Facts of Bangalore

I wanted to talk about Bangalore (India) as I reside in this so-called "High Tech city" of India. This city has seen better times, but now has one of the worst traffic jams and bad roadways. This city currently has population of 63 Lakh (6.3 Million) people. This city has risen up at such an incredible rate in population and land prices due to the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and IT (Information Technology) industry. The traffic problems are due to the odd ratio of vehicles on road to the capacity of the road which stands at 3:1 (23 lakh / 2.3 million vehicles in the city). Well off people prefer taking 2-wheelers as its is easy to cut through the traffic. 18 Lakh (1.8 Million) 2-Wheelers are in this city making it a record in the world itself.

Intially before all the traffic problems and large scale population, this city was known for being a capital of Karnataka state and also titled as the "Garden City of India" (Even if you see through a satellite image 40% of the city is covered by Trees). This city was an amazing destination for Holiday makers due to its pleasant climate which is due to its altitude that is 1000 feet (330 meters) above Sea Level. This place has pleasant climate through out the year with moderate showers.

The above factors attracted the intial flow of BPO and IT industries making it develop at tremendous rate. Even the Bangalore Authority didn't mind as it was creating a major job opportunity for the people of the city. Naturally these companies give out private contract for constructing amazing building structures in a short period of time (Anywhere from 1-3 years) whereas expecting any contract on the Government side for Road infrastructure or any facilities around the proposed site will go for discussions, analysis and then proposals and finally giving out contracts that also which can be done in a 5 year plan. So these lead to the major problems of infrastructure like roadways, electricity and other factors. The prices in the real estate shot up, with Land prices going easily above 150-300% and opened a whole new market of Hostels, PG Accomodation, Rental apartments, leases and etc.

For a person who comes to this city in search of a job leads him to PG Accomodations as these are reasonable and includes food meals & laundry. Whereas if a person trys to rent an apartment or a house, he has to be prepared for the hefty amount of advance or so called security deposit which is 10 times the rent of the place. This city has made the standard of living very high along with other things. So mainly real estate is the best business or investment anyone can make in this city.

The greatness of this city is seen with crime rates soaring high and also the impolite nature seen by the Autos (3-wheelers) and Call cabs. Though the police has been trying there best against these kind of problems but they find it difficult in getting their hands on these problems. On the political level. the government keeps finding itself unstable with a tug of war between the top politicians of the coalition government namely Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda (Ex-Prime minister, member of JDS - Janta Dal Secular) and the current Chief Minister Dharam Singh (Member of Congress). These have led to problems in infrastructure development and the most infamous incident in which Mr. Narayana Murthy (Chairman of Infosys) resigned from the Airport Authority over charges and allegation put on him by Mr. Deve Gowda.

The much delayed Bangalore International Airport project which was conceived in 1991 and plans to get ready by January 2008 is yet another hiccup being faced by the current government. Even this amazing airport which is situated around 25 kms north from the heart of the city is not the only problem. The Bangalore Authority has to think about the common people problem of transportation once this Airport gets developed.

This is just the top of the layer of all the problems that has engulfed this once beautiful city. The future blogs will carry more information regarding this.