Bengaluru, 3 July

Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday directed civic departments to coordinate infrastructure planning and cut public disruption amid the ongoing “safe footpath” campaign in the City, where GBA authorities are clearing out alleged encroachments and street vendors. 

Chairing the GBA Act executive committee's second meeting, Gowda gathered agency heads BWSSB, BESCOM, BMTC, BMRCL, BDA, K-RIDE, Traffic Police and Fire Services to institutionalise coordinated planning, citing decades of duplication and wasted funds from siloed work.  He said the objective is to replace silo-based functioning with collaborative governance, where departments work together in the larger public interest rather than in isolation.

One of the major decisions taken during the meeting was the development of a unified GIS-based digital platform that would integrate information relating to roads, road history, utilities, streetlights and ongoing infrastructure works across departments. Citizens can report civic issues such as potholes there.

CM DK Shivakumar said a new footpath policy would ensure clear pedestrian access, with fines up to Rs 1 lakh for illegal flex banners and designated vending zones. "We must fix specific places for vendors and create an opportunity to keep footpaths clean for citizens to walk. For the business of one person, the entire footpath becomes unusable and people are forced to walk on the road”.