Bangalore- The Sinking Ship!

It was 8 45 am. My office shuttle was negotiating the traffic at Mysore road. It has been a 50 minute journey so far and we are yet to reach office. The distance is not even 20 km and in any other major city which is globally known it should take a commuter much less time to traverse that distance. Is this an isolated incident? Does it happen once in a blue moon? No, Bangalore's traffic woes is persisting for quite a long time now. This is something which affects me directly but the interesting thing is Traffic problem is like a small droplet in an ocean of adversities facing the Silicon Valley of India. It makes me a bit jittery to term Bangalore as 'Silicon Valley'.

Looking at our own Silicon Valley in its present state i am caught among many misconceptions. First is what is the original Silicon Valley like?Is it a place where the population has exploded, the infrastructure has come down to its knees?

Second thing which keeps on coming to my mind is if we really look at Silicon Valley,California and than turn to Bangalore I find it hard to believe the disparity of standards. Are our standards such that we compare the largest industry hub in the world with a city which is crumbling under the pressure of overgrowing population?

Bangalore city is in the middle of a mass crisis from all fronts. Infrastructure be it Civic or transport is facing huge crisis. In the midst of this the booming economy is demanding more out of this city. People from different parts of India are coming for jobs and in that process exposing the cities shortcomings.

Call it the political gimmick or lack of vision but the fact is Bangalore is going down the drain. The political establishment has wooed the industry to this state successfully but it has not taken care of the essential needs which was bound to arise as the city grew. Today we see BMTC buses overcrowded..traffic snarls...pathetic civic supplies.

This is an alarming situation and its time we realize that this city is like a ship and the people living here are on board and unless we take care of this ship we all are going to sink very soon.