I was pointed to this article in The Hindu newspaper by my dad today “IT sector has done more harm than good to the city“. Bangalore as a brand has taken a huge beating over the last few years. Roads, garbage is a huge problem. But partly we citizens are to be blamed for the mess.
Few points from the article,
- People do not realise that Bangalore is actually a dying city.
- The proposed Information and Communication Technology Region that will require an acquisition of 14,500 acres of land in and around the city for the development of the IT sector. This will create an additional 1.2 million jobs and thereby, increase population by 50 lakh (5 million).
- Bangalore will require an additional power of 1,200 MW, additional drinking water of 750 million litres a day (MLD), and 600 MLD sewage and 1,800 tonnes of solid waste a day would be generated.
- According to the Institute of Public Health, 59 per cent of water supplied to Bangalore is not potable. The water from borewells and pipes (Cauvery) contain 8.4 per cent and 19 per cent of E. Coli bacteria respectively.
- Of the 937 lakes (as per old revenue records), less than 200 lakes are “live lakes”.
Only citizens of Bangalore can save the city
There are several resident welfare associations in Bangalore which are working hard to keep their locality clean. NGOs like United Way of Bengaluru are doing a great job in reviving lakes. But these efforts are not enough because there are too many powerful people who want to encroach our natural resources.
If things continue this way real estate market in Bangalore will take a beating.
I have always believed in imparting the importance of cleanliness and environment early in school. An investment in students will show good results in a decade.
In spite of all these problems, Bangalore is still the favourite city for startups, IT, internet & mobile companies. This is mainly due to the weather and local people being very welcoming to people from any part of the world.
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