Bengaluru’s woes & how it makes the case for liberating our big metros from their states

[@ThePrintIndia]

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[@jayaram5127]

Sir , where is cut the clutter for Modi Speech

[@tsrini68]

From where will cities get water, food, milk, electricity, etc?? Are u so dumb? Bengaluru is capital of Kannada. Bengaluru is developed by Karnataka people for Karnataka people & outsiders flooded. You have no role or stakes in Karnataka or in other states which are not native to you. Plz focus of your BIMARU states. Your thoughts of "liberation:" is a direct threat to unity & integrity of India.

[@Mohitsingh-cq7op]

Indian cities are not matching Indian youth aspirations. After living in a western country I am shamefully admitting that I don’t want my child to grow in city like my banagalore because I want clean air , park , lakes , ground for my kid . I have paid 2 cr to get a flat in a gated society so that he grows in nice surrounding but will he not go out of that gated society ? The amenity which govt should provide is basically purchased from builders now.

[@pratikagrawal8742]

Absolutely, we are so Bad at building liveable cities. It is an absolute disaster. You only realise it once you live abroad.

[@Mr.Coffee576]

Bangalore's hype and whatever positive stuff you see, is only on the internet. Anyone who lived there for a year will see the reality. Weather is overhyped, traffic is a mess, electricity cuts and water shortages despite being the Silicon Valley of India, pollution, dust. Of course, things weren't always like this. Bangalore used to be awesome back in 2009-10.

[@santhisreeni]

Exactly... shame on government..

[@vimalramachandran]

This is easier said than done, mainly because of population overgrowth. Bengaluru's population is about 14 million now, which is higher than almost all liveable Western cities.

[@cuckoonut1208]

Quality comes from within. But instead of fighting yall run away because its too fu=cuked up to repair.

[@Pooja-db9me]

"Kolkata being the only metro that hasn't rotted in the past 20 years" Thats mainly because there is no scope to drop further. Kolkata is a city stuck in time, sometime more than a century back..

[@abhishek_gupta1990]

Kolkata is a failed city, used to go there quite often! Nothing there is inspiring and progressive

[@tapemaj]

How can a Bong living abroad tolerate this about his / her culture and city of joy ? 😅

[@abhishek_gupta1990]

@@tapemaj sonar bangla dream

[@tapemaj]

@@abhishek_gupta1990 Why Not ? Aren’t we Bengali’s within Bharat 🇮🇳 and abroad need a prosperous পশ্চিম বাংলা ?

[@sauron2000000]

That is why it rocks.

[@keshav4408]

Bangalore is saturated. Only solution in karnataka is to build other cities. My north karnataka is crying for development

[@deepikavishnu1735]

Even South Karnataka beyond B'lore is very underdeveloped..

[@gouthamkondapavuluru1959]

@@deepikavishnu1735 It is not true. North Karnataka is underdeveloped than South Karnataka even if you remove Bengaluru. I wish that the other parts of South Karnataka will develop and development should not be only in Bengaluru but still South Karnataka is better than the North

[@anilraghu8687]

Divide Karnataka to north and south. Otherwise ot will not happen

[@keshav4408]

@@anilraghu8687 I agree.. we should get our separate north karnataka state. Bangalore will never allow North karnataka develop

[@daddashikamani]

Poverty I've seen in North Karnataka is shattering. Completely neglected by the Karnataka Govt.

[@HANAMANTKULKARNI-o9w]

I am from Bengaluru. I was here during 1980 -84 and then went to Mumbai. I returned to Bengaluru in 2017 to find it a totally different one from all angles. While some changes are good but many are bad changes. It is a city of Lakes more than a city of Gardens. Water problem is due to abuse of lakes. Nallahs that feed lakes are closed by real estate mafia assisted by politicians irrespective of colours. Lake beds are shortened and layouts are carved on them. Trees are cut on thousands to build roads. Apartments are discouraged thereby city grew leaps and bounds all sides making it difficult to service. Concrete city is 95% as against 3-4% just 30 years back. Underground water depleted due to lakes and the mallah closed. Rain is reduced due to deforestation. None of the political parties cared for the city. The present problem was known to Congress govt even when it came to power. They could have taken steps to energize lakes by spending say 10000 crores. But they thought it fit to spend 60000 crores on freebies. The apathy neglect of Govt is the cause. Even now steps should be taken to repair all lakes and enable them to store water and nallas be reopened demolishing buildings. Lakes are the lifelines of Bengaluru.

[@mg.f.9023]

2014 MODI promised 100 New smart Cities. .. still looking for one 😅

[@sandeshbabu8589]

​@@mg.f.9023 Come to Tumkur

[@chandan4156]

I am 200% sure, there will be no improvement on builder politician mafia at all.

