A meeting to discuss the development of Bengaluru as a 'Smart City' received a rather cold response as several prominent names, including the Urban Development Minister Roshan Baig, and most corporate houses decided to give it a miss.
Organised by Bengaluru City Corporation at Town Hall, which has a capacity of about 1000, the meeting witnessed participation by just 300 as most ministers, the mayor and deputy mayor, as well as several MLAs, skipped the do.
"This was a very important meeting as the suggestions here could have helped in building a 'smart' image for Bengaluru, in accordance with PM Modi's announcement of creating 100 smart cities in next five years with a central financial assistance of ₹ 100 crore per year.
"Sadly not a single minister from Bengaluru City has come. Only two BJP MLA's Dr Ashwthnarayan from Malleswaram and Satish Reddy from Bommanahalli have attended and come up with their presentations," said Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan.
Mohan was especially scathing on Bengaluru district incharge Minister KJ George and Urban Development Minister Roshan Baig for playing truant.
George and Baig were not available for comment.
Former Additional Chief Secretary, A Ravindra, rued a missed opportunity for various agencies to get their heads together on the Smart City issue.
"The issues like water scarcity, air pollution, solid waste management, mobility and coordination between multiple civic agencies should have been addressed," he said.
"The City draws its strength from component like its economy which is better that of other cities. It has good human resources with more technocrats. It is already known as a tech hub," he added.
Manjunath Prasad, BBMP Commissioner, said this was a time for various organisations in the city to stand united and strive for a smart city tag for Bengaluru.
When PM Modi announced the concept of smart cities last year, 20 cities were chosen for the grant. From Karnataka, only Belgavi and Davangere were added, resulting in an uproar Bengaluru circles.
