Bengaluru: It is difficult to analyse the efficacy of a budget when a mere laundry list of allocations is given without the corresponding analysis of what has changed in terms of percentage allocation to various sectors when compared to the previous years. Also, budgets are supposed to spell out what is the vision and what are the outcomes in performance and qualitative terms that one is hoping to achieve. But one does not “see the woods because of the trees”. It would be more helpful if the CM concentrated on these aspects in his budget speech instead of merely reading out the laundry list.
As far as the budget for Bengaluru is concerned, it is mainly about the physical infrastructure for roads, footpaths, etc., while the needs for the social infrastructure for anganwadis, primary health care, primary schools, etc., are expected to be fulfilled by the respective state government departments for these. One does not know how much of the budgets of these state government departments is going to be spent for Bengaluru which makes it difficult to analyse how much of the budget is going for physical infrastructure as against social infrastructure in Bengaluru, which would be a true measure of the ‘development’ that will happen.
A comprehensive water management system, encompassing rain-water, storm-water, lakes and ground water to make life in Bengaluru sustainable and prevent the city from dying within the next five years is the need of the hour. But no visionary thinking in this direction is visible in the budget.
The budget says that one lakh houses will be built for the urban poor in Bengaluru. In the absence of a land bank and money being set aside for acquiring land for the purpose, that the city will become slum-free will remain a dream.
Given the pathetic state of the infrastructure for collecting garbage, and the lack of decentralised processing facilities for it, it is tragic that there is nothing in the budget about making Bengaluru garbage-free. The problem of traffic congestion and garbage could have been simultaneously solved by developing bio-methanation plants for wet waste in all the bus depots of BMTC and running small feeder vehicles with the bio-gas to provide last-mile connectivity. Let alone a feeder system, only the interest on the cost of 3,000 buses is going to be supported by the state government. BMTC fares are also not going to be halved.
An expensive Metro line to the airport and other stretches is being proposed while nothing is said about a train link to the airport on existing tracks. Nor is there any talk of a Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) anywhere. The only sunshine is that no money seems to have been allocated for the Rs.25,000 crore elevated corridor project for private vehicles.
