Responses to Bangalore Crumbling, Part 1

Bangalore Crumbling, part-1
‘Not just a tarnish on Bangalore but shame on all of India’
We have received a massive response from readers to The Indian Express series ‘Bangalore Crumbling’, IE December 5 onwards. Here we present some very angry, disappointed and agitated voices:

The Indian Express

Kudos to your series of articles on the breakdown of infrastructure in Bangalore. As your article points out, any tarnish of Bangalore’s image is not just a blemish on the city, but also a loss of opportunity for our nation at large. In this regard, I would like to refer to a recent interview of Mr John L. Hennessy, the president of Stanford university and a prominent member of the Silicon Valley tech community. He states that if there is any place outside of US, which can threaten Silicon Valley’s pre-eminence, it is Bangalore. It is a pity that instead of nurturing Bangalore so that it fulfills its promise of being counted as the world’s best tech cluster, politicians like Deve Gowda and Dharam Singh are indulging in shameful political histrionics, all with an objective of protecting their vote banks rather than sincere intention to serve the rural masses.



Their argument that focussing on cities like Bangalore necessarily means neglect of rural areas holds no water for if one were to ask them what they have done with all the resources that they have ‘‘saved’’ by not investing in Bangalore, all one will get as an answer is a big blank. On the other hand developing cities like Bangalore so that they become magnets for attracting talent and capital will in the long term result in overall growth of all areas including rural ones. If Deve Gowda has any doubts on this, please ask him to look at our neighbour China and what Shanghai (its investment gateway) has done to the entire region.
Arun Uday, Mumbai

200 years to go

Congratulations on exposing the nefarious role of politicians in the destruction of the Bangalore bureaucracy and the civil administration. Revannas and Gowdas can do no good to the country and their state. We need capable, no-nonsense administrators, not political upstarts riding on the coat-tails of their parents or ‘‘fumble harmers.’’ It is really sad that a city that has so much potential and could have become a model city like Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur, has hit a roadblock like the Dharam Singh-Gowda-Revanna nexus. When I was a student in 1956, we were under the impression that India will be a developed country at the end of the second five year plan! Such were the hopes we entertained after Independence. Now I am wiser and believe that India will be a developed country like Slovakia and the Czech Republic in not less than 200 years, given the competence of our illustrious leaders like Laloo Yadav.
Man Mohan Kapur, Gurgaon

Decay in the air

Your front page series on Bangalore and the editorial comment on the subject have come not a day too late. They reaffirm my belief that The Indian Express is the best newspaper in the country!

As a frequent visitor to that city, I am witness to its steady decay over the past couple years. Your reporter’s assessment that the rot has set in exactly eight months ago may not be altogether correct. S.M. Krishna did do a lot for the city, but frankly he could have done far more. The air pollution caused by smoking autos and scooters is a case in point. And nobody seems to be bothered about this serious problem as yet.
Balakrishnan Unny, Gurgaon

Feudal politicians

The tragedy of India is that most of its modern leaders are a corrupt, feudal lot. Deve Gowda and his son represent the worst of such goons and landlords who still live in the middle ages. Unfortunately, there are enough Vokkaligas to support them (remember the ‘proud Gowd’ stickers when the senior Gowda became Prime Minister?) and there are enough corrupt and ignorant ‘‘leaders’’ in the coalition to go along with them. The opposition is supine and equally clueless, and those with a vision, a dream, and a commitment to the upliftment of society get run over by this political mafia.
Ramesh N. Rao, Professor of Communication, Truman State University Kirksville, USA

China steams ahead

Unless the Karnataka government and the Indian government pay attention to the serious infrastructure issues in Bangalore, Foreign investment to India will probably go to countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Poland. Its high time the government stops shedding crocodile tears towards the core issues instead give top-most priority to these issues before its too late. The government need to come up with short term and long term strategies to resolve the issues. Half of the prime roads are dug up, causing traffic bottlenecks in addition to pollution and health hazards. Also attention is required towards housing, water, communications, electricity, health and tourism. Bangalore has the second largest number of tax payers in the country. Most IT exports originate from this city. The city contributes greatly to State and Central revenue. It provides employment opportunity to our talented folks and still there is no matching spend on infrastructure! What a shame!
Sadanand Reddy, Los Angeles

