Bengaluru (Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse (13 Part Series)

 Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part One

In less that five years and in probably three, the Garden City in Southern India will go bust. That area of that city is less than the area of Alleghany County,Virginia and yet it has 15 million people and 10.5 million registered vehicles. At the turn of the century, it has 5 million people. In forty years the number of lakes has decreased from 1000 to 200 as rampant construction destroyed so many. Only 10% of its commuters use metro daily and there have been no added public buses in the last 6-7 years.

Over 30% of Bengaluru people live in its 400 slums. In 8 years,housing shorting will reach 2.5 million. Water supply is now less than water demand by a full one-third. This City in the Deccan Valley will "sink into quicksand" unless the following measures in the next posts are adapted.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Two

If there is ever the case that a certain amount of genuine socialism is needed in governance, it is Bengaluru (Bangalore is the old colonial name given by British slavemasters). Unbridled capitalism has plunged that Karnatakan city into the brink of ruin. Private splendor should never result into public squalor. Yet that is what is happening.

Many storm drains linking rainwater into lakes have been blocked by the construction of buildings and roads. Others have been poorly maintained. Also complexes were built in the valley's low-lying agricultural land, further causing devastating environmental damage.

The Indian central (federal) government unfortunately will have no choice but to eventually impose its rule in as much as it did in Kashmir and Ladakh. The local and state politicians have failed to interject a certain amount of proper socialism needed to save that city from inevitable disaster.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Three

If there is ever a case scenario in which a flawed democratic model has failed, it would be the development of Bengaluru. India's third largest city is "headed off the cliff" because of current malgovernance. There is a saying that on its own and left alone, it will correct itself. That is not the case in this case. If that was indeed the case, Bengaluru would not be in the predicament it is in now.

Governance works when there is a proper structure in place. While ridding itself of parliamentary democracy and BAR Council and replacing with a tripartite system of governance would be a long-term goal, the most immediate concern would be to address the current malaise. Please read the following reasons why Bengaluru will soon no longer be viable.

1. There is no unified and central command in its governance. It is really a maze of entities( governmental, NGOs, quasi-independent). The right foot and left do not know what each other are doing. Co-ordination is totally lacking. Even within government there is no proper communication.

2. Too much government and governance can be bad. However, too little government and a lack of governance can be equally bad if not worse. When that city's municipal jurisdiction expanded by 300% and its ward numbers by 100%, administrative capabilities were not properly expanded to meet its proper demand. Lack of proper zoning laws led to massive building at the grave expense of the environment. Infrastructure also crumbled as it could not keep pace. Open drains, garbage litter, and traffic jams were the result.

3. The nexus of politician-businessman-builder has also mired that city with its ad hoc development and its ensuing corruption. Single window meant window for speed money. This helped to destroy a thriving eco-system.

4. As natural agricultural wetlands are being destroyed, water tables are decreasing. This will lead to starvation at some point.

5. Rampant corruption between civic bodies and their corrupt influences of the courts has caused so many bottlenecks in taking steps to have the city orderly planned. Lack of transparency because of lack of proper audit trail has enabled this impending disaster.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Four

Anytime people are faced with natural disasters, pandemics, lack of water, and pollution, everyone is "in the same boat". It is obvious that the people in charge presently are not going to solve the problem. This matter has to be "kicked upstairs". There are simply too many state and local politicians who are "on the take" or are too incompetent to prevent this inevitable collapse from happening.

Sooner rather than later, the Central Government will have to intervene and impose its dictatorial mandates in order to save "The Silicon Plateau". While this should always be the last resort, it is still a resort. An blatant example of this was the American Civil War in which President Lincoln established his dictatorship in order to save the Union and also save the South from being completely ruled by agricultural landlords.

Rather than the Central Government sending the military to this Southern Indian city as there would be huge political backlash, my next post will deal with measures that the Indian Central Government should take to avoid catastrophe without doing anything too extreme. Desperate situations call for desperate measures and that was the case in Kashmir and Ladakh in which the military intervened and martial law was declared. Hopefully Bengaluru will not reach that stage and if the measures cited in the next post are similarly adapted, it should not.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Five

Currently there are four ministries, the mayor's office, and two autonomous(quasi-independent) bodies that oversee the eight number of civic agencies. For the next five years, Bengaluru needs to implement a reorganization and restructuring plan.

There needs to a central government "pointperson" to head this plan. This individual should have an office in Bengaluru, which is the state capitol. This official does not take take decisions but when there is possible conflict between the government agencies, this official refers it to the pointperson in Prime Minister's Office with his recommendation. Decision is taken at the PMO's office and is relayed to the central government official in Bengaluru. This "pointperson" conveys that decision to the appropriate government agencies for execution.

That "pointperson" oversees and co-ordinates all government activities in the handling of all that city's amenities. All eight civic agencies need to report to this office. The ministries of urban development, state energy, transport, and industries need to be disbanded as they are currently controlled by the legislative body for the next five years. The mayor and the autonomous boards have to be stripped of its control of the three other agencies.

The "pointperson" can be referred to as the Governor of Bengaluru. Any decisions in the form of mandates, policies, and law have to implemented by this Governor's office.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Six

The head executives of the eight agencies are chosen by four junior electors. If there is a tie between these four, then the senior elector breaks the tie and votes for the candidate for the head executive positions that at least one of the junior electors has chosen for each of the eight agencies.

All five of these electors are chosen by the Members of Parliament who belong to that state(Karnataka) and are not serving in the greater Bengaluru area. The Chief Minister nominates 15 of the most qualified people to serve as electors.

