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Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
What do Bengaluru's youth really care about?
Is activism dead in Bengaluru? I thought about this as I waded through knee-deep water in South Bengaluru. Once again, the rains are upon us, and once again, the city is waterlogged. Netizens in other cities are gleeful. Bengaluru gets half the rain of Mumbai, and has half the population, said one. Yet it suffers from more flooding than Mumbai, every time it rains. What will it take for this city to wake up and get BBMP to do its job? Am I living in Varthur or Venice, asked dancer Ramaa Bharadwaj on Facebook? We need gondolas to wade through our streets. Does Bengaluru lack the time or inclination to protest and seek good governance? Is it because we are an IT and tech city that keeps workers so busy that it induces brain fog for everything else? One citizen, though, has taken action. Dhivya Kiran, 43, from Richmond Town has served a 50-lakh legal notice to BBMP stating that he has suffered 'physical agony and emotional trauma,' directly because of Bengaluru's potholed and damaged roads. On May 14, his advocate KV Laveen served a legal notice that lists physical and emotional pain directly caused by Bengaluru's roads: jerky stop and go traffic resulting in 'severe neck and back pain,' that had him make four emergency trips to the hospital and orthopaedic doctors. Well done, I say. Finally. It is not as if Bengaluru doesn't have citizen groups. The list is long. There are organisations like Oorvani which publishes Citizen Matters, a great read for those who want to keep in touch with civic action groups and their activities. I Change Indiranagar, HSR Citizen Forum and other flourishing neighbourhood Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) mobilise their neighbourhoods. National organisations like Janaagraha began in Bangalore. Some offer channels of intersection between government and society: Bangalore Political Action Group (BPAC), Rise up for Rights, Friends of Lakes and others come to mind. In addition, groups like Namma Bengaluru Foundation, Aravani Art Project, CIVIC Bangalore, Flourishing Bengaluru Collective, and many others also attempt to make governance accountable. What is interesting though is that many of these efforts are spearheaded by land-owning, home-owning middle-aged folks. Remember when colleges were the hotbed of protests? Well, that doesn't seem to happen in Bengaluru; which leads me to the question: what do Bengaluru's youth care about? What uniquely animates Bengaluru's youth relative to say Delhi, Mumbai, Shanghai or San Francisco? Sure, all these cities have ambitious, insecure, anxious, eco-conscious, evolved young people. Some even ditch their jobs to volunteer, write poetry, climb mountains, and start companies. The problem though is the immigrant nature of Bengaluru's population. Attend any launch event in Central Bengaluru, and you'll hear Hindi, not Kannada. Upwardly mobile Bengalureans, it seems, are from elsewhere. They throng to Bengaluru, attracted by its cosmopolitan populace, great weather and startup culture. Bengaluru thus has become a city of immigrants, where nobody takes ownership of its issues (save a few patron saints of lost causes). Why would people protest when Bengaluru seems better than where they came from? The second reason for this lack of activism is what the city does to your psyche. At the end of the day, Bengalureans like many South Indians are not inherently flashy. We keep it down-and-low. Our humble-bragging and hustling is restricted to LinkedIn. This is the problem. Where is the time to protest and join parades when you are happy eating benne dose in CTR or bird-watching in Cubbon Park? The simmering prolonged discontentment that needs to happen in order for collective action to take place simply doesn't exist here because the Bengalurean is inherently live-and-let-live in nature. But back to the question: what do Bengaluru's youth care about? If I had to pick one, I would say that they yearn for community, perhaps because they move here sans family or friends, to get a job, most often at a startup, where they are surrounded by rootless folks just like them. If you are in your 20s or 30s in Bangalore, you learn quickly to join groups, to speed-date, to attend art, yoga, journaling or hand-pan music workshops, improv theatre classes, and niche clubs for board games, manga, anime and quiz. All that coding during the day must result in a longing for something physical and sexual because dance classes are huge, ranging from pole dancing to salsa to get this— lap dancing. It seems that finally, a city that was defined by tech is learning to embrace the humanities, and here lies my hope. In order to save the world, you have to read Homer and enjoy Keats. You have to read UR Ananthamurthy and Kuvempu, attend Shivarama Karanth's yakshagana revivals, learn to draw like Hebbar and attend performances under Chowdiah's violin. The humanities humanise us. They make us care. They allow for empathy. If you are sitting in a cubicle, you won't care about the woman wading through water. The great thing about the comeback of the arts into Bengaluru's ecosystem is that it offers hope for a more empathetic society. Cross pollination between the worlds of art and tech may nudge us to collectively demand better governance from our politicians and bureaucrats. So yes, activism may have been dead in Bengaluru during the go-go years of IT. But thanks to art, theatre and music, it may well make a comeback. (Shoba Narayan is Bengaluru-based award-winning author. She is also a freelance contributor who writes about art, food, fashion and travel for a number of publications.)
