City Pulse

12, September, Bengaluru - “One year is not enough for a BBMP Mayor to put his vision into action,” said former Mayor (2019-2020) Shri. Goutham Kumar.

He was one among the 12 Councillors, who shared their views on their tenure as a BBMP Corporator (2019-2020) which ended on September 10. The online roundtable was organised by Janaagaraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, as an opportunity for the Corporators to share their experiences, insights and their side of the story, during their tenure.

The 1.5 hour session, which had over 200 participants was moderated by Janaagraha Civic Participation Heads Srinivas Alavilli and Sapna Karim.

“Fifty thousand crores of BBMP property is still not with BBMP. We need to claim it back by appointing officials who monitor this,” stressed Shri. Goutham Kumar. Speaking about his term, he said “for a city like Bengaluru, there is a need to design a comprehensive development plan and a one-year term for a Mayor is not enough to implement the same.” He mooted for a minimum of 2.5 years.

“We need revenue for development. If we streamline our properties and put processes in order and collect taxes in a seamless manner, BBMP has the potential to raise Rs 5000 crore of property tax. We have an inflated budget of Rs 10,000 crore with only Rs 3000 crore income,” said Former Tax and Finance Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Shankara Matta Shri. Shivaraju.

Meanwhile, Smt. Shilpa Abhilash who served as the Corporator of New Thippasandra said that the fund disbursement to corporators is not proportionate. “Some get more funds, but the first time Corporators need to fight for grants. All Corporators need to be allocated funds equally, only then the overall development of the city is possible,” she said. Smt. Abhilash, also highlighted the need to reduce the processes. “When the files travel across tables, our precious time is lost,” she said and added there is a need to organize more meetings like Namma Nayakaru.

Smt. Swetha Vijaykumar who served as the Corporator of Doddanekundi, mooted for efficient working of Ward Committees calling it a ‘support system for citizens’. She also stressed that the civic body should provide timely assistance to Corporators so that it can aid their efforts.

“The COVID issue was very challenging for us. If we need to work effectively, we need all departments to work well with more support from the legal department,” said former Appeal Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Domlur Shri. CR Lakshminarayanan.

Former Mayor (2018-19) Smt. Gangambike Mallikarjun spoke on the garbage issue in Bengaluru. Calling for a systematic approach to tackle garbage, she said the major challenge she faced is to get citizens to comply with the norms on effective garbage management.

She also spoke on the importance of strengthening ward committees and said in her ward, she identified local leaders in the neighbourhood who became members of the ward committee.

Former BBMP Opposition Leader and Corporator of Kacharkanahalli, Mr. Padmanabha Reddy highlighted the need for ward committees to be given additional powers and hence made effective not just in name but also in function. He also demanded that the councillors and Mayor be given powers as dictated by Article 243.

Shri. Abdul Wajid spoke on lack of coordination of agencies and highlighted the need for them to come together. “We are working in the interest of citizens of Bengaluru. We need to give simple solutions to the citizens. Our decision should be implemented on time,” he said.

“Public Works need to be streamlined under a central system. We need to consult experts so that the stormwater issues can be resolved. Houses are built in low lying areas and hence water fills in the houses but everyone blames BBMP. This is wrong,” said Shri. Mohan Kumar D, Former Public Works Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Nagarabhavi.

Smt. Mamatha Vasudev, said that as a Corporator of JP Park, her main focus was on improving livability in slums and also to solve the garbage issue.

Former Town Planning Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Vignana Nagara, Shri. S G Nagaraj said standing committees need to have more powers and more budget allocations. Only then they can effectively implement decisions and work towards the vision of the city.

Smt. Hanna Bhuvaneshwari, who served as Corporator of Maruthi Seva Nagara said she has 13 slum areas in her jurisdiction and she worked for the people living in them. “I believe in communicating and connecting with my citizens. Only then we can plan a holistic development approach,” she said.

Commenting on the programme, Janaagraha CEO Srikanth Viswanathan said, “Councillors across party lines are focused on two key aspects, one, need for greater powers and funds for BBMP Councillors and two, urgent need for BBMP administration to raise its own revenues through property tax and leveraging its real estate assets.  We Bengalureans must strengthen the hands of our BBMP Councillors and work with them as one team to increase powers, functions and funds for BBMP.” 

Councillors who attended the online ‘Namma Nayakaru Session’

• Goutham Kumar, Former Mayor and Corporator of Jogupalya


• Mamatha K B Vasudev, Former Accounts Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of J P Park


• Shilpa K S, Corporator, New Thippasandra


• Gangambike Mallikarjun, Former Mayor (2018-19) and Corporator of Jayanagara


• Hanna Bhuvaneshwari, Corporator of Maruthi Seva Nagara


• Abdul Wajid, BBMP Opposition Party Leader and Corporator of Manorayana Palya


• Padmanabha Reddy, Former BBMP Opposition Leader and Corporator of Kacharkanahalli


• Mohan Kumar D, Former Public Works Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Nagarabhavi.


• M Shivaraju, Former Tax and Finance Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Shankara Matta


• S G Nagaraj, Former Town Planning Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Vignana Nagara


• C R Lakshminarayan, Former Appeal Standing Committee Chairman and Corporator of Domlur


• Swetha Vijaykumar, Corporator of Doddanekundi 

JANAAGRAHA’S 20 YR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BBMP

2001             Ward Works                            65/100 wards, c.5,000 citizens

2002             P.R.O.O.F                                Quarterly Financial Review, over 3 years

2003             Ward Vision                            10 wards, c.3,000 citizens

2004             Ward Sabhas                          15 wards, monthly, over 3 years

2005             JnNURM                                 Ward Committees, Area Sabhas

2012             I Change My City                    www.ichangemycity.com, Swachhata

2015             My City My Budget                  Participatory Budgeting, 2015-19

2020             BL CARES                               Booth Level Covid-19 response

About Janaagraha: 

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is a non-profit trust in the Jana group co-founded by Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan in 2001. Janaagraha’s mission is to transform the quality of life in India’s cities and towns. It works with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance (what we call “City-Systems”).  

The “City-Systems” framework is a whole-of-systems approach to solving for India’s cities and comprises four distinct yet interdependent components: Urban Planning and Design (master plans, design standards for public utilities), Urban Capacities and Resources (municipal finance, municipal staffing and technology), Political Leadership (empowerment, legitimacy) and Transparency and Citizen Participation (public disclosures, citizen participation, service level guarantees and grievance redressal).