[@meta5291]

It's not neglect by govt. It's a deliberate policy. Otherwise why would they systematically destroy lakes, trees, public spaces,...

[@mohammedfazal3199]

Some lakes have been restored but by the citizens effort themselves, not by the govt

[@atulmalhotra2303]

I am happy that Shekhar has raised such an important topic. The issue of urban decay in our metros has to go hand in hand with a new State Reorganization Commission. No state should have a population above 3 cr and an area above 1 lakh sq km

[@escalocity]

Completely in agreement. We can have 75 states if needed.

[@freesoul5707]

One major reason why our cities are the way they are is the revenue structure of local governments. India has a top-down revenue collection system where the centre collects the maximum revenue that then trickles down to the state governments and further to the locsl governments. However, most of our governance needs are local in nature. If we have to liberate our cities, the most fundamental reform would be to overturn this revenue structure. Let local governments have the power to raise their own revenue instead of having to depend on the central & state governments.

[@himanjn]

Good argument, look at how non-capital cities like Indore have relatively done better than their counterparts. (Not disregarding other factors)

[@demlapuragurumurthy8908]

This idea -metros to have independent governance and of finances that they generate for their development - was suggested by Lee Kwan Yoo, first PM of Singapore, to Indian Govt who had invited him for his views. He had suggested the same to China and they have done that.

[@pichumanisankar2617]

Parties will not create new capitals on their own for fear of value of their properties going down or stagnant in the capital towns. Our battered urbanites have no other alternatives except to invoke the karma theory.

[@mongoose1618]

USA atleast got this figured out. Most of there large metros are not state capitals. (E.g. NY city is not capital of NY state, its Albany, same goes for Chicago, Miami, LA etc.) That way you keep the state minister and elected administration from milking the city resources hollow. A separate Mayor is elected for the metro and they are tasked with working for just the city.

[@msdadsfsx]

This is not Vedic way

[@Drganguli]

Bangalore has become literally unliveable due to water issues and traffic. But more people keep coming due to the salubrious climate and strain the infrastructure

[@VijeDerm]

Sg, good you covered Bengaluru. 1.5 crore population, 70% of Karnataka’s GDP, Cosmopolitan cum Immigrants populace, All political power Money is centered in Bengaluru Infrastructure improved in localities due to Smart city projects Need similar long term projects for Water, green ecological corridor

[@jeanpierre-st7rl]

Which locality?

[@meta5291]

Improved? 😂

[@jyotikrishnanj2604]

37% of GDP*

[@Himarius]

Great episode, hope the metros are able to break free from the clutches of the States…

[@ThePrintIndia]

Thank you, my friend. I'm glad you liked this episode. Do keep watching and writing in...best wishes, Shekhar

[@sharathahuja8261]

We have a World class airport but third or fourth class infrastructure and other facilities and amenities. Potholed Roads, dangerously dangling overhead cables, no footpaths or pedestrian amenities. Overflowing drains, stinking Garbage.

[@praveenpavithran2353]

In Kerala, we have Thiruvananthapuram as our capital, but Kochi is economic capital. Though we cannot compare with the likes of the big cities in India. Just putting out here as an example.

[@jj2000100]

So what? As I understand most able Keralites are fleeing the state due to lack of good opportunities. My guess is these cities that you mentioned has not achieved comparable growth as to likes of Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad

[@arjunps6776]

In the current election, BJP has set their sights on T'puram. Rajeev Chandrashekhar plans to bring big changes if he wins. He says he'll bring changes in his capacity as minister even if he loses. T'puram might also go in the direction of Bangalore and Mumbai in 20 years time although I must say that local governance is way more accountable in Kerala than in other states.

[@anilraghu8687]

​@@jj2000100that's not the point.

[@paulmorais476]

@@jj2000100 Kerala sets an example of holistic development, where progress isn't confined to cities alone, but extends across the entire state. A beacon of equitable progress that other states can learn from.

[@nandanrajeev2452]

Don't think there is much of a difference between Kochi and Trivandrum. Both are tier 2 cities. Kochi has Port and Shipyard which made it slightly ahead but Trivandrum edges out Kochi in IT and Services. With Vizhinjam and the tremendous development in Southern TN, Trivandrum is well poised to overtake Kochi economically

[@chandrodayaraghapur2738]

JDS party and Kumaraswamy were literally responsible for non completion of NICE road to Mysore. You can see unfinished road in Google maps

[@shishirsks]

We need proper city planners. I dont think giving power to metros will solve the problem, because the bureaucrats of local corportation are much much worse than central planners!

