This one is for the city I love. This one is for the city I live in as well. Bengaluru.
After every bout of heavy rain, Bengaluru gets battered. Both physically and metaphorically. Many arterial roads get flooded. Traffic jams are the norm. Tarred roads develop potholes with water accumulation. That exposes the shoddy work in building the roads. Heavy rain is the best auditor of good or bad road works. Dirty linen gets washed as well. Every political party gets blamed. Band-aid solutions to patch up potholes temporarily get ripped off, creating newer and bigger potholes.
Traffic flow on the battered roads slows down further, and commute time prolongs excruciatingly. Tempers rise, road rage becomes the norm, and motorists break every breakable rule to rush home. People will drive on footpaths and service roads, and on the wrong side of traffic flow. In the bargain, a bus or two will go off the roads, mishaps will be dubbed pothole accidents, and nothing short of chaos rules the roads. Those stuck in cars will enjoy the luxury of wasted time to log onto their social media handles and vent their ire. Those without this luxury will brave it out on the roads under flyovers and shelters of every kind, further slowing down traffic flow. The younger ones will float their memes, and collectively, Bengaluru becomes one big meme during the season of the big rain.
We are just out of one such big meme season. Once again, every television channel has showcased Bengaluru and its infrastructure problems in depth. I am guilty of having been on many of them. Bengaluru and its rain and its battered infrastructure make for good news of the bad kind. Social media has been equally full of noise and fervour. The opposition parties have pitched in their bit. And when the opposition makes the noise, everyone, including the noise makers, forgets that they have been equally responsible for the city’s state of affairs. Every political party that has ruled Karnataka over the last 15 years has been responsible for this. No government, of any of the three political colours, can claim to be different, though they do so. The can of responsibility is of course held by the Congress party headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who is the Bengaluru development minister as well.
This time round, we need to add yet another dimension to the fracas. The debate has turned out to be about “corporate honchos” versus “those in governance” of Bengaluru. The last few days have seen heated exchanges of a very civil kind (remember, Karnataka is a very civil state where even our fights are dignified, discussed, and debated). Our energetic and passionate DCM Shivakumar has come out saying that people must not criticise and must participate in finding solutions instead. The objection is that any criticism of Bengaluru or its infrastructure is seen as harming investor confidence in the city and state. And right then, coincidentally so, Google announced its mega investment in Visakhapatnam. The environment is, therefore, sensitive and bristling.
Let me take a look at what’s so different this time round as the rains subside and the corporate honcho versus government of Karnataka debate is on the front burner. It all began with a post on X by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, showcasing a question by an overseas visitor as to why Bengaluru roads are so bad. This stirred the hornet’s nest. There were comments from the government’s side that constant criticism is not good; that criticism of this kind actually dissuades investors; that it’s all about the unwieldy population Bengaluru carries equally as burden and boon. On the other hand, the public refrain indicated we need to urgently improve our infrastructure. They questioned the long pendency of projects like the Ejipura flyover. The government is busy answering these and more.
Is this noise and bluster fair? Must people be vocal about what’s missing in their city? And is this bad for the city’s image? Must the citizens, therefore, sit back and wait till everything planned falls into place?
The answer is blowing in the winds of both social and heritage media. In a vibrant democracy such as ours, questions will be asked and answers demanded. Anonymous questions and barbs will outnumber the proudly identified ones—the former nasty, the latter civil. These need to be respected and replied to. The vocal ones ask questions for those who do not wish to speak or articulate their inner thoughts. To an extent, questions such as the one from Kiran represent the pulse of the needs and wants of the megacity’s residents. The citizen, by and large, is asking for accountability. As one of the many social media posts asks, “If I delay on my property tax, I am fined. If I delay my income tax, I will be penalised. Must the government also not be answerable for the works not done?”
Karnataka today is blessed with a savvy chief minister in Siddaramaiah and an action-oriented DCM in Shivakumar. Bengaluru is asking for action from this powerful combination at the helm of governance. This action needs to be quick, decisive, and visible. If there is a pothole reported, it must be rectified within 24 hours. A dumping of debris complaint must be sorted pronto. A garbage dark spot must be cleared instantly. Traffic police must deal with constant complaints of footpath riding and salmon riding on our roads (riding against the traffic flow)with a zero-tolerance attitude. We need to feel governed.
I think the current Bengaluru fracas can be sorted out easily if there is a strong sense of commitment to handle it. With the Greater Bengaluru Authority in place and fully manned, it’s time for Bengaluru to set up a war room in Vidhana Soudha to tackle issues on a war footing. At election time, our political parties put together a war room to manage each constituency; the same approach is needed for Bengaluru’s 382 wards. The people need the assurance that if they raise a problem, it will be attended to. This war-room effort must have the simple goal of sorting out every issue visibly and with care in 100 days flat.
To avoid being seen as an armchair critic, I am willing to put my administrative skills—honed during election war-room operations for political parties—to use in fixing our city's shoddy and deficient urban public infrastructure and handling everyday civic complaints. Over the next 100 days, every complaint that is filed must be resolved and closed. A difficult task, but one that can be done. Let’s do it.
Harish Bijoor | Brand guru & founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc
(Views are personal)
(harishbijoor@hotmail.com)
