'Delhi, Bengaluru share similar problems,' says DK Shivakumar in meeting with MCD mayor

New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) Delhi and Bengaluru have many similarities as cities, and both share their afflictions, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Monday here after a civic body meeting.

"No city can function without proper planning," he said at the meeting, held to discuss urban governance, town planning, and solid waste management.

Shivakumar was accompanied by officers of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, and met Municipal Corporation of Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh to discuss Delhi's civic strategies through 2041.

"Delhi is a historic and large planned city, almost double the population of Bengaluru. There are three major challenges here — town planning, urbanisation, and solid waste management — all of which we also face in Bengaluru," Shivakumar told reporters after the meeting.

"If a city is not a planned city, then it will not work. We now allow anyone to buy any vehicle, but we cannot keep widening roads. Today, the number of vehicles exceeds the number of houses," he said.

Shivakumar said that while he had earlier visited Hyderabad and Chennai, understanding Delhi's new policies was particularly valuable. "I am here to know and learn things that can help in the development of Bengaluru." Shivakumar is also scheduled to visit the Okhla landfill site to study how Delhi is processing solid waste and generating resources like biogas.

"In Bengaluru, we have failed to produce energy from waste. Delhi seems to be doing better in this regard," he said. PTI MHS VN VN