Bengaluru trials new governance model to tackle city chaos

Its experiment to address urban woes might turn out to be a blueprint for fast-expanding metropolises in India

- Rohini Mohan

Rage is a common emotion on the roads and foot paths of Bengaluru.

The Silicon Valley of India has been an administrative disaster for years, with companies such as digital trucking giant BlackBuck even threatening to leave the city over stubborn potholes that make it impossible for employees to get to work on time.

In a weary post with a heartbreak emoji on X in September, BlackBuck co-founder Rajesh Yabaji announced that after nine years, his company was moving out of Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road - home to over 500 technology companies - citing what he called the "lowest intent" to fix congestion and crumbling infrastructure.

Bengaluru's 14 million residents spend half their day stuck in gridlocked traffic. The city ranks third-worst globally in a traffic index compiled by Dutch navigation service TomTom.

Every summer, the water runs dry. Every monsoon, the city's poshest suburbs flood. Lakes have frothed over with toxic sewage. Garbage piles up for days.

Unchecked real estate developments block stormwater drains, and trees are felled with nary a permission.

Even the charms of the city's pleasant weather and high-quality beer have been wearing thin for a decade now.

"What's the single biggest problem of Bengaluru? Too many agencies working in silos, so that one lays a road and the other digs it up to lay cables the very next day," said urban activist Srinivas Alavilli, who works on Sustainable Cities and Transport at WRI India, a research organisation.

The blame for Bengaluru's dysfunction lies in the semi-independent functioning of at least a dozen state government-controlled organisations or parastatals, in addition to the city corporation. These agencies handling water and electricity supplies, sewage management, garbage disposal, buses, metros and roads chase their own plans, rarely talking to one another.