Borrowing to build white elephants?

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has unveiled grand plans for Bengaluru, but his focus on mega infrastructure projects has raised concerns about their financial implications, impact on environmental sustainability and, most importantly, the fact that such projects are being planned and implemented without consultations with, and the consent of, large sections of the public.

The proposed projects, including a tunnel road, elevated corridors, and a skydeck, will all come with a hefty price tag. The BBMP plans to borrow a whopping Rs 39,000 crore for them. It is crucial for Bengaluru’s citizens to question whether the BBMP should take on projects that are neither financially or environmentally sustainable nor likely to solve the city’s traffic and mobility problems. 

Over the next 10 years, we are informed, the civic body proposes to invest Rs 1 lakh crore on infrastructure “to sustain the influx of people”. This contradicts the government's ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ initiative, which aims to promote investment in other parts of Karnataka and to decongest Bengaluru. Instead of pouring more money, and that too borrowed money, into making the city ripe for continued influx of people into it, the government should prioritise strengthening second-tier cities and towns to encourage balanced economic growth across the state, reduce migration into Bengaluru, and begin to decongest the city and reduce the burden of not just traffic but also on its land and water. Moreover, embarking on major new projects without first fixing the existing infrastructure is unwise.

There is an urgent need to fix existing roads by repairing and resurfacing them, filling potholes, and creating safe pathways for pedestrians. To tackle its traffic woes, Bengaluru urgently needs to expand and integrate its public transport system, comprising an extensive network of bus routes, an expanded metro system and last-mile connectivity, in addition to the upcoming suburban railway system. The focus should be on incentivising public transport and discouraging use of private vehicles on roads. 

Shivakumar’s plans for Bengaluru are a classic case of biting off more than one can chew, and of wrong priorities. The skydeck, for instance, is a vanity project being pursued over substantive solutions to the city’s more urgent needs. These projects will only divert precious resources from other urgent needs like improving the public transport system, enhancing existing roads, providing green spaces, garbage disposal, and addressing the acute drinking water crisis.

One cannot help but wonder, does Bengaluru really need these expensive projects or is it just a case of Shivakumar’s vanity running amok? The Deputy Chief Minister will do well to make an attempt to understand the real and urgent needs of the city and citizens rather than pursue white elephants that will in all likelihood leave them worse off environmentally and financially, and still stuck in a traffic gridlock 10 years down the line.