The electors and head executives cannot be current Members of Parliament (central) nor Members Of Legislative Assembly (state).

It must be taken into account that these measures are only temporary for a five year period.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Seven

For five years the central government should be in charge of Bengaluru. While the heads of agencies should be state(Karnatakan) citizens, ultimately the Prime Minister Office takes final decision.

The basic mandates should be to limit congestion in that city.

1. Limit people from moving into the city. Emergency rule means that city should be treated as a foreign enclave. People who wish to move and then permanently settle in that city must get special passports as that will be greatly restricted. Temporary visitors such as students and migrant laborers must acquire visas that has to be renewed on a yearly basis.

2. Limit residential construction to flat (apartment) building only.

No construction in areas deemed as vegetative or within 250 meters(820 feet) of a water body. All new construction must not take place on bare land. It can only be conducted on land in which building structure(s) already exist.

3. All construction permits are to be issued by the respective agencies and also recorded in the Governor's Office. The Governor's Office will provide oversight at its discretion to determine if construction abides by the mandates set forth by the Central Government PMO.

4. All residents living in environmentally-sensitive areas as deemed by the Governor's Office per the basic mandates of the PMO, have to be relocated to new facilities in the Bangalore International Airport area. That area is 55% the area size of the current city's boundaries managed by the municipal corporation. These residents will be compensated for their actual investment that is inflation-adjusted at 3%. They will then stay in new flats constructed under the auspices of central government and pay rent based on building replacement value.

5. After the five years of emergency rule, the state (Karnatakan) government should be given first option to buy the buildings at inflation-adjusted replacement value. Then they can gradually sell ,as per the time table set by the PMO, to current occupants at a marked-up value of 15% individual flats. After that time table expires the state government can offer the flats, at the same mark-up value inflation-adjusted at 3%, to any individual(s) residing in the BIA and the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation during a specific time table. After that 2nd time table expires, for any flats and buildings still under the ownership of the state government, offers can be made to any commercial or individual entity residing in the state of Karnataka.

Please read my next posts for a continuation of the delineation of central government mandates via the PMO.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Eight

During the five years of Reorganization and Restructuring By Emergency Rule, all construction of buildings and transit must be conducted by companies chosen by the PMO (Prime Minister's Office). It must be an open bidding process and no company can have its headquarters in either Delhi, the Prime Minister's home state, or in the city limits of Bengaluru. Foreign companies should be allowed to bid as well.

No company can participate in multi-sector construction. This means that if a company does construction of commercial residential buildings, that company cannot do construction of industrial buildings such as utilities, of water and land restoration, and of any transit infrastructure such as roads, rail networks, and fly overs.

During a crisis of governance such as this, allowing private participation can be considered to be fascist. However, temporary and one-time fascist measures are needed in dire situations like this to properly conduct this rescue mission. An analogy to the Bengaluru patient should be that if a patient is dying, a doctor must do what it takes to resuscitate the patient without causing that patient long-tern harm.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Nine

All households have to be limited to one car per household. For households which have more than one car, they must sell the additional car to a Central Government Agency at a depreciated value. That Central Government Agency can then sell the scraps and spare parts to local Bengaluruan businesses.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Ten

During the five year period of Central Government rule, no people living outside the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation should be allowed to travel within the city limits by car. They can travel from outside the city to the inside of city limits only be mass transit, vans, auto rickshaws, or motorcycles.

Cars cause too much congestion and its numbers traveling within the city limits must decrease. The government agency responsible for the construction of new flats/apartment complexes should be responsible for the construction of parking garages directly outside the city limits to house these vehicles.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Eleven

As cited previously, eight civic agencies will be headed by people from the State of Karntataka. However, these head executives cannot be residents of Bengaluru.

The eight executive agencies answer to the Governor's Office for co-ordination and decisions. The Governor's Office allows the Prime Minister's Office to take decision in which PMO mandates are not clear on how a specific conflict between the agencies are to be resolved.

One big problem currently is these eight agencies administer amenities to 15 million people. They are not spread too thin in as much as they are too "top-heavy".

Currently the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation, known as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Pallike, is divided into 8 zones. For the ease of administration, each agency should have an office and staff in each of these eight zones. The zonal office heads have to be nominated by the Agency's head executive but selected eventually by the Governor.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Twelve

Of course all activities of all agencies, including those who deal with human resource visitation, amenities, and vehicles matters, must be made transparent to the public. All communications within an agency and from one agency to another must be conducted in real-time. It must be posted for all to see and the latest technology must be used. Real-time metrics must be utilized for proper purposes of assessment and evaluation.

Bengaluru(Bangalore) India- A City Headed Towards Collapse-Part Thirteen

It is important that the twelve steps previously outlined are loosely implemented. Otherwise the "Garden City" will have boots on the ground and full martial law. The proposed twelve steps insures that the Central Government does not have to implement a Kashmir-style measure to this predicament.

It is important that this modified Central Government Emergency Rule take place soon or the alternative will happen. Those draconian steps will definitely deter investments and commerce in the state capitol. Moreover the way of life will be permanently affected if the Indian Army is actively used.

The Central Government, headed by PM Modi currently, has shown it has no qualms about using very tough measures (de-monetization, bombing terrorist outlets in Pakistan, and sending in the military to Kashmir and Ladakh) in achieving functionality and peace. There is no need to wait till the last minute. Local and state officials have failed to rectify this issue otherwise it would not even be an issue. The time for modified Emergency Rule is now so that Bengaluru can be saved without the use of brute force.