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Richmond Town resident sends legal notice to BBMP over crumbling roads
A 43-year-old resident of Richmond Town, Dhivya Kiran, has issued a legal notice to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), holding the civic body accountable for its negligence. He has also indicated plans to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) if remedial action is not taken to the legal notice, Kiran has been suffering from chronic neck pain, allegedly worsened by the city's damaged and uneven roads. The condition has made commuting by auto-rickshaw and two-wheelers nearly impossible, while even cab rides remain physically claims to have made four emergency visits to St. Philomena's Hospital, consulted five orthopedic specialists, and undergone several medical procedures all of which he attributes to the deteriorating road conditions.'This is not just a personal issue but a collective one,' the notice reads, highlighting the silent suffering of numerous Bengalureans facing similar health challenges due to pothole-ridden the BBMP of gross negligence and failure to maintain public infrastructure, the notice demands `50 lakh in compensation for medical expenses, mental anguish, physical pain, and disruption of normal has warned that if the civic agency does not take swift remedial steps, he will pursue the matter further through a PIL. Legal experts believe the case could set an important precedent in holding civic bodies accountable for the public health consequences of poor infrastructure.
Economic Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Bengaluru alert: A gaping deficit amid tech and biz surplus
PTI A waterlogged locality in Bengaluru after the rains Bengaluru is a bipolar metropolis. While it is India's poster town for its IT services industry and modern business hub with its startups, GCCs and financial services, the new India, it is also a textbook case of failed civic governance that weighs down most of India's urban centres, a legacy problem that persists despite the country's forward push. A Bengaluru resident's legal action has thrown the city's gaping civic governance deficit in a stark relief. Dhivya Kiran, 43, from Richmond Town, served a legal notice to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) demanding Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the 'physical agony and emotional trauma' he claims to have endured while commuting through the city's poor roads. 'Bengaluru roads are a mess. Even the smallest pothole can cause so much distress,' he told NDTV. According to him, the roads have left him not only in physical pain but also emotionally drained. It's only a matter of time before someone sues the BBMP for bad flood management too. A nearly two-day spell of heavy rain has disrupted life in the city, turning streets into canals. In a dramatic move, a local BJP MLA visited Sai Layout, one of the worst-hit areas, riding an earthmoving JCB machine. A prolonged power outage on Sunday caused by thundershowers left several parts without electricity, overwhelming Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) with over 33,000 distress calls from has become a permanent feature for the city every year. Rapid growth has strained its infrastructure, leading to frequent flooding. Unplanned development has put pressure on civic infrastructure. Studies from the Indian Institute of Science reveal that the city has lost 88% of its green cover over the past four decades, while concrete areas have increased elevenfold. This change has reduced the city's capacity to absorb rainwater, making over 85% of Bengaluru susceptible to flooding. Experts point out that construction on former lake sites has worsened the situation. Additionally, clogged drains have hindered the flow of rainwater, contributing to the celebrated as India's Silicon Valley and home to many MNCs, Bengaluru is under pressure to address infrastructure shortcomings. The situation has sparked widespread concerns, with many pointing out that frequent flooding and poor road conditions directly impact business operations, especially along critical routes like the Outer Ring Road (ORR), which houses numerous IT parks. Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development minister D K Shivakumar has announced today that Rs 2,000 crore will be spent on fixing storm water drains in the city. "Ever since I took over as the Bengaluru Development Minister, we have fixed flooding issues in 166 (70 per cent) of those localities. Flood prevention work is currently going on in 24 areas while work would soon be taken up in the remaining 20 areas. We have built 197 km of storm water drains," he flood problem is also structural. Lakes interconnected with canals and drains constitute basic stormwater collection systems for any city. However, rapid urbanization and increasing land demand have led to uncontrolled developmental activities in lakes' neighborhoods, further resulting in encroachment of lakes and storm water drains. As per a CAG audit in 2021, which examined storm-water drain management, from 1,452 water bodies with a storage capacity of 35tmcft of water during the early 1800s, water bodies in Bengaluru dipped to 194 with storage capacity of 5tmcft by per an IISc study, the built-up area (concretisation) in Bengaluru is estimated to have increased by more than 1,000% since the 1970s. From about 8% in 1973, it was at 93. 