Bengaluru draft master plan gets 9,500 suggestions; 6,000 in a day

BENGALURU: There’s been a sudden spike in the number of objections and suggestions filed by Bengalureans to the Draft Revised Master Plan 2031, a heartening indication that more citizens want to have a say in what their city should look like in the future.
The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) received more than 9,500 suggestions/objections, around 6,000 on Monday alone. The BDA headquarters in Kumara Park West was flooded with letters, couriers and emails.BDA officials expect the numbers to surge on Tuesday, the last date for the public to file their views.
This surge in public opinion comes after thousands of people rallied against the proposal to build a steel flyover along Ballari Road in late 2016, prompting the state government to scrap the project in 2017.
“On Monday alone, we received around 6,000 suggestions/objections, taking the total number to 9,500. We had to deploy extra staff to sort them. This is a record of sorts when it comes to participation in a master plan exercise. A similar exercise while preparing Master Plan 2015 received around 4,000 suggestions/ objections,” said a senior official from the town planning wing of the BDA, which is overseeing the exercise.
Officials in the BDA said there was a long queue in front of BDA complex office in Banashankari 2nd Stage, the only place other than the BDA headquarters where suggestions/objections are being accepted in person. “About 700 people physically submitted their applications in Banashankari on Monday,” the official said.
BDA had published the draft master plan on November 25, 2017, and given time till January 23, 2018, to file suggestions and objections. A senior BDA official said, “We’re open to receiving suggestions till 5.30pm on Tuesday,” he added.
The draft master plan is available on the authority’s website, www.bdabangalore-.org and is displayed at the BDA complex, Banashankari 2nd Stage. Suggestions/ objections submitted to the BDA head office are also being taken into account.
Urban expert V Ravichandar said cartographic errors that have crept into master plan documents, including cases of missing streets and roads on lake have made residents highlight them through objections/suggestions.

‘File report on each objection’
While such errors could have been avoided, the reason for increased participation could also be because people now realize that planning problems pertaining to things like land use and floor area ratio will affect their lives in the long run. There is also an increased participation by various citizen groups (like the Heritage Beku campaign) and resident welfare associations whose members have come forward to give their views,” he added.
Ravichandar also said the BDA should file an action taken report on each objection “The authority should also form a committee to review the suggestions.” he added.