[@sonakshibahl9486]

This was so informative. Thank you :)

[@nandishswami08]

Need to play at 1.5x, to get your point across.😊

[@sharathahuja8261]

The first town planner Bengaluru had was Patrick Geddes. Landscape horticultirists were Gustav Krumbiegel and Nirody. Jayanagar was A Ravindra's contribution. Alas, we've never had such far sighted people again.

[@SurajSingh-wo2we]

couldn't agree more with this #CTC

[@mailrbn]

All those US state capitals have failed to attract any population base. London, Tokyo, Seoul all have nearly 35% of the countries population and 35% of the GDP. They have all done well with great infrastructure while many of our cities only have 20% of the population of that state.

[@vikasprakashjoshi2090]

How much money do they have per capita and how much we do have per capita? Second, our cities populations have been fast growing while their cities don't have fast growing but instead stable or even slow growing populations. Third, these are much richer countries. So no comparison. Compare Indian cities to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, countries with similar per capita income levels (Phillipines) Indian cities are really good, compared to these cities. We cannot compare as these countries populations are much smaller to ours plus on a per capita basis they have MUCH MORE money. What we should compare is with countries LIKE US, not London, Tokyo, Seoul. Plus, all these are homogenous countries. Ask a Punjabi doctor work to work in a small town in AP/TN, they are not keen on it. Ask a poor Tamil dentist to work in a small town in Punjab, he won't be keen on it. So its easier said then done, because regional differences in India make it difficult to move, outside the top 8-10 cities.

[@sanketkulkarni2390]

Guptaji, please do ctc on how north Karnataka has been ignored i.e. Kalyan Karnataka and Bombay’s Karnataka

[@narasimharao9492]

It is so unfortunate that we are not able to make the PRR a reality for past 20 yrs... All govts have failed. And now the proposal is to do it without service roads due to the cost and also the private bidder has to make everybody pay toll. And now PRR is kind of redundant given STRR is partially ready and will be completed on schedule.

[@prakashraghunathan2685]

Thank you shekar sir for the great episode.Bengaluru once a garden city has been bad in traffic and also where crisis.Hope it would resolved by the will of the people.

[@mewtwoVector]

Thousandth like for one of my favorite journalists!

[@vijayantonybabu9339]

It is a strong statement. Going by this aren't some states colony of Central Government. They spend on states that vote them to Power rather than states that power the economy 😂.

[@rajx7120]

Fortunately, they are spending on infrastructure, not freebies. So, that actually helps

[@vijayantonybabu9339]

@@rajx7120 point taken. but even the states like TN have infrastructure requirements. Chennai Metro expansion requires funding

[@rajx7120]

Excellent article. Much needed.

[@atikagarwal4720]

What a great idea !! India's cities definitely need some independent governance. Our cities are anyway vibrant and full of people from different states of India. So there should definitely be different governance

[@reach2prasanna]

If Modi comes to power this term, he should immediately start emphasising a nationwide campaign on how people should conduct themselves when they step outside and inculcate a sense of pride so that the habit of littering, spitting, urinating in public, the behaviour to break traffic rules with abandon and to being inconsiderate to others. As the nation rises to become the 3rd largest economy, the country should look and feel like one too.

[@meta5291]

He's for people like you who believe some Supreme Lord will come and solve all problems. This is why we got a fraud baba. In a democracy everyone has to do their bit.

[@reach2prasanna]

@@meta5291 Well it starts with the leader and everyone would follow. No nationwide transformation happened purely from the onus taken by people, without a leader.

[@meta5291]

@@reach2prasanna That leader is within you. Especially in a democracy. It's much harder than blindly following. We should not expect someone to give us what we want for free (of course we will promise to worship him in return). Leadership will work if we work together.

[@a.k.-72]

Delhi is a city-UT. Are Delhi's woes lesser than those of Bengaluru's?

[@learn2unlearn853]

You missed out Bhubaneswar which was designed by the same architect who planned Chandigarh, Otto Konigsberger.

[@msdadsfsx]

It's called Paris of asia

[@paulmorais476]

Chandigarh was designed by the French architect Le Corbusier.

