After two weeks of heavy rain, I am breathing a little easier — as a resident of Whitefield in Bengaluru. Menacing clouds scud overhead, but the sheets of water have abated.
Meanwhile, social media reveals the pulse of the people. Viral content shows abandoned vehicles floating or under water, tractors and their trailers laden with software professionals commuting to work and inflatable rafts being hauled by rescue teams with residents on board escaping from flooded layouts that are home to luxury villas. Black humour memes flood our mobile phones, even as our feet swill around in the bilges. Some discussions have turned parochial and even racist, blaming migrants to be the prime culprits. Politicians have waded in — only figuratively, of course. Most blame previous governments, while some blame citizens. Those in the ruling party seem irritable; one of its own rich supporters, who is not known for the use of temperate language, has been castigated by another for sharing flood-related photos, and giving Bengaluru a ‘bad name’.
Useful discussions that involve water and climate experts have them repeatedly highlight how we have encroached into lakes and watersheds, destroyed wetlands, reduced greenery and concretised lands, thus facing the consequences of our actions.
When the rot began
There is consensus that we must do something. We know what to do. But where do we begin? How do we proceed and what is the sequence? Who will help?
As Bengaluru expanded, swallowing up the villages around it, panchayats were disbanded to create six city municipal corporations, which were merged subsequently into the Bhruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). During this transition, land records were either destroyed or tampered with, and fake documents fabricated by corrupt interests. Lakes and their catchment areas were soon transformed into private lands. Builders backfilled these and soon made quick money building apartments, shopping malls and information-technology parks. We were arrogant in thinking that we could somehow defy nature. But water finds its own level, irrespective of whether we are rich or poor.
Them and us
Yet, this smacks of déjà vu. Many cities in Europe and the United States, notwithstanding their beautiful environs today, are examples where there was the ruthless destruction of the environment, and construction frenzy to become pulsating economic growth engines. They too saw a nexus of corruption involving politicians and bureaucrats, eschewing environmentally sensible decisions for short-term gains. They too benefited from migration, which brought in energy and skill. And they too suffered, like us, from two classic impediments in public welfare provision. First, the problem of free riders, where people partook of city-provided benefits without paying city taxes. And second, the ‘tragedy of the commons’ problem, where bulwarks against environmental breakdown — wetlands, lakes, grasslands, trees, parks, and forests — belonged to nobody.
The difference between us and them is this — they grew when nature had the leeway to heal and establish a new environmental equilibrium. We, in contrast, are destroying our environment when climate change is already upon us; and further damage would only result in a cascading succession of disasters.
Reassuringly, Bengaluru consistently implements reforms, albeit slowly. We have achieved some success in rainwater harvesting, solar water heating, segregation of garbage and the stoppage of littering, even if deadlines were unmet. We are better than many in environmental compliance, though not good enough.
What we lack is the institutional capacity to handle the problems of the future. We cannot persist with the same alphabet soup of uncoordinated institutions that have contributed to our problems in the first place and comprising local governments, namely, the BBMP and panchayats, State institutions such as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), various ‘planning authorities’ and the Revenue Department and parastatals such as the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), Lake Authority and Bangalore Smart City Limited.
Putting reforms into action
We need two broad thrusts to implement the reforms we know we need, to build climate resilience and a better environment.
First, we must execute institutional euthanasia. A multiplicity of institutions does not improve execution. They are deliberately constructed to get in each other’s way, complicate governance and preserve opportunities that benefit corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and land exploiters. Outdated institutions need to be replaced by a constitutionally compliant structure, with local governments at the top. Eleven independent planning authorities must be merged and subordinated to the Metropolitan Planning Committee. This constitutionally mandated institution enables all stakeholders, from Bengaluru’s largest land owners, i.e., the defence, the railways, airports and national highway authorities, to the mahanagara palika and panchayats within the metropolitan area, to participate. Likewise, parastatals such as the BWSSB and the Smart City Company should be subordinated to the BBMP.
Making tough decisions
Second, our community needs to steel itself for some tough decisions. Climate resilience goes beyond flood control; it needs minimising the damaging environmental impact of cities. We must take hard decisions on transportation, curb car travel and improve cheap public transport with more buses instead of waiting for the expensive metro. We must preserve our existing green cover and plant more trees, both in the city and around it. We must de-concretise our pavements, prohibit littering and segregate garbage as unsegregated garbage clogs drains. We must enforce sewage treatment plant operational standards. We need to accelerate efforts to improve Rajakaluves (channels that connect waterbodies) as demonstrated in a 11-kilometre stretch in the city centre.
We must deal with the huge legacy of unacceptable constructions and encroachments. The only solution is to remove some of these unacceptable constructions and restore wetlands and tank beds. Any delay will result in nature reclaiming its due, as the effects of global warming intensify. Rising flood waters will spare none, the rich or the poor.
I can already hear the gasps of incredulity. How can we entrust our lives to the tender ministrations of our corporators, who have the reputation of being thugs and crooks? Such thinking is riddled with serious faults. First, we could elect better people to the corporation. Second, the thought that the higher we go, the more principled and statesman-like people are is a laughable and naive presumption. Third, it undermines the biggest tools of accountability in the BBMP, wards committees and area sabhas. Getting these institutions to work well is in our hands. There are no corresponding peoples’ participation mechanisms in State departments and parastatals.
What we can dispense with are parochial arguments. Both the migrant ‘techie’ and the migrant rag picker are vitally important for the economic health of Bengaluru. There is a time lag between migrant arrivals and their becoming assertive stakeholders in the city’s health; that is no reason to decry them. Indeed, our city would collapse if all migrants returned to their homes.
Good politics
Finally, apolitical approaches have their limitations. Political parties of all hues have been exploiting Bengaluru for decades. Let us face it. If we continue to vote for the corrupt for considerations other than development and environmental protection, we will not find solutions. Our bad political choices are keeping good politicians and bureaucrats out of decision making. While public participation may seem a suicide mission and the frustration and anger of being pushed back can take a toll, the only cure for bad politics is more politics of the good kind. Not less of it.
T.R. Raghunandan is former Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Government of Karnataka, former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, and Senior Policy Adviser, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
