Last month, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) published a draft Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy for the city and invited comments from the public. But as of Friday, barely 32 people gave their suggestions and comments on the policy.
BMRCL had uploaded the policy on May 8 with a 30-day window for people to respond. The number of response received by the BMRCL indicates that the draft policy has not reached many citizens. The draft envisages an integrated commuting network in the city by developing neighbourhoods to have better access to mass-transit points, be it metro, bus or suburban rail.
One of the major proposals included allowing higher built-up density in TOD zones, such as increasing the floor space index up to level 5 for residential and commercial buildings and higher FSI for transit stations as well.
Chief PRO of BMRCL, B.L.Yeshwanth Chavan said: “BMRCL will scrutinise the comments received and accordingly changes will be made to the policy. It will later be submitted to the State government for further action.”
BMRCL has yet to take decision on whether it will extend the deadline for public participation in the backdrop of the poor response the draft policy generated.
Transport Expert Ashish Verma said: “BMRCL has taken a proactive steps . The proposals made in the draft policy sound good and need of the hour. If BMRCL extends the date, it will invite more public participation. BMRCL should also use various other platforms to reach out to more people.”
BMRCL’s draft policy also talks about incorporating TOD policy in the draft Revised Master Plan 2031. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has submitted the draft Master Plan 2031 to the State government for approval. The draft plan had received over 13,000 suggestions/objections from the public.
