Citizens, civic groups eye maintenance push under new Bengaluru Minister
Once Krishna Byre Gowda takes charge as the Bengaluru Development Minister, citizens and resident welfare associations expect a shift from project-centric to maintenance-centric management, focusing on improving the quality of roads and drains and the commuting experience rather than continuing unplanned expansion with new projects.
Another important change that citizens are waiting for is better coordination between the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and the rural administration to improve connectivity and daily life.
Karunakar Reddy, a resident of Electronic City Phase 2, which falls under the panchayat limits, explained that development in the fringe areas of the city is rapid but the transport infrastructure remains stagnant, causing inconvenience to commuters on a daily basis.
“There are a large number of people working in the city center and the eastern parts of the city and residing in the suburbs due to affordable housing. They mostly rely on the metro, but road connectivity and last mile connectivity remain significantly poor and need to be prioritized,” he said.
Mr. Reddy emphasized that the new Minister should ensure that departments communicate with each other regularly and that a separate platform is created to address issues affecting more than one department. For example, Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), BMRCL and BMTC should work together to solve last mile connectivity issues.
Santanam, a resident of Ananth Nagar in Electronics City, explained that while the internal roads within the panchayat limits were in poor condition, the quality improved slightly when commuters reached the city roads.
Paradigm shift in approach
R. Rajagopalan, founder of the Bengaluru Coalition of non-governmental organizations, emphasized that systemic problems should be addressed with a “root cause” approach. He said Mr. Gowda should develop a culture of on-the-spot inspections in troubled areas and hold officials accountable by conducting random location visits, which could help resolve civic issues in the city.
“We need transparency at the ward level, heavy focus on work allocation with all necessary project details and accountability in case of non-performance. Ward-level contact list of officials needs to be published along with updated performance records, field inspection reports, scorecards and minutes of weekly grievance redressal meetings,” he said.
Creating a public platform that is a one-stop guide for all GBA contacts to increase transparency and create a more effective business management model has been a long-standing demand from citizens, and RWAs are now pushing for it more strongly.
Whitefield Rising member Zibi Jamal emphasized the importance of transparency and citizen participation. “Residents must have access to real-time public dashboards on budgets, jobs and spending because accountability starts with visibility. Bengaluru doesn’t need more announcements; it needs consistent delivery, maintenance and management that works,” he said.
Rajkumar Dugar, founder of Citizens for Citizens, a civic advocacy group, said the government should adopt the sponge city concept as a comprehensive policy to raise groundwater levels and reduce floods.
basic infrastructure
Most civic activists and groups focused their demands on improving basic infrastructure. Ms. Jamal said: “Bengaluru also needs a shift from project-centric to maintenance-centric management with more attention to roads, pavements, streetlights, drains, parks, lakes, waste management and public toilets.”
He noted that citizens are seeking strong enforcement of the rule of law, including immediate action on illegal construction, accountability in public works and strict adherence to standards by all institutions, including contractors, Bescom, BWSSB and new city corporations.
Sujith Cariappa from the Social Facilities Association stated that they are against further densification of already congested neighborhoods through flyover-centered projects that erode the green cover. They instead advocate planned suburban towns that encourage horizontal growth. They hope that public interest, accountability and long-term city planning will trump politics and bureaucracy.
It was published – 17 June 2026 08:35 IST
