Bangalore bursting at its seams

Bangalore bursting at its seams



First Published : 09 Jun 2009 09:10:59 AM ISTLast Updated : 09 Jun 2009 10:26:16 AM IST
BANGALORE: Unplanned construction has been going on in the city for a long time. And this is the biggest mistake governments have committed allowing all sorts of construction at all places possible.
Catchment areas, lake-beds and water-bodies have been usurped and vandalised by some real-estate agents, developers and the land mafia, many times in collusion with the government officials and politicians.
As a result of such unregulated and unplanned growth, Bangalore, today faces innumerable serious problems. The urban poor are the worst sufferers because they dwell in areas where roads are like craters, electric lines are hazardously drawn, water is supplied once in a week and drainage system is non-existent.
The migrant laborers and slum-dwellers live in almost sub-human conditions. So when the rain pounds the city of Bangalore it floods most of these low-lying areas and throws life out of order for days.
This haphazard civic growth over the last decade which has assumed dangerous proportions is not the making of one civil agency like BBMP alone. There are constituent authorities like the BDA, Town Planning Dept and Urban Development Dept, which have, over the years, consciously and wantonly contributed towards the present scenario.
Washing away off the little child, Abhishek, in an open drain is undoubtedly highly lamentable. But at the same time holding one person, the head of BBMP, Dr Subramanyam, responsible, is unwarranted.
The various government agencies, responsible for such a haphazard growth of Bangalore are party to this situation. More importantly, Bangalore cannot hold the pressure of more than 3 million people. But now, we are already 7 million. Is there any point in still making Bangalore bigger than what it can be? — Suresh Heblikar is a film maker and environmentalist