Bangalore going to the dogs
Hmm , that would be insulting to dogs ... just used that as an expression.
Let me see , we have :
1) Increasing power shortage - which has really worsened in the past few months : for whatever reason ! (Yep , right now no power at my house ... again X-( )
2) Roads are a mess and traffic is unbearable !
3) Water shortage has been dogging this place for like ages - and it is progressively becoming worse !
4) Everyday , without fail , in page 2 & 3 you will notive a multitude of crimes committed - which are reported : god knows how many are perpetuated and not reported !
When I came to Bangalore almost 5 years back , it looked like a pretty cool place : nice weather , reasonably quiet , comparatively low traffic and pollution , and no power or water problem that I knew of in general.
Every year hence has only worsened the situation ... so much so that , what used to be a surety that I will settle down here when I came here , is now pretty much a surety that I *will not* settle down here given a choice.
I seriously hope something gets done soon ...
Every other city seems to be making progress while Bangalore goes the opposite way - case to point , my expierences at Madras this weekend : the transformation of the place since I was last there is pretty astonishing - this inspite of having being warned about it !
This rant is sponspored by the pathetic power condition in Bangalore - no power at home now !
Let me see , we have :
1) Increasing power shortage - which has really worsened in the past few months : for whatever reason ! (Yep , right now no power at my house ... again X-( )
2) Roads are a mess and traffic is unbearable !
3) Water shortage has been dogging this place for like ages - and it is progressively becoming worse !
4) Everyday , without fail , in page 2 & 3 you will notive a multitude of crimes committed - which are reported : god knows how many are perpetuated and not reported !
When I came to Bangalore almost 5 years back , it looked like a pretty cool place : nice weather , reasonably quiet , comparatively low traffic and pollution , and no power or water problem that I knew of in general.
Every year hence has only worsened the situation ... so much so that , what used to be a surety that I will settle down here when I came here , is now pretty much a surety that I *will not* settle down here given a choice.
I seriously hope something gets done soon ...
Every other city seems to be making progress while Bangalore goes the opposite way - case to point , my expierences at Madras this weekend : the transformation of the place since I was last there is pretty astonishing - this inspite of having being warned about it !
This rant is sponspored by the pathetic power condition in Bangalore - no power at home now !
posted by Mridul at 8:18 PM
15 comments
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15 Comments:
Bangalore is making progress. Backwards. Never lived in worse condition before.
A lazy morning I thought I'll work from home, and avoid all these hassles. And then power went off. At least office runs on generator. So I started for office. By then it was too late; and traffic was even worse. Got doubly punished.
Let us do something about it. Though I wonder what.
move to mumbai..no water shortage, no load shedding and no shit.
@ Kousik
I have issues with traffic even though I stay like 5 mins away from office - by walk !
Things have never been so bad , and the worst of it all is - it is going to detreiorate more I feel :-( I really like this place : most of my friends are here ... would be a shame if I have to leave !
@ cray3
Parents are in Bombay now - was working from home for 6+ months ... and trust me , inspite of the occasional trips to Bangalore , it is worth staying in Bombay.
Only gripe I have with Bombay is - everything is so far off ! 45 mins journey is "nearby" for mumbaikars :-) Need to usually travel 2+ hours just to meet friends !!
Bombay and Pune (which is where folks were before they moved 2 years back) - both seem to be pretty decent place to settle down in ...
hmmm....
givin blore a rap in the pants seems to be the thing aint it ! I hate the traffic as much as the next guy ! and my god mg road on sun... its wud be so bad that it wud make a priest think twice whether he really needs to go for a sermon...
but in all this mess there is one heaven and it goes by the name of pecos... it almost makes up for the crap that blore has become
Pune is also not the same city it used be 5yrs back my parents staying ther say, but on my occasional visits to Pune i find it much better than bangalore.
sbds gotta to do sth abt it.. as rightly said, what ?
Nowadays it has become fashionable for some people to criticize anything that does not serve their selfish demands. Most well paid techies are selfish, intolerant, impatient, irresponsible and have total disregard for civic sense as one can see from their behaviour in public places. They are corrupt of a different kind. Most guys who only talk of Bangalore infrastructure forget that it as qualified coolies their own contribution to the city is zilch. Bangalore can survive without the money they spend which was in the first place earned by heartless and amoral means. Y should every MNC come to bangalore only?? These are the ones who are choking bangalorem to DEATH.
Well Said! I wonder why people always like to complain, but I guess it is inherent human nature. There was a peaceful green city once upon a time with happy people in it who earnt way less than the current generation. People never cared about all these materialistic stuff that has been taken over the place by craze. By2 coffee to Barista seems to be a kind of lifestyle change. All these people who have problems with Bangalore need to question their own conscious and see what they are doing to improve the situation as part of their everyday routine. Being proactive is the solution, every city that grows will go through many changes and there is certainly a phase where it is worse than other stages compounded with bad planning. I wonder how many educated people spit on the road, still continue to bribe, do any kind of community service (not giving money away from your paycheck). I can go on and on with many more things that the so called educated people do and I call them "Educated fools". There would probably be no effect on anyone reading this, but I being an ex-Bangalorean and with my family still there, will always thrive to make that place better for a better world.
