buy this CD and put it up for discussion on the site?...all Mysore folks will get a portal to discuss their CDP

good idea Sri

silkboard - 18 August, 2012 - 10:22

Only thing is, if they are 'selling' it, may not like us putting up on our site.

public participation..

srinidhi - 18 August, 2012 - 10:33

guess the whole idea to make it available to public was to encourage their participation..so dont think they will have objections to putting it up on praja

the cost for the CD looks like are the incidentals and nothing much..

However guess this can be discussed with the authorities to get their buy in..

Calling all Mysore folks interested..

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