Picture this. Earlier this week, on Tuesday afternoon, most top Congress leaders in Karnataka, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, were sharing the dais with their central leaders at a massive convention in Hosapete – around 320 km from Bengaluru – to mark the Congress government completing two years in office. They eloquently spoke about the government’s achievements. The mood was celebratory.
Around the same time, people in many parts of the state capital were struggling to deal with incessant rain pouring misery on them. Their houses were flooded, and streets turned into streams with boats pressed into service. There was a sense of frustration and helplessness.
The deluge yet again exposed a governance deficit and unplanned and unregulated growth of the city that powers the state’s economy and is home to IT giants, research and development institutes of national repute, and a thriving start-up ecosystem.
Unfortunately, flooding of residential areas and roads and then deploying inflated boats into service has become a new normal. It takes the victims of a deluge several days or weeks to come to terms with the devastation.
Like in the past, politicians indulged in blame game and spoke about how bad the situation was in other big cities in the country as if that was a solace to reduce the suffering and an excuse for the authorities not doing what they ought to have done before the rain started. Anger among the people was palpable. The CM, DyCM, and legislators who visited some rain-hit areas to get a first-hand impression of the situation faced public ire.
That visit and the public anger seem to have pushed the administrative machinery into action. After a meeting of top officers from various departments, directions were issued to prevent flooding, clear lake encroachments, and fill 647 potholes – actual numbers may be much higher – in seven days.
It is good to see the administrative machinery getting into action, but the question is, will the directions issued by the government translate into action, and will the administration keep up the momentum in the long run? Unfortunately, the situation on the ground does not inspire confidence.
Those familiar with governance in Bengaluru, and who have been part of the state administration for years, attribute the recurring rain havoc to the conversion of lakes into residential layouts and encroachment of stormwater drains. Although successive governments talk about clearing encroachments on stormwater drains, it is practically impossible, as thousands of houses have been constructed. Even those in the government admit that it is impossible to clear all encroachments by demolishing houses, and the engineers need to find a way to avoid flooding in over 100 spots.
The situation doesn’t look good, especially with the monsoon hitting the state. Authorities can hardly do anything substantive in the next few days to prevent flooding in all vulnerable areas. They should at least make efforts to resolve the problem in the worst-hit areas and, on a war footing, try to minimise the impact of flooding in all the vulnerable areas, even as they start the process to implement long-term measures.
Once the rain resumes, the roads in Bengaluru will turn from bad to worse. More potholes will resurface, hindering the smooth flow of traffic and posing a risk to motorists. One fails to understand why jurisdictional engineers and other officers are not held responsible for the poor condition of roads or the inefficient waste collection system. Names and numbers of officers responsible should be displayed in public places to ensure that people can contact them easily. At the local level, it brings much-needed transparency and accountability to the administration.
A long-term vision, stringent enforcement of laws and citizen participation in planning and development are required to address the situation that has deteriorated over the years. Although many cities and towns face similar problems, the government needs to act before it further impacts Brand Bengaluru.
Having the Greater Bengaluru Authority or renaming the Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South will not be of much help if they are just politically convenient administrative decisions without proper planning. Bengaluru is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and the authorities would do well by learning from past mistakes to take corrective measures and ensure planned growth.
The immense pressure on Bengaluru also highlights the need to develop tier-2 cities and towns in the state. The government’s ‘Beyond Bangalore’ initiative needs a renewed push to ensure they do not go the Bengaluru way. On their part, elected representatives and officers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns need to learn from the shortcomings in Bengaluru and ensure structured growth ahead.