3% at the end of 2022. Increase in concretisation and impervious layer result in an increase of stormwater runoff. Higher the runoff, more the governments and citizens must share the blame for Bengaluru's water woes. Poor planning, lack of vision (government itself has allowed conversion of many lakes for residential purposes, approved plans for construction on lake beds, storm water drains, not maintained waterbodies and so on) and enforcement point fingers at the government. However, citizens, too, are guilty of encroachments, pollution of water bodies and storm water drains, illegal constructions and more.A TOI report a few years ago had spelled out the code that can fix Bengaluru's flood problem. The government should formulate a comprehensive policy which clearly recognizes urban runoff as a potential source of water, requiring a clear plan of action for conservation. BBMP must prevent further reduction in water bodies and length of the natural drains and ensure inter-connectivity of waterbodies for proper conservation of the ecosystem as well as groundwater. BBMP and BWSSB should jointly prepare a plan of action to prevent sewage flow into storm water drains; their implementation should be monitored by the Karnataka government. State government and Bangalore Development Authority should take immediate action to finalise and notify revised 'masterplan' to prevent encroachments of waterbodies and rectify the omissions with regard to SWDs. BBMP must prepare a comprehensive database of SWDs in coordination with other agencies to serve as a single source for effective planning and management of stormwater much water to handle is not the only problem of Bengaluru -- it also often suffers from too little water. Almost every summer, Bengaluru gets parched, sometimes leading to rationing of water use by residents. Add traffic congestion and bad roads to these problems, and Bengaluru begins to look like a dystopian metropolis in the making. Bengaluru's infrastructure challenges are prompting companies to seek more conducive environments for their operations. To retain its status as India's premier tech hub, the city must address these issues promptly, ensuring sustainable growth and continued investment from both domestic and international businesses. As the list of civic problems faced by the tech capital becomes longer, companies are opening up to the idea of expanding their operations beyond Bengaluru as quality talent is now available at emerging hubs and that too at 25–30 percent lower cost than in the major centres, as per a report by Nasscom-Deloitte released last landscape of India's IT industry has started to shift away from primary technology hubs. After Bengaluru, the first tech hub of India, there are six others: Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. But recently, the growth of these matured hubs has started tapering due to multiple factors. With remote work, the opportunity for tech sector employees to work outside these locations became a reality. At the same time, the pressure on the infrastructure of these locations continues to be a challenge. The costs of talent and operations are also increasing. Consequently, companies must explore alternative locations for setting up or expanding their operations in India, said the on observation of trends and discussions with industry leaders, the report said 26 Tier 2 cities have emerged to represent the 'next wave of technology hubs', providing an opportunity for sustainable and scalable growth for the tech industry. Several technology enterprises have strategically established their operational centres in emerging locations to fully capitalise on the diverse opportunities available to population is expected to touch nearly 20 million by 2031 from the current nearly 14 million. This would mean heavier pressure on resources and infrastructure. The city must develop to cater to this large population increase or it could lose its iconic status as India's Silicon Valley as better tech hubs emerge across the country. To restore its iconic status, experts say, it must boost investments in sustainable water management, infrastructure upgrades, and public transportation initiatives. (With inputs from TOI)
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bengaluru alert: A gaping deficit amid tech and biz surplus