PIL from taxpayers

This apathy towards development was always expected when the ever-yawning ex-PM and his party was voted back to power. Does anybody answer why the public has to undergo this ordeal day in and day out? In this international showcase traffic remains at a standstill for hours. I think taxpayers must give a strong and fitting reply, at least by a PIL. Any takers?
Somnath, Bangalore

Manmohan, glance at Bangalore

What a sad affair! Just with a change of a leader, the condition becomes so bad. On the one hand, the prime minister promises to make Mumbai a Shanghai, on the other hand the government run by his own party is totally ineffective to sustain the basic civil infrastructures and a hard earned position for Bangalore . Why can’t the PM take some special initiatives? Why is Mr. Chidambaram not concerned?
Indra Roy Sharma, Noida

Local language

The Bangalore articles are very good. Is there any way to publish these articles in Kannada newspapers like KannadaPrabha and Prajavani so that the information can be reached to the local people?
Ramakumara Kariyappa, San Jose USA

Shocked and saddened

I’m from Bangalore although I’ve been living in the UK for the past 6 yrs. During SM Krishna’s time, coming to Bangalore was a pleasant revelation with newer improvements apparent. But since my last visit in Jan 2004 I returned in November 2004, shocked and saddened at the total chaos. The city was congested, jammed, potholed and basically terrible. Looks like Singh and Gowda are only releasing money into each others’ pockets and not for Bangalore’s development.
Dr Ramaswamy, Bangalore

No sudden development

The IT companies are creating an unduly harsh cry. They cannot expect overnight development of infrastructure. This does not mean that the Karnataka government should cite the politicial realities as reasons for slowing development. The moral of the story is that competitive politics should not take place at the cost of development of the state. We need honest politicians and visionary thinkers. That, however, seems to be a tall order in these times.
S Subramanyan, Mumbai

Sab chalta hai

It was really pathetic to learn the way developments in Bangalore are being managed. When the whole of the IT industry has such high stakes in Bangalore how can the Chief Minister and his tail of ministers just go on merry making stopping all new developments which are so critical for its very existence? SM Krishna was at least doing the job. Singh doesnt seem to understand the meaning of Chief Minister and more often seems to behave like the babus with their sab chalta hai attitude. If he cannot do the job, citizens must force him to step down. India cannot risk losing its leading position in IT, just because of people like Singh who are always busy retaining their ‘‘chair.’’God save Bangalore, God save India.
Vinod Mankar, New Delhi

Jealous outsiders

I think everything boils down to the people. The root cause of this is Deve Gowda, and the non-Bangaloreans who voted for his party. Why? Because they were jealous that Bangalore was improving and they were not. Does it not show the character of our people? They do not realise that IT in Bangalore would bring in capital for improvement of their cities and towns too. If Bangalore goes down, everybody in Karnataka goes down as well.
Krishna Rao, Bangalore

Cowboys and goatherds

It is unfortunate that people who don’t have a clue of development always come to power.It was far better when the foreign graduate SM Krishna was the Chief Minister. He had seen how the outside world looks and seemed to have a vision. Now all the cowboys and goatherds are in government and the Almighty is the only one who can save from Bangalore being deserted by IT companies. When opportunity knocks, these politicians tend to ignore it. However, we should know that opportunity can find other doors.
An Indian, Vancouver, Canada

God, how I hate India!

I’m an NRI and am finally glad that I don’t live in India anymore. India is headed backwards. The growth in the economy is a dream. People should understand that growth of India is dependent on personal growth and business of politicians. Manmohan Singh is a smart man but unfortunately he is a puppet of the Communists and Sonia Gandhi. I hate India more than ever and will not have any sympathy if it is attacked by its neighbour or by some calamity. India disgusts me, I’m glad I have American citizenship and am spared the land of lazy, money- hungry power freaks.
VAK, New York

IT and politics

The facts mentioned by you have been clear for a long time. Long time residents of Bangalore can clarify how the city is run by the most corrupt regimes in India. It was just business money that kept the city going, and now that will stop. Politicians do not bother about IT because IT companies do not contribute to party funds. The only businesses that an run in Bangalore are Education and Liquor for obvious reasons.
Aditya Krishna, Birmingham, USA