Letter from Bangalore: City grows... and reduces pressures

For those Indians, particularly Bangaloreans who visited India's tech capital three years ago, the difference is bound to be felt when they return to visit one of Asia's fastest growing cities.

It has grown in size with its seven million plus population as well as in several other ways. As one visitor put it: "It seems to have adapted to the modern westernised concepts so comfortably without its people losing their warmth and hospitality."

But, its growth is not something that only visitors will notice. The local people, as well, have begun to take note of that not-so-big but significant change, be it traffic management, sanitation or infrastructure.

And, the credit goes to the unique public-private partnership model that was initiated soon after the Texas-educated Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna took over as chief minister of Karnataka in 1999.

The formation of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) consisting of private organisations and individuals like Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys technologies and Ravichandar of Feedback Marketing, among others, and the seven civic bodies, has acted as a catalyst to reduce the pressures that any other burgeoning city faces.

Three years ago, nobody needed to scratch the surface to test frustration of the citizenry. It was all evident at the nearest traffic junction or low-lying area or near the public taps. Hardly three per cent of the people were prepared to acknowledge improvement in the city.

Today, the situation is pleasantly different. The rating in a survey by TN Sofres Mode of 614 men and women from lower and higher income groups has shot up to 28 per cent with 94 per cent of the people acknowledging development in several areas.

And, these included traffic, road infrastructure, public transport, traffic management, one-way system, low floor buses, flyover-underpass, modern bus stands, garbage collection, cleanliness, public toilets and drains, parks, telephones, power and water supply. Of course, the peoples' perception of people-government interaction and corruption remained unchanged.

Two critical factors have contributed to this change in perception of the people. First, private contribution has been overwhelming in this model of private-public partnership, impacting the quality of life in Bangalore.

Individuals like Nilekani, whose trust along with his wife, Rohini, have contributed close to Rs20 million for the BATF's success story. The other is Sudha Murthy, chairperson of the Infosys foundation.

Murthy's contribution of Rs80 million for the Nirmala Bangalore project of constructing 23 toilets and bathrooms, as a pay and use scheme, has touched the lives of over 140,000 poor as well as the not-so-poor. So much so that Bangalore's 100 councillors want the city corporation now to construct toilets in each of their wards.

The other critical factor is that the officers heading civic bodies like the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) or the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) or the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), have shown that with political will backing them, they can deliver results.

Take the case of the BDA. Three years ago, the question before the government was whether to accept the report of a legislature committee to disband it. Today, it has a financial rating from the rating agency, Crisil, that is higher than the Karnataka government itself.

It has set records in distribution of house sites. From a meagre 3,000 and odd sites distributed over the previous decade, it has completed distribution of 40,000 sites and would touch the 60,000 mark by June. It has recovered property worth Rs4 billion bringing the title of the "demolition man" for its commissioner, Jaiker Jerome.

That's not all. By next year, the BDA will be spending Rs3 billion of its own funds without collecting any cess or toll or tax from the citizens to construct more flyovers and underpasses in the city to further ease traffic movement.

Did it require private partnership to make the difference ? "Their suggestions have acted as a catalyst," says one top official of a civic body.

And, the best indicator of the success of this private-public partnership is that citizens as well as civic bodies from Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and other cities in India are seeking advise on improving the quality of life in their cities as well.