Live Events How to fix Bengaluru's flood problem Civic deficit can drive businesses away (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Bengaluru is a bipolar metropolis. While it is India's poster town for its IT services industry and modern business hub with its startups, GCCs and financial services, the new India, it is also a textbook case of failed civic governance that weighs down most of India's urban centres, a legacy problem that persists despite the country's forward push.A Bengaluru resident's legal action has thrown the city's gaping civic governance deficit in a stark relief. Dhivya Kiran, 43, from Richmond Town, served a legal notice to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike ( BBMP ) demanding Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the 'physical agony and emotional trauma' he claims to have endured while commuting through the city's poor roads. 'Bengaluru roads are a mess. Even the smallest pothole can cause so much distress,' he told NDTV. According to him, the roads have left him not only in physical pain but also emotionally only a matter of time before someone sues the BBMP for bad flood management too. A nearly two-day spell of heavy rain has disrupted life in the city, turning streets into canals. In a dramatic move, a local BJP MLA visited Sai Layout, one of the worst-hit areas, riding an earthmoving JCB machine. A prolonged power outage on Sunday caused by thundershowers left several parts without electricity, overwhelming Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) with over 33,000 distress calls from has become a permanent feature for the city every year. Rapid growth has strained its infrastructure, leading to frequent flooding. Unplanned development has put pressure on civic infrastructure. Studies from the Indian Institute of Science reveal that the city has lost 88% of its green cover over the past four decades, while concrete areas have increased elevenfold. This change has reduced the city's capacity to absorb rainwater, making over 85% of Bengaluru susceptible to flooding. Experts point out that construction on former lake sites has worsened the situation. Additionally, clogged drains have hindered the flow of rainwater, contributing to the celebrated as India's Silicon Valley and home to many MNCs, Bengaluru is under pressure to address infrastructure shortcomings. The situation has sparked widespread concerns, with many pointing out that frequent flooding and poor road conditions directly impact business operations, especially along critical routes like the Outer Ring Road (ORR), which houses numerous IT Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development minister D K Shivakumar has announced today that Rs 2,000 crore will be spent on fixing storm water drains in the city. "Ever since I took over as the Bengaluru Development Minister, we have fixed flooding issues in 166 (70 per cent) of those localities. Flood prevention work is currently going on in 24 areas while work would soon be taken up in the remaining 20 areas. We have built 197 km of storm water drains," he flood problem is also structural. Lakes interconnected with canals and drains constitute basic stormwater collection systems for any city. However, rapid urbanization and increasing land demand have led to uncontrolled developmental activities in lakes' neighborhoods, further resulting in encroachment of lakes and storm water drains. As per a CAG audit in 2021, which examined storm-water drain management, from 1,452 water bodies with a storage capacity of 35tmcft of water during the early 1800s, water bodies in Bengaluru dipped to 194 with storage capacity of 5tmcft by per an IISc study, the built-up area (concretisation) in Bengaluru is estimated to have increased by more than 1,000% since the 1970s. From about 8% in 1973, it was at 93. 3% at the end of 2022. Increase in concretisation and impervious layer result in an increase of stormwater runoff. Higher the runoff, more the governments and citizens must share the blame for Bengaluru's water woes. Poor planning, lack of vision (government itself has allowed conversion of many lakes for residential purposes, approved plans for construction on lake beds, storm water drains, not maintained waterbodies and so on) and enforcement point fingers at the government. However, citizens, too, are guilty of encroachments, pollution of water bodies and storm water drains, illegal constructions and more.A TOI report a few years ago had spelled out the code that can fix Bengaluru's flood problem. The government should formulate a comprehensive policy which clearly recognizes urban runoff as a potential source of water, requiring a clear plan of action for conservation. BBMP must prevent further reduction in water bodies and length of the natural drains and ensure inter-connectivity of waterbodies for proper conservation of the ecosystem as well as groundwater. BBMP and BWSSB should jointly prepare a plan of action to prevent sewage flow into storm water drains; their implementation should be monitored by the Karnataka government. State government and Bangalore Development Authority should take immediate action to finalise and notify revised 'masterplan' to prevent encroachments of waterbodies and rectify the omissions with regard to SWDs. BBMP must