‘Those who grew their business using resources of Bengaluru are criticising the city today’

Bengaluru, Oct 19: Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday indirectly lashed out at some Bengaluru based industrialists for their unwarranted caustic remarks about Bengaluru’s urban infrastructure.

“Some of the industrialists who owe their success to Bengaluru are today criticising the city. They are forgetting their humble beginnings in Bengaluru and how the city helped them grow. I believe that we should not forget our roots,” the DCM said speaking to reporters after participating in ‘Walk with Bengaluru’ initiative at Koramangala.

“For the first time in the country, we have created a mechanism in Bengaluru where citizens can identify and report potholes to the authorities. I welcome constructive criticism as they are an integral part of democracy. But I don’t care about extreme criticism. People have given us the opportunity and we are serving them,” he said.

“Our government has completed two years in office and no government has taken the number of decisions we have taken. The people are aware and so is the Opposition. They control the media but we have complete freedom to the media in the state. They can to Delhi or Mumbai and verify the conditions there,” he added.

“We have formed GBA to decentralise administration. GBA will take care of mega projects in the city while corporations will handle smaller works and maintenance. The population has reached 1.40 crore and floating population is about 70 lakh. Three thousand vehicles are registered every day in Bengaluru,” he said.

“We have increased the spending limits to speed up the process. The spending limit for corporation commissioners from Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore. Standing committee spending limit has been increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore. The BJP leaders are happy about this decision too but they are not saying it in public,” he added.

“About 180 citizens have submitted their grievances and suggestions including metro line to Koramangala, direct airport connection, flooding, among others. We need public support to resolve issues in Bengaluru, the government alone can’t do much,” he noted.

Projects worth Rs 1.04 lakh for Bengaluru
“For the integrated development of Bengaluru, we have taken up tunnel roads, elevated corridors, double decker flyovers, buffer roads, etc. at a cost of Rs 1.04 lakh crore. We have formed five corporations to take governance closer to people,” he added.

“Some of the citizens have raised the issue of CA sites. Our government is formulating a new policy on CA site. The GBA will now handle CA sites,” he informed.

Govt spending Rs 1 lakh crore
“We have introduced guarantee schemes to reduce the burden of inflation and price rise. Our government is spending Rs 52,000 crore for this scheme. We are spending Rs 20,000 crore to provide free power to farmers. On the whole, our government spends more than Rs 1 lakh crore,” he said.

Asked when Ejipura flyover would be completed, he said it would be completed very soon.