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Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) has come under the scanner following the breakdown of infrastructure and the subsequent flooding and waterlogging in Bengaluru city, popularly known as the "Silicon Valley of India".

The BMRDA was created to plan, coordinate and supervise the proper and orderly development of the area within the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and allied matters. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai heads the agency.

One of the primary functions of BMRDA is to coordinate the activities of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board (KSCB), the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and such other bodies that are connected with developmental activities in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region.

However, the crisis followed by rains, which forced the software professionals, and CEOs to use boats and tractors as the mode of transport to commute to the office, and challenged the reputation of Bengaluru as a global IT city, has come as an egg on the face of BMRDA.

Katyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, Civic Bengaluru, voluntary citizens' initiative talking to IANS, stated: "BMRDA does structure planning for Bengaluru Metropolitan Region. Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has to devise a plan that adheres to the structural plan of BMRDA.

"But, BDA is developing its own master plan, which remains only on paper. The government proudly announces it will regularize illegal constructions and mobilise Rs 1,000 crore revenues. What does it indicate?"

"BMRDA should monitor whether there is conformity by the different agencies to its structural plan. In another development, the system is not allowing the Metropolitan Planning Committee to take shape. Politicians and bureaucrats do not recognize what development is. Building roads is only the development after destroying Bengaluru's ecology," she added.

Kavitha Reddy, Alumni B.CLIP leader, environmentalist and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary, stated that along with BMRDA, the role of BMRCL (metro), BWSSB, Pollution Control Board (PCB) and the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is the current minister for Bengaluru, should be discussed at this phase of the crisis.

Every year, BBMP, the civic agency for Bengaluru, would call a meeting of experts and activists before the arrival of the monsoon. This year, however, no meeting was called, she said.

Reddy further said that for 15 years, the most affected zones have been represented by BJP MLAs.

Arvind Limbavali and Bommanahalli represent Satish Reddy represents Mahadevapura.

"They are three-time MLAs; where is the planning and what they were doing?" she questioned.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) was established under the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act, 1985 (Karnataka Act No. 39 of 1985) for planning, coordinating and supervising the proper and orderly development of the area within the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and allied matters.

The BMRDA Act declares that the Authority shall be a body corporate with the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property and to enter contracts etc.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) is one of the largest metropolitan regions in the country, covering the entire Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural and Ramanagara Districts measuring 8,005 sq. km.

The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.

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