Tackling Bengaluru's infra challenges

The third chapter of the Mint CEO roundtable series in India's IT capital focused on the travails of urbanization, and what can be done about them

- Alokesh Bhattacharyya

Poor roads. Traffic jams. Fraying tempers. Overflowing sewers. Solid waste litter. No water. Flooded roads. Wrong-side driving. Sound familiar?

All of the above, and more, are experienced regularly in practically all of India's cities. Bengaluru, India's technology capital, is no exception. The city's problems with infrastructure—both physical and social—are well documented.

A discussion on these challenges took place recently between a group of top CEOs of Bengaluru who came together to deliberate on the challenges, and how they impact 'Brand Bangalore'.

Views were aplenty, and with varying perspectives. While some said the city's growth is good and problems are to be expected, others expressed indignation at the growing infrastructure knots and even rising misbehaviour of citizens.

Amrit Acharya of Zetwerk said he couldn't imagine living in any other city in India, but Bengaluru still manages to frustrate. One suggestion he had was to improve 'walkability'. "If you look at the best cities globally, they are extremely good for walking; in Bengaluru, you can restrict that to just the CBD (central business district)," he said.

Piyush Shah of inMobi and Dilipkumar Khandelwal of Deutsche India were more positive. Shah pointed to how the tech spectrum was widening through a new array of startups.

"We'll crib about the physical infrastructure, but the mindset infrastructure, the belief, is highly concentrated in Bengaluru," Khandelwal said.

India has several problems, but problems also translate into opportunities. "You click that opportunity and start creating ideas, and a new startup can be built," he said.