No Bang for the Buck

Now, that's a double whammy. What a way to begin the week. Bangalore is crucified again, this time by the once venerable India Today.

No Bang for the Buck

Bad infrastructure, poor sanitation, pollution and other ills are hobbling Bangalore's growth. Once the most favoured destination for global hi-tech companies, the city is a victim of its own success.
By Stephen David, India Today


Atul Jalan, 39, is a stickler for punctuality. Managing director of Manthan Systems, a software hotshop with India headquarters in Bangalore and operations in Europe and the US, he keeps looking at his wristwatch as he races from one appointment to another. Jalan spends an hour in the morning traffic getting to his office, 7 km from home. A year ago it took him a few minutes. The commute back on the Lavelle Road is worse. He sometimes get stuck for two hours. Nobody can stick to a schedule in Bangalore now, he fumes.

India's fast growth, hi-tech city has to worry about many things-and not just competition from the real Silicon Valley in the US or the threat of low-cost, high-quality products from China or even the job attrition levels in the infotech industry. "If you ask me, the real threat to Bangalore is the growth explosion and unplanned development," says a former Wall Street banker Ramesh Ramanathan, who quit his cushy job to float a citizens' interest group in the city. And globe-trotting executives like Jalan would agree. Just a few years ago, the city enjoyed a charm not only as India's it capital but also as a pleasant, quiet place to live in. But the rush for space in the tech Eden has become counter-productive. More than 1,300 software and outsourcing companies-450 of them MNCs-have set up campuses, employing nearly two lakh people. This influx has pushed the city population to nearly seven million, three times more that it was 10 years ago.

"I have not seen any growth in Bangalore's infrastructure in the past five years."
AZIM PREMJI, WIPRO CHAIRMAN

And the result? The roads are choked. The Garden City is designed to take only three lakh vehicles, but there are four times the number now. Frequent power cuts have stalled many a corporate presentation. Wipro Chairman Azim Premji got a rude shock when the power went off in the middle of a corporate presentation for foreign clients. Water supply is erratic and in most parts of the city, drinking piped water from the Cauvery comes at a big price. Though the Bangalore City Corporation has generally banned drilling new borewells, ground water experts say that the water level in the metropolis has depleted. The city that had nearly a thousand tanks and water bodies now cries hoarse for water. Narrow roads and bylanes, not to mention the potholes, make it difficult for two million registered vehicles to ply. In 2003 alone, 886 people died in traffic accidents. The state Transport Department officials say between 600 and 700 vehicles are registered daily. To add to the woes, the state has a power shortage of 1,500 MW, which officials say may grow to between 3,000 and 4,000 MW in the next five years if the rapid growth continues.


"Bangalore is not a desirable place to live any more, the infrastructure has worsened," says John Azariah, chief technology officer of BrightSword, who returned from the US to Bangalore to set up his own software hotshop.

The Rs 5,000 crore metro system, believed to come as a relief to the city's transportation hassles, has not got off the tracks. Even the long-overdue new airport near Devanahalli-scheduled for operations in 2010-is taking its own time to begin. Crowded roads and unplanned traffic management systems mean workers coming late to work. Some companies have built more man-days into project budgets because of the commuting problems. Wipro has decided to look for expansions outside Bangalore. Its rival Infosys Ltd is contemplating shifting to places like Kolkata. Premji says, "We will grow at a faster rate outside Bangalore." The head of India's third largest software exporter added that he has not "seen any infrastructure growth in the past five years in Bangalore". He said Wipro, of which he owns 84 per cent, was looking to expand not in Bangalore but in other Indian cities that have tried to woo it companies.

"The metropolis should not lose its brand equity because of poor infrastructure."
NANDAN NILEKANI, PRESIDENT, INFOSYS LTD

In the Dharam Singh-led ruling coalition, which came to power in May 2004, the infotech industry does not have a minister to address their woes to. After the Government was recently accused of being unresponsive, the chief minister called a meeting of industry captains and promised to address all issues on a war footing. But there are no signs of any change.

