BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy did not make the promised vision statement for Bangalore city on Saturday at the interactive workshop "Bangalore Today and Tomorrow" organised by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

Stating that he could not state his Government's vision for Bangalore as the legislature was in session, Mr. Kumaraswamy simply said that his Government would make Bangalore a metropolis that the other cities across the world would want to emulate.

No announcements were made on when the Master Plan 2015 developed by the BDA would be made public or when the proposed land acquisition policy would come into force. The Chief Minister reiterated that farmers whose lands were being acquired for development ventures would be made shareholders in the projects. "Our aim is to increase the economic health of farmers through our policies," he said.

On regularisation of revenue sites, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that while the Government would regularise lands up to 50 x 80 dimension, it would not regularise lands of one acre and above. He said the Government was committed to bridging the divide between the rich and the poor. To this effect, he directed officials present to come up with ways in which people could be given free houses.

Mr. Kumaraswamy promised to implement programmes to make Bangalore a slum-free city. Promising a roof over every city dweller, he said the State Government would provide two lakh houses for the economically weaker sections at the earliest. Stating that the Government was not giving undue importance to urban areas, the Chief Minister said that 1,000 villages had been identified for adoption. They would be developed and amenities provided to bring them on par with cities.

At the workshop, aired live in the State by Doordarshan, the Chief Minister sought to defend his father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on the issue of Metro Rail for Bangalore. Dismissing reports that Mr. Gowda was against Metro Rail in the city, he said that Mr. Gowda had been apprehensive as the project was very expensive.

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