[@msdadsfsx]

@@paulmorais476 chandigarh is called New York of Asia

[@lightyork8268]

IPL understands this and names teams after cities and not states.The British understood this and had states called bombay presidency,Madras presidency etc where “bombay” controled huge rural areas around it-later Sindhis demanded and got Sindh,and later Gujaratis got Gujarat and Marathis got Maharashtra.Today thanks to linguistic states while these cities are controlled by the states,the demographics due to historic migration during British raj and later after independence due to modern transportation has no connect with the rural areas around it.we have to decide whether Karnataka controls bangalore or bangalore controls Karnataka but you cannot detach them as the water supply and agricultural goods come from rural areas around the city. The British needed to control land across the globe to make it a power .Thanks to democracy rural areas are controlling cities but with major migration to cities and the delimitation process which will eventually happen where the real demographics will have to be honoured in the electoral process-it is these cities who will control both power and money.By 2050 pune Nagpur mumbai would account for more than 50% of Maharashtra’s population and would ideally get 50 % of assembly seats giving more representation to urban voters.But in Lok sabha where UP Bihar which are largely rural would account for more than 25% of India’s population and representation in parliament.Interesting times ahead!Today Biharis are not getting fair share of seats in parliament-with population four times Kerala they have seats only double of Kerala.So when Shekar ji with all his decades of knowledge dwells into power to cities he ignores the larger implications of giving power to people-I haven’t even touched upon the Muslim population aspect where in by 2050 they would be a substantial chunk of population demanding their fair share of power,reservation over jobs and education

[@dev9100-luv-the-world]

very informative

[@escalocity]

Metro Cities are the growth engine of the nation and they deserve much better administration and city planning. They must be taken out of their respective states and made as UT or something similar. They should get direct funding from central government for infrastructure projects. This includes Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. These can still retain their language and other local things but there is dire need to improve their infra.

[@user-urdaddy]

its not going to happen now or in the near future. be it mumbai, bengaluru or hyderabad or mumbai, pune these are cash cows for the states concerned and there are a lot of parochial attachments to the state (if not, the cash behind is a strong enough motivation for politicians to create it)

[@gurupadmatolli9469]

Problem is successive Govts are not spending for development. Irony is Congress Govt. In Karnataka is crying about disparity in tax collection from state and allocation by central Government. However, same logic is not applied to revenue collected from Bengaluru and amount spent for infrastructure development in this city. No mention about this in ctc. When development can take place in Mumbai why not Bengaluru?

[@Huhuhaaaaa520]

So old still such immatured statements. How did you get the job by bribing/sifarish/reference??? Do you think its JUST Congress prioritising the whole of state instead of just serving you urban retards?? Leave congress you talk word like DISPARITY. do you even know the meaning of it? Do you see disparity at disadvantaged side which you call Bangalore?? Bangalore is on the advantageous side of of what DISPARITY you talk about.... You know how parasitic it is really when you consume kannadigas resources and tell them not to bear the economic fruit. Next you parasites would wish there was no kannadigas living in Bengaluru. Termites like you are in every METROPOLITAN Edit: congress came just recently what about your real father BJPs?? Had they done how you had wished?

[@sjgghosh7677]

The issue is lack of financial power of local system like municipality & panchayat. Our Constitution has given them administrative power but no financial share from the center revenue. This needs to be changed.

[@firstpostcommenter8078]

True

[@pichumanisankar2617]

You mean like DMK’s 29 paise narrative 😂

[@anilraghu8687]

If there's is financial power all' money will be lost through corruption. We need more citizen participation and supervision.

[@sudu916]

Full agree! Our cities deserve to be independent from politics of their respective state!

[@ChandranPrema123]

Yes Mayors should be ruling states but oh😂

[@tsrini68]

Bengaluru will choke with no food, water, milk, electricity, etc all in just one day!! Bengaluru & Karnataka has long history & heritage. Bengaluru was developed by Karnataka people funds since 1980s, You people came from outside & destroyed. Go back.

[@lakshmiprasannahs1674]

Had stopped watching this channel. But truely this was a wonderful and informative episode. Now will have to watch the unwatched episodes😊

[@adityarothe9528]

SG sir Akola really 😂 Happy to imagine our home town as the new capital of Maharashtra 😊

[@sankalp6872]

It might very well become. After all, it is a BJP bastion.

[@atulmalhotra2303]

First requirement is a separate Vidarbha. It's way too big a state to be managed well. Mumbai of course has to be separated from the state capital burden.

[@satishvhanmane5935]

​@@atulmalhotra2303why non maharashtrians talking about betterment of Maharashtra?seeen what happened with Andhra and Telangana...I am in Andhra currently....no development at all..

[@ShubhamTiwari-mu8do]

How can you judge someone as non Maharashtrian. You will also assume me as that though we have been living here since 200 years and speak better Marathi than natives😅

[@PATHM-f2u]

​@@atulmalhotra2303then india also should be separated because india all also huge and for development of underdeveloped north india it should be separate 😅😅😅😅

[@kirandeepchakraborty7921]

Very Very Interesting Episode ❤

[@vinodbalakrishnan87]

Thats why work from home and reforestation is absolutely important going forward

[@anuragbanerjee2879]

how will ur maid work from her home ?

