The NDA government’s ambitious plan of creating 100 smart cities received some flak, when non-BJP run state capitals weren’t included in the initial list. Putting rumours to rest, the Ministry of Urban Development has recently agreed to include 7 more state capitals to the list and India’s IT capital – Bengaluru, is in the race.

Bengaluru will be the 7th city from the state of Karnataka with the state govt having already nominated Hubbali-Dharwad, Belagavi, Davangere, Tumakuru, Shivamogga and Mangaluru for the competition. All the city now needs to do is submit a detailed plan for its urban clusters to the central government to make it to the next round of the competition. The plan will include inputs from different civic bodies and also suggestions from the newly formed Bangalore Blueprint Action Group (BBPAG) as well as civic-minded citizens.

Work On To Transform Bengaluru

Some would say Bengaluru has the edge above the rest as the state capital, some may even argue that Bengaluru is already a smart city with the state govt spending over 500 Crores for the city’s development. But at the core of it, the city still grapples with basic issues like water shortage, sanitation and garbage disposal with the most crippling being the inefficient governing system.

@preetham029 No roads, poor air, bad transport, water shortage, rising temperature & rampant construction. #Bangalore #Nomorethegardencity

— Ratti Bhalla (@rattibhalla) May 3, 2016

The city administrators have already begun work, hoping that their efforts will help Bengaluru inch closer towards the finishing line in the smart city race. The recently launched an intelligent transport system hopes to help commuters keep track of bus routes and even track how long it will be before a bus reaches their stop. The extension of phase 1 of the Namma Metro is also operational and work on phase 2 has also taken off, something that is sure to help end the infamous traffic jams that the Bengalureans complain about every day.

Makes more sense to stay at home & start late instead of spending time on roads in this traffic mess, noise & Monday mg chaos! Oh! Bangalore

— Rajini Rao (@Rajini_rao63) June 13, 2016

If that wasn’t enough, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has given the go ahead for land acquisition for the peripheral ring road project, something that will definitely increase accessibility and connectivity within and around the city.

Smart People Hoping For A Smart City

Bengalureans are jubilant about being added to the smart city list, with many hoping that reforms in the governing system will now be inevitable. Mohandas Pai, a member of the BBPAG feels that Bengaluru is a city of smart people and argues that these people need to be made a part of the governing system, “We need people who are forward thinking, we need city managers, otherwise this plan of a smart city will fall apart.”

Those are wise words from people who are invested in the future of their city. Now one can only hope that the government is able to pull off its transformation of the city, and quickly.

Reporter : Stacy Pereira, NDTV
Web Editor : Nikhil Narayan Sivadas, NDTV