a gathering of Bengaluru's concerned citizens

WELCOME MESSAGE

Bengaluru Town Hall (BTH): Origins, Purpose and Journey So Far

1. How BTH Began

Bengaluru Town Hall (BTH) was launched on 17 February 2025 at an informal gathering at the Press Club of Bangalore. The meeting, convened by Prakash Belawadi, followed presentations by Prof. Ashish Verma (IISc) and architect Naresh Narasimhan on the proposed Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill and several large infrastructure plans announced by the Government of Karnataka (GoK).

After a wide-ranging discussion, the gathering unanimously agreed on the name “Bengaluru Town Hall”—an open civic forum committed to working For a Better Bengaluru through informed critique, scientific analysis, and planned civic action.

BTH was intentionally conceived as an open, unregistered platform, with no office bearers, no formal membership, no bank account, and expenses met purely through voluntary contributions in cash or kind.

The founding resolution of BTH was to prepare a Shadow Master Plan for Bengaluru—developed with inputs from urban planners, academic institutions, environmentalists, research bodies, social scientists, and knowledgeable citizens. This plan was envisioned as a reference model for governance, public awareness, and possible legal action.

2. The Issues That Brought Us Together

The initial concerns identified by BTH included:

• The legal, political, and social implications of the proposed Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill

• A surge of large infrastructure proposals (e.g., tunnel roads, elevated corridors)

• Delays in completing ongoing statutory projects

• Improving public transport—Buses, Metro, and Suburban Rail

• The city’s deteriorating civic systems - dysfunctional Waste management, Non observance of building bye laws and layout formation laws, lack of footpaths, rapidly eroding environment and liveability.

• Protecting and restoring sustainable urban ecology

However, the group soon found itself compelled to respond urgently to alarming government actions—particularly the proposed Tunnel Road Project through Lalbagh and Sankey Tank, and legislative attempts to reduce lake and rajakaluve buffer zones. These sudden moves forced BTH to prioritise protest, public awareness, and legal interventions.

Even as we continue to challenge such destructive proposals, it is important to remain anchored to the group’s original commitments: governance reforms, sustainable planning, and scientific, citizen-centred development.

BTH remains strictly focused on Governance, Planning, and Sustainable Urban Ecology.

Ideologies, party affiliations, caste, religion, or personal causes (such as animal issues) have no place in BTH’s agenda. There are other platforms for those. Our work is explicitly civic and constitutional.

Clean air, clean water, safe mobility, and a green Bengaluru benefit every resident—regardless of identity.

3. BTH: What We Stand For

Yes, BTH is an open platform for engaged citizens—but one that is solution-oriented.
Our advocacy emphasises:

• Adherence to the Constitution

• Due process

• Meaningful public consultation

• Evidence-based planning
  
  

Since its formation, BTH has taken up several critical issues, including:

• The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Bill

• Tunnel Roads, Elevated Corridors, Double Deckers, and other “Brand Bengaluru” vanity projects

• Legislative attempts to shrink lake and rajakaluve buffer zones

4. Why Bengaluru Needed a Platform Like BTH

Since 1992, Bengaluru has been waiting for true decentralised governance as envisioned by the 74th Constitutional Amendment. Successive governments have avoided local body elections, failed to form ward committees, introduced legislation (BBMP Act, GBA Act) that falls short of constitutional requirements

Similarly, the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC)—required to prepare the city’s Master Plans—has never been meaningfully operationalised. The result:  unplanned urban sprawl, civic decay, and what resulted in the Supreme Court in 2023 terming Bengaluru as "A template for Urban Ruin, due to unplanned development".

While the city struggles with broken roads, poor drainage, a weak public transport system, garbage mismanagement, unsafe footpaths, and stalled statutory projects, the government’s priority became tunnel roads, elevated roads, sky decks, and double-deckers costing over ₹1 lakh crore—all pushed without elected local governance, bypassing the mandatory masterplan.

This contradiction made it essential for citizens to step in.

5. Research, Advocacy, and Constructive Action

BTH is not a platform for criticism for its own sake.  We are: Constructive, Research-driven, Persistent, Guided by expert consultation.

1. Following our first expert seminar, BTH formally adopted opposition to non-plan and non-statutory vanity projects, including tunnel roads, elevated corridors, double-deckers, flyovers, and projects violating lake and rajakaluve buffer zones.  We have already filed petitions against the Tunnel Road Project in the High Court and the NGT.

2. Petitioned the Hon. Governor to return the GBA Bill, which he did, and he asked the Govt to answer the questions posed by us. However, he gave his assent when the Govt returned the bill.  We have now moved the courts against it.

3. Sought intervention on the KTCDA Amendment Bill 2025 reducing lake buffer zones—this too was sent back to the Government. The Govt has yet to give its clarifications. If this bill gets assent, we are standing by ready to challenge it in the courts.
   
   

Our petitions in court include detailed submissions proposing scientific alternatives and real solutions.

Our stand on tunnel roads has since been validated by:

• The DULT report 

• The Expert Committee appointed by the Government itself

Both have raised serious concerns about feasibility, safety, and environmental impact.

6. Key Demands and Recommendations of BTH

Governance and Planning

• Amend the GBA to fully comply with the 74th Constitutional Amendmen

• Conduct local body elections immediately

• Constitute and empower Ward Committees

• Fully operationalise the MPC with experts from all relevant fields

• Create a holistic, climate-ready Master Plan

Mobility and Transport

• Adopt the Master Plan’s Transport Strategy as the city’s Comprehensive Mobility Plan

• Prioritise mass rapid transit with strong last-mile connectivity

• Focus on Metro + Suburban Rail, creating a dense grid across the city and region

• Immediately add 15,000–20,000 buses, rationalise routes through scientific OD studies, and last mile feeder services using mini-buses/micro-buses/nano-buses. 

• Amend the laws that stifle modern mobility solutions - such as stage carriage act, so that private sector may also provide services where there is a gap in public services like BMTC, especially in providing last mile and pooled services like shared autos and cabs, etc.,

• Empower BMLTA as an independent mobility authority, including necessary amendments, to fulfil its role as a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, as envisaged in the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2006.
  
  

Environment and Ecology

• Withdraw the KTCDA Amendment Bill 2025 - which proposes to reduce the lake buffer zones.

• Repeal the UDD Circular - 468 MNJ 2025(E) which reduces the rajakaluve buffer zones. 

• Protect and restore lake and rajakaluve buffer zones

• Cancel all non-statutory, environmentally damaging projects
  
  

Infrastructure

• Prioritise completion of existing, statutory, stalled infrastructure which are part of Masterplan.

• Cancel non-plan, arbitrarily announced vanity projects: Tunnel Road Project (TRP), Double Deckers (DD), and Elevated Corridors (EC).
  
  

Statewide Development to decongest Bengaluru

• Implement “Beyond Bengaluru” to promote balanced growth across Karnataka

• Strengthen rail connectivity between all district headquarters and Bengaluru, with  Rapid Rail Transit systems and Suburban Rail systems.
  
  

Our first meeting