[@deep979]

Wow the Bengali intellectual!!!! How very apt …. How can the poor bong woman work from home when their masters are sitting and working in southern india

[@sauron2000000]

​@@anuragbanerjee2879 She will remotely activate roomba😂😂😂😂

[@rajx7120]

​@@anuragbanerjee2879Maids are also migrants in Bengaluru. So, they will change migration patterns, and local maids in native cities will be employed.

[@anuragbanerjee2879]

@@rajx7120 Ah ha! they work from home ?

[@FreeYourImagination]

Gandhinagar, being the capital of Gujarat, helps Amdavad a lot . There's not many traffic snarls as other capitals. Gandhinagar has always been a political city and also, not much political movement on roads either as all govt machinery is within a single sector and doesn't bother citizens of G'ngr. GIFT is a welcome infrastructure that'll helps both G'ngr and Amdavad.

[@FreeYourImagination]

Though Amdavad has its own problems. And infrastructure has gotten worse over the years. The one thing good about Amdavad and Gujarat is that there are no power cuts. But roads built decades ago are of a greater quality than the new ones being built. It's all about how vigilant babus are during the construction phase.

[@sharathahuja8261]

Generations of greedy politicians have destroyed Namma Ooru Bengaluru. From a Pensioners Paradise to Garden City to Garbage City and now Concrete Jungle.

[@SudhaKiranGsk]

SG, Please talk on AP politics it's been long overdue

[@prashanthj807]

My 6 years old nephew who has come from US asked me today when roaming around KG road Bangalore why does India smell bad........that kid would never come back to Bangalore to settle here

[@victor256in]

Really grateful for your show on articles you write Shekhar! Could you do a talk on the Indian Army Coup article you authored? #WhenTheGovernmentGotSpooked

[@gouthamkondapavuluru1959]

I was a supporter of cities growth with great infrastructure but not any more. There are a couple of reasons for that 1) City people are already way way richer than rural India. What is the point in serving the already rich people 2) Big cities are present only in some 6 or 7 states of India. These states are already way way richer then other states. What will happen to poorer states if the government also spend their time/energy/money on rich states. There will be so much regional disparity. Already it is quite clear in social media how these rich states ridicule the less developed states. If only those 6 or 7 states develop it will give raise to a secession movement in other states

[@randompersonwholovestoknow3731]

Why will you want the rich people to stay if your point is you shouldn't serve them? They create jobs, bring money in the economy, consume resources and indirectly provide jobs to tons of people. There has to be a balance to be maintained in how money is spent. Don't get where your logic is coming from?

[@gouthamkondapavuluru1959]

@@randompersonwholovestoknow3731 How can a Bengaluru software company create jobs in Bihar or Odisha. I am not against big cities or development of industries but how will income equality come among the states when high income generating cities are present only in 6 to 7 states. Why will the problems of a city bother a guy in hinterland of Andhra or bengal when he himself is in poverty. Also big cities are growing more and more while hinterland suffers. I like the development of both big cities and hinterland as well but if resources are scarce it is natural that hinterland should get more preference for development

[@randompersonwholovestoknow3731]

@@gouthamkondapavuluru1959 Few things: 1. Given the scale of Indian population, there has to be more bigger cities. See how this diversification is happening now with cities like Indore, Jaipur, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Nasik, etc developing. We are no more in the 4 metro cities era where all companies were concentrated 8-10 yrs ago. 2. The states of bihar or odisha or jharkhand etc get enough resources already to setup the required industries or businesses. It is the rampant corruption, people mindset, and govt who is to blame. More money won't solve it other than filling pockets of the politicians. 3. Resources are not scarce. Corruption is heavy. However, if a rich city is producing resources, it doesn't mean you starve them, right? It is like saying in a class of 50 children, you demoralize the topper because the lowest ranked student is not willing to study and don't work to improve the chances of that top ranked kid

[@gouthamkondapavuluru1959]

@@randompersonwholovestoknow3731 All places should develop and for rhe size of india we need more metros. The only thing that worries me is the regional disparities and may be the state governments should be blamed for less urbanization in some states I only wish that there are more and more tier 1 cities in India but unfortunately beyond those 8 cities the others are just tier 2 and I don't see any scope soon enough for them to become tier 1. While tier 1 cities like Bengaluru/Hyderabad have become like Dubai/Singapore in their economy and job opportunities, tier 2 cities are still stuck in the old industries and colonial era growth

[@subhrangsudutta8029]

In these hours of Electioneering Rigmarole, it was really a informative Episode, of course not by-passing our most interesting subject, i.e. POLITICS 🙏🙏✍️✍️🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@ashimmukherjee3927]

next time please ck the sound system,its not very clear.