In the meantime, former chief minister S.M. Krishna, once referred to as Bangalore's CEO, has lent support to the IT leaders' woes on the poor infrastructure. "The present state of affairs cannot continue," he says. Adds Krishna: "The success of India's hi-tech and outsourcing industry was scripted in Bangalore, but the city has now become a victim of its own success."


Since 1985 when Texas Instruments became the first MNC to set up a development centre in Bangalore, the metropolis has exploded beyond imagination. Almost 20 years later, while the industry thinks the city will grow further, the civic authorities are out to give an impression that Bangalore could be abandoned for a big piece of action in the rural hinterland. Infosys President Nandan Nilekani says, "Bangalore should not lose its brand equity because of poor infrastructure. All of us are concerned about the slowdown in development of infrastructure. We have raised this concern, but we must not compromise on the global brand that has been built over the years."

Singh says he is serious about retaining the image of Bangalore. The chief minister, who has 23 portfolios to look after thanks to the delay in cabinet expansion, is planning to put a minister in charge of the city development. "We will not let down the Bangalore brand as it is a global brand."

WOES AND WOES...
Growth explosion and unplanned development have led to frequent traffic jams. The IT hub is designed to take only three lakh vehicles, but there are four times the number now.

Surveys say there has been a fall in the water table in the city. Result: erratic water supply. In most parts of the city, drinking piped water from the Cauvery comes at a big price.

The state has a power shortage of 1,500 MW, which officials say may grow to between 3,000 and 4,000 MW in the next five years if the rapid growth rate continues.

A study says air quality monitored at 15 hot spots showed the Air Quality Index (AQI) in most places to be around 296-categorised as "severely polluted".

Narrow roads, not to mention the potholes, make it difficult for the two million registered vehicles to ply with speed, ease or safety. Consequently, 886 people died in traffic accidents last year.

Along with heavy traffic congestion, there is also high pollution. According to a Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB)-Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) study, air quality monitored at 15 hot spots showed that the Air Quality Index (AQI) in most places was around 296 (categorised as "severely air polluted"). AQI is a measure of the ratio of the pollutant concentration to the standard concentration. The quantum of suspended particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides present in the air are used to arrive at the AQI. Says Professor C.E.G. Justo, a well-known expert on roads: "The width of the roads is far below the standard width in big cities. New Delhi has three-plus-three lanes or two-plus-two lanes on its arterial roads. In Bangalore, this exists in very short stretches and are inadequate. We can neither restrict the increase in vehicles nor continue to expand the roads to accommodate them. What is required is an effective public transport system, which will replace the major load of two-wheelers on the roads."

Admits Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) Commissioner Jothiramalingam: "One of the biggest problems is congestion. We are still grappling with this problem. Not just the traffic, but flooding of storm water drains too poses a great menace."

With BCC virtually on the brink of a disaster-the mayor has only promised action and has not delivered at all-it has become the lot of the ordinary citizens to fend for themselves. Like the way V. Parthasarathy, a former Railways chief engineer, did. On November 14, he galvanised the residents of the J.P. Nagar, 7th phase area, to fill potholes in their area. He said that the stretch between Ring Road and Kothanur was unbearable. "Some potholes were as deep as 2 ft. It was a nightmare for motorists. Even school buses have got stuck in the potholes. It cost me Rs 2,500. When other residents saw me doing this, they offered to share the expenses," he says. In the busy Lingarajapuram area, the bcc sat on a 800 m flyover for two years, until residents came out in the open and summoned the Bangalore mayor: only then were things expedited. The flyover was finally opened for public use in November this year.

"We will not let down the Bangalore brand since it is an international brand."
DHARAM SINGH, CHIEF MINISTER

Says Bhakta Reddy, a city-based businessman: "Hyderabad's first priority was building world-class infrastructure, laying the foundation for broadband networks, implementing e-governance initiatives aimed at streamlining India's notorious bureaucracy and amending existing legislation to make it easier for newcomer companies to set up shop." He adds that in five years the Andhra capital would have established itself as a leading information-based society. As for Bangalore, he regrets that "even repairing a crack holding up traffic on Old Madras Road would surely take several weeks."

Now you know what is missing in action in Bangalore: dynamism.