Our city is under pressure

Our city is under pressure

The year 2009 has been declared the 'Kannada implementation year'. Mukhyamantri Chandru, the man who is spearheading the implementation
of Kannada in public life, and head of Kannada Development Authority, says the Centre should give special status to Bangalore.

Toward holistic growth
I feel great about the recognition that our city has received world over. IT industry needs acknowledgement. At the same time, we would be more proud when we achieve more holistic growth and improve the living conditions of people in every strata of the society.

Special status to city
Lack of scientific planning over the last 50 years has led to many gridlocks in the city. We need to have a fresh look at the situation and devise a new strategy to solve our problems. The central government should give special status to our city and keep us in the priority list so that we get more support in finding solutions.

Want of water
The Bangalore International Airport located at Devanahalli is another example of how things turn out without proper planning. The airport is facing drinking water shortage now and we are not in a position to meet the demand as the ground water is touching new lows there. Even supplying Cauvery water to the airport would be a problem in the future as the city itself is reeling under shortage.

Opportunities for locals
Bangalore is under severe pressure by the increasing inflow of migrants from other states.
Locals, right from daily-wagers
to IT professionals, are being sidelined and deprived of job opportunities. Not many understand
the 'real' problems of locals. I
am not saying we should stop
migrants from entering the city but
we should create job opportunities in other districts so that the
pressure on the state capital is alleviated.

Suburbs to ease pressure
City population and city size are inversely proportional. I don't know why governments and politicians have neglected the scientific expansion of the city as the population continued to grow. Unlike Mumbai, Bangalore isn't surrounded by sea. Bangalore can spread itself in all directions. We should establish suburbs a few kilometres away from the city core so that the population and industries can shift there. Modes of transport like speed rail and express corridors can address the connectivity issue.

Kannada in Silicon Valley
Language is at great risk in Bangalore and unless we bring in concrete measures to implement Kannada in daily administration now, the future is sure to be dark.
Migrants should be made aware of the importance of using Kannada in Bangalore. If Tamil is for Chennai, Marathi is for Mumbai, why can't there be Kannada for all in Bangalore?