Bangalore needs to address some serious issues to sustain growth….

I have spent almost four years now in the garden city of Bangalore. I have witnessed the rapid growth in the infrastructure here in that period of time – roads, shops and malls, multiplex theatres, ring roads (albeit they are tolled right now), meaningful flyovers that really reduce commuter time without creating bottlenecks, and of course, housing societies. It is absolutely incredible to see that almost every other day, new housing complexes with all modern amenities required, and plush and spacious villas are coming up on the outskirts of the city at strategic locations.

People in my hometown in Kolkata, who have never been here, knowingly or otherwise have always showered praise and expressed awe at the mere thought of their son/daughter getting a job here. However, are things really that good here? Or to put it in another way, are all the good things that are happening here really enough to sustain this unprecedented mad growth in human capital? The question becomes all the more relevant, especially, when we consider that Bangalore is the IT hub of India, almost 35% of India’s technical workforce are based here.

The two biggest problems here according to me are the availability of electricity and water. These are, on the whole, India’s problems as well, but it seems that other cities are better off. These problems are even more exaggerated in summer. One wonders during that time, when water supply is only for a couple of hours a day, that how on earth we are working in the world’s biggest company, and at the same time do not have enough water to take a shower at a convenient time.

In my childhood days, I had heard stories about the dark days in villages. Apart from regular power cuts, there is another problem that exists in rural India. The power goes off as soon the wind picks up to 50 km/hr, or there is slight heavy rainfall with lightening. This is exactly the phenomenon that is commonplace in Bangalore. Sometimes we get the impression that we are living in a remote village in Bihar or Chattisgarh and not in the Silicon Valley of India.

Hence the bottom line is irrespective of how much improvement is achieved in infrastructure and job creation, it is imperative and obligatory for Bangalore to provide uninterrupted supply of electricity and power to all its citizens all the time. Otherwise, it would not be long before Gurgaon, Noida and Pune would become flocking capitals for India’s youth brigade.