Urban planner and director of Envirodesigners Pvt Ltd, Ulhas Rane said that poor urban planning and the lack of political will could endanger the city.
Urban planner and director of Envirodesigners Pvt Ltd, Ulhas Rane, in an interview with DNA, said that poor urban planning and the lack of political will could endanger the city. He spoke of how, to many leaders, Bangalore alone is seen to comprise the whole of the state.
How would you rate Bangalore as a city?
These days, scientific surveys are carried out, considering the different criteria that go into making a city attractive, and cities across the world are ranked. Such things as infrastructure facilities and the city’s micro-environment are considered. Bangalore is still considered a green city, and quite pleasant. However, there are problems of planning and these threaten to make the city barren and ugly.
How could we save the city?
The need of the hour is a holistic strategy for city planning, which is ecologically sensitive. The root cause of the deterioration of the city is the pressure of population. Poor people from neighbouring areas are drawn to the city’s greater job opportunities. Economic development of at least one town in every district of the state would take care of that problem. We need greater development of satellite towns too.
What hurdles does the move for greater decentralisation face, in Bangalore?
For decision-makers here, Bangalore stands for the whole of Karnataka. If the government develops five more towns in the state, migration could be greatly reduced. Right now, the plans focus on Bangalore, which gets the lion’s share of planning attention.
What is the role of civic agencies?
Decentralisation is not possible without close coordination between planning authorities at the national, state, district, city and village level. Even though the city has great potential, its environment and ecology are in danger. A number of lakes have been encroached. The Bangalore Development Authority ought to plan the development of the city in such a manner that lakes and breathing spaces are preserved.
Is there a design for optimum usage of space in urban centres?
The national biodiversity strategic action plan envisages that a third of the space in the country should comprise the natural eco system; another third should be green and open areas, and only a third of the space should be used for human settlement. In the city level, 10% of the space should have forest cover, 15% should have green cover, and 25% of the space could be taken up for the development of civic infrastructure.
Your message for policy makers?
Schemes like Akrama Sakrama, making building irregularities legal, need a re-look.
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