Bengaluru: Bad roads, traffic jams that last through the day, no storm water drains and slipshod projects by government agencies mark the everyday life of people living in areas like Peenya and Whitefield. IT hubs like Mahadevapura, Electronics City and Hebbal are known for their bad traffic - the Electronics City flyover has eased out the situation somewhat in that area. However, logjams beneath the flyover are still commonplace. In Whitefield, repeated attempts to reach the government have gone in vain - the issues are relevant and almost overwhelming, so why doesn't the government act?
The fundamental reason is vote banks, says urban expert V. Ravichander. “The number of people living in Whitefield and Peenya is significantly less than the number of commuters, who will ultimately cast their vote in other wards.” It’s easy therefore, for the local MLA to wash his hands off the issue, for it won't contribute in any way to his winning a corporate election. “There has also been a lack of proactive planning,” Ravichandar added. “We knew ten years ago that Whitefield would be a boom town, but no arterial roads were constructed near Marathahalli. Those investments could have been planned then.” The question to ask here, he said, is who really cares if an area around an IT hub is chock full of problems?
Is it fair, however, to say that no infrastructure work has happened at all? “It wouldn’t be just to say that nothing has taken place in terms of infrastructure, because there are elevated roads leading to some of these IT hubs,” said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, MD Biocon and President, Bangalore Political Action Committee. “I’m hoping that with a new industry focus, we will concentrate on mobility and the ease of doing business. If we want to be an e-tailing hub, then we need adequate transport. The elevated road projects that are in the pipeline need to be implemented, as does the Namma Metro.”
The obvious solution seems to be decentralisation: expecting the state government to cater to every problem across Karnataka is unreasonable and futile. Sadly, decentralisation is a far less profitable option for ministers, who don’t want to lose their hold on land allotments. “We need a coordinated planning body like the Metropolitan Planning Committee, which exists on paper but has never been formed,” said urban expert Ashwin Mahesh. “If that committee is formed, organisations like the BDA, the BWSSB and the BBMP, which are each currently doing their own thing, will be held accountable to a single body. Now, we have to approach the state government itself and that's a long process,” he explained.
The BBMP elections this month could be our chance to facilitate the changes we want. “The urban classes are very lazy, they need to go out and vote,” said Mohandas Pai, Vice President, BPAC. “Everyone knows that the government doesn't care, they come to power through the rural vote. The money that Bengaluru generates is spent on garnering vote banks in rural areas. If we don't vote, then we will continue to suffer.” Short term lapses will lead to long term consequences, added Ravichandar. “If companies stop investing in Bengaluru, then there will be less job creation and less in the government coffers. It will serve them well to take an interest in infrastructure for industry.”
Unfinished projects
The proposed project that connects Madivala in South and Hebbal (16 km) in North covering Minsk Square and Vellar junction has been on paper since 2009 under B.S. Yeddyurappa regime. BBMP had proposed to take up the project with private participation under Swiss Challenge method. The project was expected to begin in 2009 September. Another elevated project that was planned in 2009 was that connects Kodihalli and Kundanahalli (12km) in Bangalore East.
Citizens take matters into own hands
Stepping in and out of a gated community in Whitefield is like going from a first world country to the third world, said Arvind Keerthi, who quit his job to become a full-time community organiser. After years of appealing to the government, residents of that area resorted to fixing small civic problems on their own. This worked so well that associations like Whitefield Rising was formed, resulting in a dedicated, sustained effort towards solving civic woes.
A new campaign, Whitefield Bachao: Black Fridays, will commence today. Fed up with the state of affairs in the area, residents and commuters have come together to show their solidarity for the cause. Every Friday, they will wear black and tweet with a special hashtag on queue. On August 28, they will step out from wherever they are, again wearing black, to demonstrate their vote bank size and pressure the government into action.
On the other hand, in Brookfield, about a 1,000 families, comprising gated communities and apartment buildings, have formed an association of their own. Arvind Keerthi, who is the treasurer of the association, said that the contribution is Rs 100 per dwelling per month toward fixing civic problems. This money is used in small works such as fixing roads or widening a storm water drain. “The fact that the organisation is still fairly small implies a lot more transparency than one can get with the government,” said Keerthi. “We have understood that most of these smaller projects barely cost anything if you’re looking at them on a per capita basis,” he said.
The association’s activities include approaching companies for CSR contributions toward rejuvenating lakes and talking to real estate developers in the area about the need to maintain a clean neighbourhood. “We are talking to the Brigade Group, which has purchased land in Kundanahalli and apprising them of the problems we face,” said Keerthi. With smaller problems such as potholes and uneven footpaths taken care of by residents themselves, the government can devote its time to macro projects such as Namma Metro and elevated roads.
“The idea is to spread this method across the city. The government has a number of systemic faults, including corruption and land acquisition problems. People who are willing to give up their land for the TDR are forced to pay bribes. Naturally, they don’t want to cooperate with the government. But we can handle issues like small expansions on our own.” More than the money, he explained, the association fosters a sense of belonging within the community. “It’s much more efficient to fix smaller problems ourselves,” Keerthi added.
Whitefield, Electronics City, Outer Ring Road, Hebbal are the main IT corridors of the city. While Whitefield, ITPL and surrounding areas witnesses close to 5 lakhs vehicles every day during peak hours, Electronic City too sees over 2 lakh vehicles. And same goes with other IT corridors like Outer Ring Road and Hebbal.
Additional Commissioner of Bengaluru Traffic Police, M.A. Saleem pointed out, “I was near Bellandur at Eco-Space just a day ago and we observed 1,15,000 vehicles entered the IT Park Eco-Space alone.” The elevated flyover of Electronic City was expected to solve all the traffic issues in the locality, however, the nightmare does not seem to be getting over soon. Aditya Sarma said, “On Wednesday I was stuck under the flyover for one hour. The traffic mess was so bad that a vehicle caught fire due to short circuit.”
