Bengaluru: Attempts to institutionalise citizen grievance redressal through open house meetings (OHMs) conducted by BDA’s Citizen Action Cell (CAC) are struggling to deliver results, with official data showing a mounting pile of unresolved cases across the city.OHMs were conceived as a direct platform for plot owners, residents and applicants to raise long-standing issues related to site allotment, possession delays, deviations, khata registration, cancellations and basic infrastructure. CAC is expected to coordinate the sessions, record complaints and push engineering, planning and revenue wings to act on them.Yet figures from the four administrative zones suggest that the mechanism is falling short at the stage of follow-through. Out of 4,464 grievances taken up in OHMs between July 2025 and Feb 2026, only 1,044 were attended to, leaving 3,420 pending — a disposal rate of 23.4%.The West zone had the most cases: 1,517. Of these, 1,158 remain unresolved. Though the zone handled the highest number in absolute terms, the backlog points to pressure on field staff and possible shortages in technical wings.In the East zone, of 1,342 cases, 1,148 are pending while North and South zones performed slightly better but still reflected weak outcomes. The North zone disposed of 241 out of 770 grievances, while the South zone attended to 250 of 835 cases.Officials said the meetings were effective in documenting concerns but lacked time-bound action plans. Inter-departmental coordination was often slow, and CAC had limited powers to enforce compliance. Many citizens were asked to return for successive OHMs for the same matter, eroding confidence in the exercise.“We are working around the clock to ensure the citizens’ complaints are resolved at the earliest, and there were also instances where citizens with long-pending issues were happy with our commitment to resolving them. In a few days, these complaints will reduce,” a senior BDA official said. —–ZonesTotal cases from OHMsCases attendedPending casesNorth770241529South835250585East1,3421941,148West1,5173591,158Total4,4641,0443,420Source: BDA
