Bengaluru, 5 September

Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda held a meeting with all electe representatives from the Greater Bengaluru Area on Saturday to discuss the City’s development. 

Rajya Sabha MP Mansoor Ali Khan, MLAs Dinesh Gundu Rao, AC Srinivas, Manjula S, Munirathna and Gopalaiah, Byrathi Basavaraj, MLCs Govindraj and Nagaraj Yadav, MPs Dr CN Manjunath and Tejasvi Surya were present along with senior officials, including GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao.

Khan told reporters after the meeting that it was good that Byre Gowda had called for the meeting and added that a follow up meeting would take place soon.

“Issues regarding traffic management in Bangalore, garbage, road development, lake development, and the concerns of citizens were discussed,” Khan said, adding that citizen-related issues were discussed. 

Gundu Rao told reporters that the representatives requested Gowda to take action on removing illegal flex banners, “whether put up by political leaders, associations, or anyone else because they deface the City”.

“While I congratulate the government on this progress, execution on the ground is what matters most,” he added. 

Surya, a BJP MP, meanwhile, said that he questioned the transparency of finances. 

“Over the last three years, the state government, on various occasions, has said it has already spent Rs 5,500 crore to fix the City's potholes,” Surya said. “If you have already spent ₹5,500 crore to fix the city's potholes, the roads of the city must be shining and in the best of shape. Yet every single road is riddled with potholes. Where has this Rs 5,500 crore gone? Before you spend another Rs 8,000 crore, please give a white paper on where the earlier Rs 5,500 crore went.” 

Further, Surya said he raised questions about the progress of Metro’s Orange and Red Lines.