[@guruprabhu_39915]

Whatever the argument is Bengaluru will remain the capital of Karnataka and we are very possessive about it, no one can take it out of state with any argument

[@rajx7120]

No one's asking to take it out. Let it remain in Karnataka. Make some other city as capital.

[@AB034TX]

1) Cities have to be looked at as growth poles. 2) Satellite towns and cities (Delhi-Meerut, Mumbai-Pune etc.)no longer can be haphazard but rather planned. 3)Land banks concept must be utilised and private sector needs to play a key part (like GMR in Noida, Gurugram etc.). 4) I am against changing capitals. Keep the administrative capital the same but bring incentives to other areas so that financial hubs move out of administrative capitals to newly planned places. 5) future proof our tier 2 and 3 cities while reducing population burden on tier 1s. Water, electricity, drainage all needs to be thought through beforehand.

[@pirabukannan]

So you liberate a city by taking away it from the own population. Why not liberate India by giving it back to British ?

[@meta5291]

What did "locals" do for us? Turned out to be just as bad.

[@sankalp6872]

My wish list for Modi 3.0 would involve "miracle on the Ganges" on lines with the "miracle on the Rhine" aka "Wirtschaftswunder" of Germany (Post World War II rapid Industrialization of Germany). Uplifting and Urbanizing UP, Bihar, MP and WB is the only way to develop India. We have already lost decades. We cannot afford to lose more. Of course, this involves "guided capitalism" and a respect for "entrepreneurship" and wealth creators. Not INC's cup of tea, where wealth only belongs to Gandhi lackeys.

[@yourstrulytk12worldaffairs]

First step would be to ditch Nitish Kumar. We need a new leader in Bihar.

[@atulmalhotra2303]

​@@yourstrulytk12worldaffairsThat only Biharis can do. Don't hold your breath for it though.

[@atulmalhotra2303]

My wish list is division of UP into 4-5 states Bihar into 2, MP into 2-3 and Maharashtra into 2-3. Southern states can put forward their own ideas regarding reorganization. Which country in the world has a state with 220 million people ?

[@sankalp6872]

@@yourstrulytk12worldaffairs Tejasvi Yadav is not even 10th pass. Technically, speaking he does not even qualify to ride a "rickshaw". Bihar definitely needs a new leader but it should not be a return to the Jungle Raj.

[@yourstrulytk12worldaffairs]

@@sankalp6872 I was talking about the BJP. BJP should DITCH nitish kumar once and for all. This TY guy is not in the conversation

[@Aceyoutubeforfun]

Karnataka government should focus on Mysore and mangalore

[@jeanpierre-st7rl]

North karnataka.

[@sharathahuja8261]

Cut the clutter Shekharji. Interview Dr T V Ramachandra and Prof Ashish Verma of IISc, they have solutions for Bangalore and the rest of the country too, in their chosen areas of research.

[@manjulashanmugasundaram706]

Would you call Chandigarh and Delhi, Liberated?

[@meta5291]

Good point. This is just another silly time pass discussion without any basis. We first have to get rid of our corrupt and incompetent babus. Without sincere, competent and honest people nothing will change.

[@pgandhi123]

Smart cities ! Stand up India ! Start up India !

[@sauron2000000]

Jumla India

[@jeanpierre-st7rl]

60 years of Congress rule. Garibhi hatoo. 🤣🤣🤣😂😂

[@dominicdmello7531]

I lived in Mumbai during those floods. Never heard about food being dropped from the air.

[@raovempaty2474]

Most state capitals in America are in small towns and not in big cities

[@akashtiwari5729]

People interested on these issues... urban governance, municipal finance & politics, 'quality of life' issues in India's cities & towns, then you should checkout the works of two important Bengaluru based institutions - IIHS (Indian Institute for Human Settlements) & Janaagraha. Would love if ThePrint could invite folks from these institutions for a deeper discussion on city Governance.

[@12arpit]

Bhopal (political capital) and Indore-Dewas-Mhow corridor (Startup and Financial Hub) in MP is a perfect example of such an idea.

[@prasulpradeep]

Good suggestion

[@glenmascarenhas7885]

Devegowda is the prime culprit

[@bangalorean999]

I have been a Bangalorean since my birth 40yrs ago. The city was a true metropolitan city with people speaking all south indian languages here. In the past 10-15yrs, the Kannadigas(Native Kannada speakers) have started trying to reclaim the place. In reality, Kannada was just one of the languages spoken here. I have property papers from many areas and the chain of ownership usually goes to a Telugu or Tamil family in the 20s and 30s. Making it a UT will imply it could bring in better governance like certain central govt agencies. In reality, it may not happen as the local politicians will not allow it. In fact the current local govt encourages dravidian narratives that snub any nationalistic approach.

