BDA stops drone survey after government rejects fund request

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has reduced its expenditure to Rs 3 crore by reducing the scope of work related to preparation for drone survey.
The drone survey had to be abandoned after the Finance Department rejected BDA’s request for Rs 12.5 crore to Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Center (KSRSAC). However, the revised proposal has raised questions about the necessity of the BDA’s original plan, which was almost four times as expensive.

While the older proposal advocated using existing drone data available with KSRSAC along with some associated services, the original plan included a new exercise.

The BDA was forced to rework the proposal after the Finance Department refused to award the work worth Rs 12.5 crore to KSRSAC under Section 4(g) of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, seeking exemption from floating tender. Was done. Instead the department advised the BDA to use existing data.

BDA officials say the drone data is important as it helps in preparing the baseline for the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2041 and better planning of Bengaluru’s outskirts.

BDA currently follows RMP 2015, which is an old scheme used by the authority to issue Change in Land Use (CLU) through public notification.

The current practice is seen by urban planning experts as an ad-hoc measure and is steeped in corruption.

BDA commissioner N Jayaram said the authority would not be in a position to start work on the new master plan until the baseline data was ready.

“We have sought approval from the government. KSRSAC is also trying to come up with a common guideline that will enable different departments to use their data easily,” he told DH.