GBA improves coordination on big projects, but everyday civic issues persist

If a positive outcome of the formation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has to be picked, top-level coordination between various parastatals working in Bengaluru stands first, although there is significant scope for improvement in inter-departmental coordination down the chain.According to GBA sources, top-level meetings have been frequent, which has particularly helped expedite long-delayed civic works and infrastructure projects. However, problems faced by people on a daily basis, such as garbage blackspots, waste collection, potholes, and citizen services persist.Big projects take offFor instance, in the last year, work on three major underpasses—Wind Tunnel Junction, Okalipuram, and Kateerava Studio underpasses — has finally started. Of the three, the Wind Tunnel and Okalipuram underpasses were significantly delayed owing to coordination issues.An officer overseeing its implementation told The Hindu that after the corporations were formed, top officials of the central city corporations and the BTP worked on a mutually acceptable working timeframe and began the work. Such meetings were previously impossible because there was no one mediating the talks.However, coordination between lower-rank officials for smaller works is still an issue. For example, when Panathur’s white-topping works were ongoing, there was prolonged correspondence between the engineers of the East Corporation and the traffic police over the responsibility of enforcing the no-entry restriction for vehicles, and there was a major delay in completing the works. Similarly, after M.G. Road was asphalted after decades, the BWSSB dug it up again for a small leak issue, which was completely avoidable.More from the groundIn the city, ₹3,000 crore worth of white-topping works have been approved and are at the implementation stage, an outcome of the faster movement of files. However, implementation gaps have left citizens toiling in traffic.A senior traffic police officer pointed out how uncoordinated civic works, along with poor planning, at the lower Agram Road white-topping site choked a key link to central Bengaluru. However, the issue was addressed after a week through on-site changes following meetings.“The problem is when a work is commissioned, there is communication between all departments, but during execution, there is a gap in terms of forming a loop with all the parastatals,” he said.Garbage issueWhat has remained unchanged despite multiple meetings is solid waste management. Blackspot clearances, whose responsibility rests with the corporations, depend on Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd. (BSWML) improving the waste collection system so that the cleared blackspot does not reappear. However, according to a corporation Commissioner, the biggest coordination issue is regarding waste collection.“Despite sustained efforts to eliminate blackspots, they keep reappearing. One of the reasons for which is lack of coordination. Although such discussion unfolds at the top level, it doesn’t trickle down to ground-level workers, which results in failure to coordinate,” said a corporation Commissioner.This issue also prompted the Commissioners to demand the powers of waste collection for themselves so that the coordination issue is eliminated.Citizens’ experienceCitizens also observed ground-level execution issues. Sujith Cariappa of the Social Amenities Association, HAL IInd Stage, pointed out that GBA Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao held grievance meetings at corporation offices where he noted that certain issues could be solved immediately, but nothing happened on the ground.“He did hear our grievance and assured us speedy solution. But on the ground, engineers ignored it because there was no follow-up, and everyone moved on to the next issue. Intra-department communication and handling tasks is still a problem,” he pointed out.However, corporation officials attribute this issue to a shortage of staff. “Over the last year, multiple drives began, and there was a shortage of hands to implement everything. Once the recruitment happens, the system will see substantial improvement,” an engineer said.Top officials claim good coordinationKarthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), pointed out that the GBA system has made it easier to communicate between officials and address minor issues.“For example, earlier, if a work was being delayed, a DCP-rank officer had to speak to the BBMP Commissioner, who was of a higher rank, because the Commissioner held all the powers. Now, the Commissioners are also batchmates of DCPs in the city, which has made communication easy,” he said.Mr. Rao stressed that certain micro-level issues are being handled well at the corporation level. A corporation Commissioner said that the system is new and initial misunderstandings are common. “There are definitely loopholes, but they will be solved because there is more ground-level work unfolding and that needs constant communication, which will fix the current gaps,” he said.(This is the fourth in a series of reports evaluating the restructuring of Bengaluru governance with the GBA and five corporations, a year after the reform.)