Bengaluru, 6 Jan

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday called on the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) to change its image for the better as it entered its 50th year.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on governance and grievance redressal for BDA employees, Shivakumar said, “Change the image of the organisation at least this year. Eradicate its perception as a broker.”

“It took me six months to find out, through my own intelligence inputs, about the corruption in the system,” he continued. “I am aware of the rot in the system at every stage and I am also aware of what is working well in the organisation. In this backdrop, we have decided to digitise all the documents. Some may not like this but we have to change BDA. The organization is getting a bad name due to some 10 per cent of the employees who are corrupt.”

He said that BDA and the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) are the faces of Bengaluru.

“I am not going to be easy on corruption and I will take strict action against the culprits. The team led by NA Harris wants to leave behind a legacy,” he added.

He added that the City needs to be planned better.

“Other than some areas like Jayanagara, Malleshwara, Chamarajapet, there are not many planned areas. All of us are fault on this,” he added.

He also slammed the previous governments for not developing the City well.

“A peripheral ring road was planned in 2010 and it could have been done in Rs 26,000 crores had they done it then. Due to the delay, it now costs Rs 50,000 crore,” he said.