[@lumbiniashutoshtambat5871]

Come to Mysore, our college campuses have ppl like Cricketer Srikant and Narayan Murthy to India

[@pranaav100]

Shekhar didn't give clarification that Bangalore's NICE road was Indeed constructed and people are using for more than a decade.

[@saugatabiswas2059]

Good story. National issue

[@sre-gp4vj]

All big cities should be independent states.

[@SubhamSatapathy]

Bhubaneswar is a new city with the same vintage as Chandigarh, made from the same design!

[@kover72]

One issue with separating a city from its state is it will discourage movement between the city and the state, and will create new insider vs outsider divisions. Also states without their large cities will not be economically viable.

[@meta5291]

It's just another silly idea. The solution is freeing the gov from the corrupt and the incompetent.

[@girish3k157]

Don't surrender your power for anything short of meaningful change and genuine representation in governance. As voters, it's crucial to stay informed about the candidates and issues, think critically about the promises and performance of politicians, and vote thoughtfully to ensure your voice contributes to the governance of your community.

[@amodjp]

New cities need space and resources, improvement in the rural infrastructure and reduced dependency on metro cities would eventually make them a better places

[@kirand5528]

Abolish states, have only central govt and local govt with district administration as a conference of local govts within the district

[@rahuln8138]

hopefully govts get the point and move out capitals to new places.

[@yellowNred]

Bengaluru builders and politicians ruined all the tanks and lakes in and around the city. No one had the foresight. This can be fixed even today if there is a will.

[@SunilMeena-do7xn]

It feels like there is no effort by government for urban planning. All our cities are polluted or congested compared to other countries. Even if we take population into account, China also have better cities than India. This needs more focus, because it directly links to quality of life and may even be a factor in many talents leaving India.

[@meta5291]

Our gormint is full of corrupt and incompetent. They have been busy lining their pockets and the results are here for all to see.

[@vigneshpoovan4651]

Other solution could be to develop smaller cities a bit faster than the current rate. This would distribute the power and economic imbalances a bit more evenly. Take 5 cities and develop to compete on the same fields .. say Mysore can have its own whitefield or Mangalore can its own services industry. It's easier said than done... but it's easier to develop an existing city than build a new one.. buikding a new one could end up being a gamle resulting in ghost towns or flops.. So identify the griwtg drivers for those smaller cities and focus efforts on those initiatives. This will be a way to satisfy the evevryone.

[@NaveenKumar-xs5ie]

Liberation of cities is an after thought in a developing country

[@Ras-lv6mi]

Build smaller cities around Bengaluru but don't make it an extended part of Bengaluru. For example, Hosakote can be its own city with its own transport corporation etc... Then population will gradually move to other places. Another easier way to attract population and business is infrastructure building. So build better infrastructure in the smaller cities around Bengaluru so the population will spread out

[@motog-rocks6544]

Sir completely missed one critical point. The reason for these problems is that Indian Democracy is anti-city in multiple fronts. Firstly, since the Emergency Era 42nd Amendment to the Constitution FROZE Delimitation at 1971 population, we have a situation where despite crores of Indian's MOVING to cities, the constituency areas doesn't reduce. While 2001 was the last time delimitation was done and then again FROZEN, thus, you have a situation where in Bangalore a SLEEPY village called Mahadevpura where nothing existed in 2001 today has 10s of lakhs of population and YET they all get only ONE MLA, the power of their vote has reduced drastically. A Urban Voter's vote where 10s of lakhs get one MLA, vs a Rural Area where 75,000 population get one MLA means that one person one vote is a wrong understanding. We might all get to press the same blue button , but the WORTH of that button is far far less in urban india. Most estimates state that by 2030 40% of India will live in Urban Areas. These areas should be truly "king makers". It will truly be the end of caste and money based politics. If only the constitution was honest when it said one person one EQUAL vote.

[@ashishy]

india's gotta start building new cities, not just those little satellite towns. Moving the capital somewhere fresh could be a real incentive for states to pony up the cash and resources needed.

[@dasaritra007]

Hyderabad’s water problem is real too

[@southpaw1122]

Suppose Bangalore become UT and Karnataka says it wont share its Kaveri water (currently it is pulled from state farmers and pumped to Bluru) then Shekar will bring water from his ass??

[@tsrini68]

Bengaluru will choke with no food, water, milk, electricity, etc all in just one day!! Mr Shakhar be careful. Bengaluru & Karnataka has long history & heritage. Bengaluru was developed by Karnataka people funds since 1980s, You people came from outside & destroyed. Go back.

