Key Highlights
- The authority, started in 1976, has turned 50.
- BDA was preceded by the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), a colonial institution which had its roots in the plague of the 19th century with a focus to improve sanitation.
- While cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, and Mysuru got their CITBs in the early 20th century, Bengaluru was a late entrant, with its CITB formed in 1945, after the plague swept the city in the 1890s.
- Bengaluru responded to the plague with planned layouts of Basavanagudi and Malleswaram.
- One of the biggest achievements of CITB was Jayanagar, which was then Asia’s largest planned layout.
