The Hindu 04.08.2012
After rainwater harvesting, BBMP now moots compulsory windmills
It will be beneficial if all high-rises start generating energy from wind: Mayor
In the air:The city needs all-out efforts at renewable energy, says the Mayor.— File Photo: K.V. SRINIVASAN
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is mooting
making installation of windmills mandatory, just like rainwater
harvesting, for certain categories of properties, initially.
“Looking
at the power crisis, it will be beneficial if all high-rises start
generating energy from wind. If investing in solar and wind energy and
rain harvesting are made mandatory, a lot can be achieved,” said Mayor
D. Venkatesh Murthy during a discussion with the members of the
Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here
on Friday.
‘No coordination’
The
Mayor conceded there was lack of coordination among various civic
agencies, including the BBMP, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA),
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the Bangalore
Electricity Supply Company (Bescom).He pegged this as the reason for the state the city finds itself in.
Business licences
Responding
to a long-pending demand of the business community, the Mayor announced
doing away with the annual system of renewing trade licences, which
will henceforth be called business certificates and will be valid for
three or five years.
When a FKCCI member raised the
issue, Mr. Murthy said business certificates would be issued online
similar to the system proposed for khata, and birth and death
certificates.“Instead of trade licences, we have
called them business certificates. They can be renewed every three years
or five years instead of [annually],” he said, while stating that it is
not possible to abolish them as it entailed a law amendment. Among the
other projects in the pipeline are construction of 500 toilets across
the city and multi-level parking facilities, especially near Namma Metro
stations.
Ruing BBMP’s lack of real power, he said
it had to approach the State government for everything. Also, the
Mayor’s yearlong tenure is inadequate for any real achievement.Mr.
Murthy spoke about areas that are yet to be converted into revenue
layouts, due to which they still come under the agriculture zone. “In
the name of development, it has become unauthorised Bangalore,” he
commented.
