BBMP wants to grab Electronics City
The BBMP is now preying on the revenue-rich, luxurious Electronic City, which is now being run by an autonomous body – Electronic City Industries Association (ELCIA). The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has written a letter to the state government to bring the infotech hub under its wings with an intention to earn more revenue. But the BBMP has claimed that it has several underdeveloped areas under its belt and Electronic City and Bengaluru International Airport too should come under its ambit for “better administration”. The BBMP proposal is pending before the Urban Development Department.
ELCIA said the entire Electronic City area is being maintained by the elected executive members of the Association for the last two decades. Road laying, blacktopping, filling of potholes, water supply and other related civic issues are being looked after by the ELCIA. A few years ago, the Electronic City was an infrastructure-starved area. But today, it can boast of having almost all the infrastructure facility except underground drainage system, said chief executive officer (CEO) of ELCIA N. S. Rama.
The ELCIA has been demanding for Industrial Township tag with more autonomy instead of merging them with another civic body like BBMP. Right now, the local panchayat is governing them by collecting the taxes, said Ms Rama. “The ELCIA has become almost self-reliant. Recently a solid waste management facility was installed to minimise the waste being shifting to the landfill,” she added.
Apart from paying taxes to the local authority, the ELCIA is collecting maintenance fee from companies and beneficiaries. The panchayat is hardly taking up any development activities in the area, while it is thinking of increasing the tax. “The area is a gated community with self-developed infrastructure. The areas should be given the autonomous status like industrial cities in in Jamshedpur or Jindal in Bellary,” she added.
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