Coordinated development of neighbourhoods

One of the most often heard complaints from citizens about public works projects is that there appears to be no coordination between the different agencies that take up work in public spaces. Often, the good work of one agency in establishing new infrastructure (e.g. roads, pipes, sidewalks, etc) is negated by some other agency that destroys this for its own work. The Office of Urban Affairs has come up with a coordination strategy to put an end to this regrettable problem.

Henceforth, all major public works in Bangalore will be taken up consultatively by the different agencies. The primary agency for each work (which is taking up the project) will circulate details of the work to the other agencies, and get their informed consent, in writing, through a Public Works Coordination Agreement. This PWCA will list the concerns and commitments of all departments to the project, and ensure that a proper sequence of work is followed to ensure speedy completion of the work and also remove the risk of agencies working at cross-purposes on the same stretch of road.

The following agencies are participating in this arrangement - BBMP, BWSSB, BESCOM, Traffic Police, BSNL, Metro, and BMTC. For projects involving other agencies, those will also be involved on a case-by-case basis. A similar agreement is also being drawn up for use by other cities in Karnataka.