[@nononsense2731]

The big cities are in such a mess that the damage is already done and irreversible. They should start building new properly planned cities. We are horrible at city planning and making them livable.

[@jayaramsastry4197]

I agree with your suggestion we should ‘liberate’ our cities but please don’t plant the bad idea in our politicians head that they can make money while building new capitals. They are greedy and corrupt already. China has success in cities having great autonomy to the extent even have a different ‘ constitution’ if I may call it that. However , we have had mixed success. While Gandhinagar is a good example , Delhi is a failure.

[@vikasprakashjoshi2090]

Delhi is a thriving city, Gandhinagar is a just a small sleepy dead place :).

[@hnharsh]

Yes we should liberate the 'colony' Bangalore from the 'colonial power' of Karnataka & hand it over to the great liberator UP, the state which decides who rules in the center. Very smart. Any doubts I had about SG loyalities are now clear.

[@lord_of_love_and_thunder]

A very tunnel visioned analysis. The same city means different things to different people. Reducing a city to a mere site of economic activity andurban conveniences misses what the city means to the bulk of the population. Move Maharashtra’s capital to Sangli sounds very Tughlaqi. Thank good our rural areas can vote.

[@hariharakamalcharan5900]

Water resources, river link, metro issues , smart City in CTC pl

[@priampillai3859]

You missed Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra as a new city and the new 3rd Mumbai that has just been announced

[@sharathahuja8261]

Prof Ashish Verma, Civil Engineering Department and CiSTUP, IISc, has brought out several scientific reports on ways to tackle the city's traffic and allied problems, but nobody's listening, they want TUNNEL Roads instead.

[@sakshambhadoria9998]

Poor urban planning and bad politics have landed our economic engines,centres of growth and bustling metropolis in a mess. A clear nexus among the vested interests i.e politicians, bureaucracy and real estate developers have held the cities hostage and deeply trapped in a vicious cycle of planning catastrophe that repeats itself everytime ranging from pollution, sanitation,water crisis and housing shortage.

[@adityabhol03]

Interesting take on urbanisation by Mr. Sekhar. But the episode completely misses the governance aspect and talks largely about the politics. Had Mr. Sekhar researched the governance matters in urban areas he could have spoken about the persistent systemic and structural issues. For example the unsuccessful implementation of the 74th amendment of the constitution which could have led to devolution of powers to Urban Local Bodies which has been done in case of their rural counterparts. Instead city governance continues to be obstructed by state-level autonomous agencies and parastatals which wield much of the power leaving very little to be governed by the elected city council members and leading to creation of urban sprawls without proper planning.

[@nitinpatel1039]

Sg should discuss that Indi alliance most dangerous idea of turning this country into new cuba, Venezuela, first his grandmother denied people right to property and now he want to take away wealth as if earned it to redistribute for his cheap votes. This is beyond insane idea, im happy they are out of power in almost every state, imagine such idea start tali g centre stage, i also thank manmohan singh to keep this entitled self proclaimed robin hood out of pm post in upa rule,

[@sankalp6872]

Even if the INC wins, it won't go for any "wealth redistribution". However, the idiotic Rahul Gandhi once again gave Modi a low full toss. Congress should have known better. With their constant caste census demand, the BJP was bound to go full polarization at some point or the other. Rahul Gandhi is beyond hope. He is BJP's second most popular campaigner after Modi.

[@lookintoit4537]

@@sankalp6872 You underestimate Raga. He brings more votes to BJP than Modi.

[@bzzzzz1736]

I disagree, if hyderabad can improve why not bengaluru? It depends on priority given by parties and voters collectively.

[@sudipshettynoojjis7851]

Shekhar Gupta.... Bangalore was developed by Kannnadigas... Don't show your cunning punjabi and North india nature here... Kannadigas never asked for separate Bangalore...

[@ShubhamTiwari-mu8do]

Nitin Gadkari has been calling this out since long that we need new suburbs or cities. He did great job linking Mumbai Pune. He is trying same with Nagpur. Already the connectivity around NCR has become better so helps relatively. We should back his ideas. Nagpur growth was derailed by MVA and others. Nashik Nagpur Vijayawada Bhubaneswar Kanpur Raipur Indore Surat Udaipur Coimbatore Mysuru should be given a chance

[@vikasprakashjoshi2090]

Nagpur has been given a lot of assistance...MVA didn't derail it, the city doesn't really have the potential...even MIHAN project didn't succeed despite Gadkari's attempts to promote it.

[@santhoshrgopal]

I think Mumbai needs to be a separate entity like a state or UT