Bangalore Crumbling Part 6

Does this Government have anything like a long term plan for the city? How will building flyovers solve the problem?


BANGALORE CRUMBLING
No place to hide, Dharam Singh turns to spin: yes, things were bad but now everything is fine

‘Premji told me he’s leaving, I convinced him to stay back; Sonia was worried, now she is assured’
The Indian Express

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 9: Smarting over a series in The Indian Express on the decline of Bangalore since his government took charge eight months ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh launched a frenetic public-relations exercise today.

Accompanied by a battery of top bureaucrats, Singh—who for the first time freely acknowledged the problems—and his team had a single point agenda: calm irate investors in India’s Silicon Valley before they decide to pack up.

Singh also met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi twice today and presented his work and plans for the city.

‘‘She was worried, but now she is assured,’’ Singh told a hastily summoned press conference here. But most significant was clear admission of Bangalore’s looming collapse: ‘‘Azim Premji came to me and said that he was leaving because his cars could not move but I convinced him to stay back,’’ explained Singh. ‘‘I have personally met all the big corporates and assured them that all the problems would be solved.’’

He said: ‘‘Yes, there are some infrastructural problems but we are trying our best with officials working round the clock. Bangalore continues to be the most favoured destination for IT and BT industries.’’ said Singh.

He trotted out a list of reasons to explain why Bangalore was coming apart: — from heavy rains to the dynamics of coalition politics.


Why do India Inc’s brightest minds feel alienated and sidetracked in Bangalore? Struggling to respond, Singh said: ‘‘We have met and talked. Everything will be fine now.’’

Sharing the dais with Singh was the Bangalore Development Authority Chairman; Principal Secretary of Urban Development; head of Bangalore Mass Rapid Transport System; Commissioner, Bangalore City Corporation and Commissioner, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Each of them made extensive presentations on their work: roads, building, flyovers, public transport, water and sewerage.

According to Team Bangalore, the single largest reason for the messy state of affairs is that projections of growth have gone completely awry, both population and vehicles. Population is growing at 30 per cent each year and there are 900 vehicles being registered per day. ‘‘It is difficult for the infrastructure to keep pace. All masterplan projections have fallen short,’’ said Vidyashankar, commissioner BDA.

Singh argued the government was pleasing rural voters. ‘‘For the first time, we presented a pro-poor budget,’’ he said. ‘‘The farmers after a long time are happy. We have proven that we are not just looking at the IT and BT industry but also the rest of the state.’’ Bad roads? Heavy rains. ‘‘All work had to come to a stand-still for one month when we had heavy rains,’’ said Singh. ‘‘At least the farmers are happy, for once.’’

Singh’s team said the city has a number of plans: from widening 47 roads, building nine flyovers, a mass rapid transit system (in the works for more than a decade). The plans and the progress, they said, was ‘‘unparalleled’’ and ‘‘unmatched’’.

They presented figures to show that in the last six months, the city continued to be ‘‘the most favoured destination’’: There are two new IT companies being set up every week and there was no let up in investment. Software exports have touched an all-time high of Rs 18,000 crore.

Though he delicately denied a rift with his coalition partner Deve Gowda, he said that it was a fact that ‘‘he (Gowda) was a man with a stress on rural areas, former PM and a resident of Bangalore.’’ In Bangalore, the verdict from India’s top tech companies was clear: this is a damage-control exercise. ‘‘We’ve heard words to this effect frequently,’’ said one CEO on condition of anonymity. ‘‘Until things change on the ground, I’m not going to be remotely convinced.’’

When will airport take off? Still no answer

• Still no answer, except that the clearance of the review ordered by Dharam Singh will come in ‘‘the second half of December.’’
• State adamant on keeping its share to Rs 350 crore, bearing in mind the cost escalation from Rs 1,260 crore to Rs 1,334 crore, never mind the escalation stems from the delay in clearance.
• ‘‘There are some temporary hiccups,’’ said Vinay Kumar, principal secretary in charge. ‘‘This is the first airport being built with private-sector participation and a lot of laws had to be changed, adding to the delay.’’
• Kumar said: ‘‘We are simultaneously looking at other smaller airports like Mysore and Gulbarga to take care of the increasing traffic.’