Over the past ten years it is impossible for me to remember
a single year that has gone by without citizens of Bengaluru having to step out
onto the streets for one environmental cause or other to save their beloved
garden city that has rapidly changed in front of their eyes to something very
different. But each time the number of
citizens standing up for the cause has only increased tremendously. While this fills me with great
pride and joy for the love the people of this city have for it, it also fills
me with great sadness.
Is this the kind of future we have look forward to? non-stop fight and protests to protect this city to protect it from various vested interests who are determined more than ever in sucking the very life out of this city in the name of development.
Development and destruction have fast become synonyms. That's the only reason why the people of this city find themselves so often out in the streets braving the heat (since Bengaluru used to be the erstwhile AC city, but no more) to salvage what is left of the Garden city. More often than not the destruction exceeds the development by leaps and bounds.
It is quite possible that our future generations will not have to do the same for there might not be anything left to salvage at this rate. They might not even know what to save if their present has only concrete.
I do remember in 2005 when the Dairy circle flyover and underpass were being constructed. It was supposed to solve all the traffic problems in that area. Same with the Silkboard flyover, the Hebbal flyover and every other flyovers across. The effort is laudable, but the situation now is there are traffic jams for hours on end over and under the flyovers. Even the electronic city flyover is amazing, till we reach the toll booths only to lose every advantage of having zipped through the flyover to standing the queue to pay the toll behind an unending line of vehicles.
So is constructing more and more flyovers the actual effective solution when the city that is already bursting to its seams continues to have more and more unabated constructions and offices that show no intention of even looking around to see if they will have a city around them when they are done.
The lakes have been consumed, the water bodies, forests, tree lined avenues, gardens all have been consumed. How is a city that is being bled to the core expected to provide for the people living here.
Development is awesome as long as it has the prefix of 'SUSTAINABLE' attached to it.
Is it any wonder at all that the citizens of this city rush to protest against the destruction in the name of development, only because they can see what is happening actually, know how incredibly beautiful and pretty their city used to be and also know there are other possible solutions to the problem than solving one problem with another. Bengaluru has been in the fray for the 'Smart city' tag forever. How is any of this destruction even remotely smart? The objective of being a smart city is supposed to be "being better quality of life by providing core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions,"
(https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bengalurus-smart-city-project-is-yet-to-take-off/articleshow/66159314.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst)
Is this the kind of future we have look forward to? non-stop fight and protests to protect this city to protect it from various vested interests who are determined more than ever in sucking the very life out of this city in the name of development.
Development and destruction have fast become synonyms. That's the only reason why the people of this city find themselves so often out in the streets braving the heat (since Bengaluru used to be the erstwhile AC city, but no more) to salvage what is left of the Garden city. More often than not the destruction exceeds the development by leaps and bounds.
It is quite possible that our future generations will not have to do the same for there might not be anything left to salvage at this rate. They might not even know what to save if their present has only concrete.
I do remember in 2005 when the Dairy circle flyover and underpass were being constructed. It was supposed to solve all the traffic problems in that area. Same with the Silkboard flyover, the Hebbal flyover and every other flyovers across. The effort is laudable, but the situation now is there are traffic jams for hours on end over and under the flyovers. Even the electronic city flyover is amazing, till we reach the toll booths only to lose every advantage of having zipped through the flyover to standing the queue to pay the toll behind an unending line of vehicles.
So is constructing more and more flyovers the actual effective solution when the city that is already bursting to its seams continues to have more and more unabated constructions and offices that show no intention of even looking around to see if they will have a city around them when they are done.
The lakes have been consumed, the water bodies, forests, tree lined avenues, gardens all have been consumed. How is a city that is being bled to the core expected to provide for the people living here.
Development is awesome as long as it has the prefix of 'SUSTAINABLE' attached to it.
Is it any wonder at all that the citizens of this city rush to protest against the destruction in the name of development, only because they can see what is happening actually, know how incredibly beautiful and pretty their city used to be and also know there are other possible solutions to the problem than solving one problem with another. Bengaluru has been in the fray for the 'Smart city' tag forever. How is any of this destruction even remotely smart? The objective of being a smart city is supposed to be "being better quality of life by providing core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions,"
(https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bengalurus-smart-city-project-is-yet-to-take-off/articleshow/66159314.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst)
A clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions? Huh?
Mother Nature's buttons have been pushed long enough in this city, like any mother, she has been kind, tolerant and really patient. But the patience and tolerance has been tested long enough. If Mother Nature decides to push the reset button on the city, she is not going to wait and see who is elite and who is not, who is politically connected and who is not, she is just going to wake up to clean up this mess and then none will be spared. The only way to avoid this is clean up this mess ourselves and it is high time we do it before Mother nature gives up on us. We have to show her we care for her as much as she does for us. I just hope, trust and believe we can do that. Thanks for reading my thoughts on this.
Before signing off here are a couple of links and articles on how some other cities help the environment with sustainable development, just found it incredibly inspiring:
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/top-10-eco-friendly-cities-around-the-world/53998/
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20141215-living-in-the-worlds-most-eco-friendly-cities
https://www.tentree.com/blogs/posts/the-10-most-eco-friendly-cities
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