Travails of a Tech city. Review on Bengaluru International Airport - Bangalore

Its time I gave an honest opinion since I know it better than others.

Previously, a pensioner’s paradise with idyllic houses & a lot of greenery around. Now a concrete jungle with hardly any. The population in the early 80’s was 2.8 million. S/W companies crept in. Wham! Now it’s 6.4 million. With that kind of influx, the 'Town's just not prepared. The city needs to be revamped - & fast. That’s a 38% growth decade after decade.

Languages - Kannada, English, Hindi, Urdu,Tamil, Malyalam & Telugu

What’s bad? The S/W culture took roots in Bangalore. Due to it a huge influx, & what used to be a leisure drive, is now a traffic mess. It’s so difficult you can drive past a cop with a red signal. That bad. Earlier there was nothing about changing lanes except for the ricks. Now it’s an everyday rule.

Illegal constructions block part of the city drains. It’s a problem in some new areas that the drainage water just lies on the roads. Even worse, the residents stage dharnas to stop the demolition of illegal constructions! Their message - Build a home with all violations & stage a dharna! Roads at their worst with potholes getting bigger thanks to corrupt politicians. The older parts of the city are still neatly planned and built. Simply because there were stricter norms then. I hate rows of apartments. I would rather see a line of houses. Because they cut out air & look ugly.

The urban poor has also increased along with millionaires. Now its difficult to buy a house in an already costly city. At Hyderabad for ex., the advance is 2-3 times the normal rent. Here it is 10 - 30 times the rental value. The strain due to the population influx has also seen an increase in the real estate costs. The slow pace of reforms in infrastructure or other fields just don’t keep up with the city’s growth.

True, most changes carried out have no bearing to any of us as residents. It is in direct response to the industrial needs of the city - be it Hosur road with a peak of 17000 vehicles rushing per hour, the international airport; Bangalore - Mysore Expressway or a simple unwanted flyover just to fill a politician’s pocket. (The Malleswaram Police station flyover is halted once again)

It’s no assumption that this is a corrupt govt. Under Krishna’s rule, you could dream of getting a plot of land for cheap rates (Thanks to Jerome) Now that’s an illusion with more than half the original land eaten up. Guess who?The state budget should have been in the positive due to the various taxes. Hell! We even pay a petrol surcharge the highest in this country for development projects. Only corruption seems to eat a huge percent. For every road allocated, or public work carried out, there are several layers of corruption as deep rooted as anything else. Otherwise explain why the current government is dilly dallying on the Metro project instead of initiating it? (The monorail means higher commissions for them) Right from the RTO to paying a huge bribe for getting your land/site registered. They still prefer manual instead of the online system just for this reason. Can you imagine why corrupt people went on a holiday after locking all their wealth on (Lok Ayuktha) Venkatachalam’s last day of work? As head of the anti corruption squad the number of surprise checks he performed are too impressive. But what happens once arrested? The legal cases against most are still pending (80 % are still pending) while a few are voided due to death, time or lack of evidence. Suffice to say, that only the corrupt with the least influence are caught.

Crime is shooting up. Not the crime as present in some of the Metros. It is your everyday chain snatching, mobile theft, ATM robberies, coercion. Hell, these affect a common man most. And the police prefer not to report it as crime simply because they prefer to show the rate downwards.

The murders of Pratibha & Tania were exceptions to the rule. It was a major event for Bangalore. If it were other cities it'd be a small column on the midpage. But that was important enough to reach the front page in Bangalore. If you noticed the activity on security issues in the BPO’s & SW companies you would notice that security is taken seriously.

The weather. Kids may get some health and nasal issues due to allergins and pollen. The incidence of health issues associated with lungs, nose and other such air related are quite high. Running noses, bronchitis and asthmatics, please try & restrict visits to summer. The weather is cool and nothing extreme, mostly windy unless you are situated between apartments. Best part is it fluctuates between 14 - 30 degrees. 30 is scorching hot.

What’s good? It has made a name for itself as the software hub globally. ‘He’s been Bangalored’ is a term most Americans are familiar with. It simply means he’s lost his job to someone in Bangalore. That’s a hard earned reputation, but to what cost?

Along with the general influx of people from other parts of India, we now see a steady trickle of foreigners. (As in the 80’s) But now the trickle is higher. Check out any hot spots in Bangalore on a Friday & you understand what I mean. That’s good in a way. It helps to keep Bangalore’s multicultural image. A true Kannadiga still resents it when other languages are spoken exactly for the loss of his language in his state capital, but he’s secretly happy for umpteen others.

Greenspots - LalBagh, Cubbon Park (Hardly), Hebbal tank park are the 3 major ones. Of course there are the small & medium sized parks in every layout & area.

Hotspots and Hicspots - Actually a lack of good tourist spots. Once a city of lakes now reduced to just Madiwala, Hebbal & Sankey tank. I am tired of showing the same Vidhana Soudha/Cubbon Park/ Lal Bagh/Museum/ aquarium/planetarium to relatives down for a visit, simply because they lie in the same vicinity. The lesser known spots are the ISKCON temple, Bull temple, Bangalore palace, Venkatappa art gallery, Tipu’s palace, Shiva’s statue. (If I’ve forgotten others, do add) But nearby Blore you have better ones like Nandi Hills, Bannerghatta national park, Bandipur, Hampi, Sravanabelagola, Mekedaatu, the big Banyan tree & umpteen places worth a dekko.

I guess you heard it by now. Yup, it’s a major Hic! spots with a few good ones. A new one to be opened soon - Saigon (21st Aug). Hotel lodgings are reasonably priced compared to some of the other locations. Nightlife compared to Bombay, is in it’s infancy since most are closed after 11:30. Talking hotspots, Wifi hotspots in India are 103 & Blore has 94 of them. (https://wi-fihotspotlist.com/browse/intl/2000044/p1.html An indicator of a city’s tech savvy image. That’s one thing it don’t lack)

Some of the best research institutes IISc and the Jack Welch technology center (GE) an answer to most research foundations. Also a manufacturing hub for three sectors - Aerospace, Space and defence. & we might be lucky to see our own IIT.

It retains its eminent position as the leading S/W provider with USD 8.9 billon of 22.4 Billon exports. That’s natural considering that it is the 3rd city in the world with the highest FDI.

Is that consolation enough despite all setbacks?