prepare a comprehensive database of SWDs in coordination with other agencies to serve as a single source for effective planning and management of stormwater much water to handle is not the only problem of Bengaluru -- it also often suffers from too little water. Almost every summer, Bengaluru gets parched, sometimes leading to rationing of water use by residents. Add traffic congestion and bad roads to these problems, and Bengaluru begins to look like a dystopian metropolis in the making. Bengaluru's infrastructure challenges are prompting companies to seek more conducive environments for their operations. To retain its status as India's premier tech hub, the city must address these issues promptly, ensuring sustainable growth and continued investment from both domestic and international the list of civic problems faced by the tech capital becomes longer, companies are opening up to the idea of expanding their operations beyond Bengaluru as quality talent is now available at emerging hubs and that too at 25–30 percent lower cost than in the major centres, as per a report by Nasscom-Deloitte released last landscape of India's IT industry has started to shift away from primary technology hubs. After Bengaluru, the first tech hub of India, there are six others: Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. But recently, the growth of these matured hubs has started tapering due to multiple factors. With remote work, the opportunity for tech sector employees to work outside these locations became a reality. At the same time, the pressure on the infrastructure of these locations continues to be a challenge. The costs of talent and operations are also increasing. Consequently, companies must explore alternative locations for setting up or expanding their operations in India, said the on observation of trends and discussions with industry leaders, the report said 26 Tier 2 cities have emerged to represent the 'next wave of technology hubs', providing an opportunity for sustainable and scalable growth for the tech industry. Several technology enterprises have strategically established their operational centres in emerging locations to fully capitalise on the diverse opportunities available to population is expected to touch nearly 20 million by 2031 from the current nearly 14 million. This would mean heavier pressure on resources and infrastructure. The city must develop to cater to this large population increase or it could lose its iconic status as India's Silicon Valley as better tech hubs emerge across the country. To restore its iconic status, experts say, it must boost investments in sustainable water management, infrastructure upgrades, and public transportation initiatives.(With inputs from TOI)
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Business Standard
20-05-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
Hit by bad roads, Bengaluru man sends civic body ₹50 lakh notice for trauma
Citing physical pain and mental distress from pothole-ridden roads, the Bengaluru resident has demanded ₹50 lakh in damages from the civic body Nandini Singh New Delhi A 43-year-old resident of Bengaluru's Richmond Town has issued a legal notice to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), seeking ₹50 lakh as compensation for alleged physical and emotional trauma caused by poorly maintained roads in the city, reported India Today. Dhivya Kiran, in his notice, stated that despite being a tax-paying citizen, he has been subjected to 'continuous physical hardship and mental agony' due to the BBMP's 'blatant failure to maintain basic civic infrastructure,' including deep potholes, broken and uneven pathways, and unmotorable road surfaces. Pain, distress linked to bad roads The notice also claims that Kiran developed severe neck and back pain, which doctors have linked to jerks and trauma experienced while commuting on damaged roads. He reportedly made five visits to orthopaedic specialists and four emergency visits to St Philomena's Hospital, where he received injections and other treatments for pain relief. The notice also details episodes of intense pain, sleep loss, anxiety, and mental distress, all of which have had a substantial impact on his everyday life. Kiran stated that he is now unable to travel by auto-rickshaw or two-wheeler, and even cab rides are uncomfortable, restricting his mobility and affecting both personal and professional commitments. Legal notice warns of civil suit The legal notice demands that BBMP pay ₹50 lakh within 15 days to cover medical expenses (past and anticipated), emotional distress, physical suffering, travel costs for medical consultations, and the overall trauma caused by poor road conditions. An additional ₹10,000 is sought for legal notice charges. Kiran has also warned that failure to respond will result in additional legal action, such as filing a civil lawsuit for damages, initiating a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court, and approaching the Lokayukta and the State Human Rights Commission.
