Bengalureans want well-lit streets, better footpaths: BBMP

Bengaluru: In a survey performed by BBMP before its budget, residents of Bengaluru expressed a need for better roads, street lights, and foot paths. Participants in the My City My Budget campaign survey from 243 wards in eight zones of Bengaluru were selected by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.

The 'MyCity MyBudget Campaign' is an annual citywide participatory budgeting initiative to include the opinions of the public in the budgeting process. The Bengaluru Ward Samiti Balaga and RWAs have joined forces with the BBMP to launch the campaign, which is supported by Janaagraha.

The BBMP Special Commissioner (Finance) launched the seventh edition of the MyCityMyBudget (MCMB) Campaign on November 24, 2022, in order to solicit feedback at the micro-ward level and to emphasise public participation in the budget-making process. The campaign's main objective this year was to collect citizen priorities for bettering the infrastructure and quality of roads, footpaths, street lights, storm water drains, solid waste management (SWM), and rainwater harvesting.

Within a 31-day period, the MCMB 2023-24 Campaign received over 16,261 inputs from the 243 wards located across the 8 zones of Bengaluru.

16,261 people participated in the survey, according to BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, and 67% of them urged that the civic body give priority to maintaining road infrastructure, footpaths, and drains.

According to data provided by the BBMP, residents prioritised maintaining footpaths, roads, and drains. According to the BBMP, voters have prioritised fixing over 1,490 km of current roads, over 470 km of new pathways, and over 950 km of existing footpaths when it comes to road infrastructure. By asking for appropriate streetlights to be installed on more than 240 kilometres of our streets, the citizens reaffirmed the need for safer streets.

A policy that will aid in environmental cleanup and the development of climate resilience, according to Girinath, has been demanded by the public as a result of the city's increasing pollution levels.

Mahadevapura, Yelahanka, and Dasarahalli residents who participated in the survey also called for the expansion of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) infrastructure. The Inner Wards (West, South, and East Zones) accounted for 56% of the inputs collected, while the Outer Zones (Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, Raja Rajeshwari Nagara, and Yelahanka) made up the remaining 44%.

It is important for the BBMP to include Participatory Budgeting Inputs in Budget Book 2022–24 since they are the participatory budgeting enablers. For the use, implementation, and documentation of the ward, provide a tracking mechanism and standard operating procedure. Make the budget document more user-friendly by simplifying it.