@anup
This was not a 'give blr a rap when it is down' post :-)
Just a simple guys frustration with this place ...
I was just commenting on the very very rapid decline here !
Note - I was referring to the very basic requirements of a city - no mention about cost of living , exorbitant land prices , etc , etc.
@manish
sis just passed out from Pune , and she says it is still quite ok ...
My only gripe with Pune is it gets too cold : but then I find blr too cold too :-)
Being from Kerala makes you expect only two seasons - rain and no rain :-D
@anonymous 1 and anonymous 2 (anyway related to each other ? If not , please use atleast a pseudonym) :
You do not need to be hyper sensitive to any and every critisism :-)
Whatever be the reasons , there is rapid detreoration of standard of living here - and that cannot be wished away.
The argument of - leave blr to natives is no tenable ... last time I checked , it was part of India : not a seperate country :-P
Also , blaming IT for all woe's is trying to pass the buck - they were invited actively to Bangalore.
IT companies continue to be woo'ed and any loss of face vis'a'vis other IT centers in India is taken as personal injury by all ;-)
Dont forget , the revenue generated is not minimal and the growth potential if properly tapped is nontrivial.
That being said , people who emigrate to Bangalore should try to improve conditions here - no doubt about it.
For me , and many others , this is the adopted hometown for now - and should be treated as such.
If you want a shining example of where this has actually worked out - look at Bombay.
Laziness and lack of initiative in improving the conditions should not result in blaming IT/BPO/BIOTECH/etc.
Not really sure what an individual can do to improve basic necessities like power , water , etc - frugal use can be one a way, what else ?!
Why are we talking about Mumbai and Pune, it only those people who have blocked Bangalore today. Even if today all Mumbai and Pune people leave city, Bangalore stays beautiful forever.
On a serious side, action like introducing city trains would reduce the traffic. Also big companies should start up their own township near to their office location, like Hindustan Aeronautic limited, or BHEL or BEML or like any other classic limited companies. This will not only reduce the kios in the city but also give peace for the employee who work for the companies. Companies also should start adopting the outskirts of the Bangalore and built up their own township. Big Bees like Infosys, IBM, Wipro should start it so the rest of leaders also follow up. Its not laptops and Ipod what employee needs today for motivation, they need a house where they could stay peace committed to one company at for the loyalty. Employee will not only be happy but also will stick to their companies. Then chance of growth is also at medium pace in terms of kios population.
5 years ago before you/ people like you came to Bangalore it was green, non-polluted and a honest city. Now it has "turned to dogs"!!! Isn't that a funny co-incidence??? Well, IT's NOT, U and People like you are responsible for the state of the current Bangalore. If not for the materialistic interests of u'r kind banglore would not have been what it is now. What has the city gained from you??? NADA!!! What have you gained from the City??? A job, place to live, money!!! Why did you come to Bangalore in the first place?? Do Bangalore and all Bangaloreans a huge favor and go back where you came from...we have stopped entertaining bloody immigrants.
I wrote a long comment as response explaining my stand : and deleted it for this one ...
The way I read the comments above , looks like some of you cannot understand or appreciate what I wrote above - hence , there is no point in getting into a discussion here about it.
Bottomline : my opinion is - bangalore is going to the dogs.
Reason ? There has been almost no infrastructure work happening , and what is happening is being done so at a snails pace. You cannot increase the city population by 10x+ and expect it to continue on the infrastructure from 15+ years back.
You want to grow the city ,attract more talent and investment - cough up and improve the situation.
Once the companies and people start leaving this place , it will be Bangalore that will lose .. unlike previously , now there are large number of other hubs and cities where the companies can relocate to.
PS :
Abusing from people I dont know personally will not be tolerated - I will moderate if I find any comment offensive.
I appreciate the time and effort you took in reading and responding , so let us keep any discussion here civil.
Instead of moderation, I propose genocide. Starting with the two anonymous have nots. All those who made comments abt pollution, should better be walking to work.
I particularly like these creative phrases: 'heartless & amoral means'. Manjunath Ramamurthy's 'honest city'. Fuck where do these ppl crawl out from. honestly, I believe Anon 2 has some valid points.
I also believe that all cities r going through the same shit. Only in Banglaore we have an IT peg to blame things on. Other cities have dance bars.
I'm an Indian first & foremost. I also know that the national sport of bathing & dodging shit on the roads & in our lives must change. Adaptability isn't a great quality always.
anons rock my world..anons cheer up the blogosphere...life sucks without them.
Mr Surendra Babu,
I certainly can't accept your argument regarding people belonging to Bombay or Delhi leave Bangalore, to make it better.
Do you know how many non Bambaiites live in Bombay? If the folks living in Bombay telles the non Bambaiites to leave Bombay, do you think Bangalore will be able to accomodate them?
Same goes for Delhi, Calcutta as well.
Also Bangalore is getting known for it's Tech setups. How many good institutes like IIT's/REC's Bangalore have to support the hiring needs of the Tech companies? What if all IITians, NITians refuse to come to Bangalore? Do you think any of the Tech companies will keep there set up there?
Look at Delhi , how it has setup so many satellite towns to cater it needs, and so it is bagging the Commonwealth Games.
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