Mysore’s capital moved from Mysore to Bangalore in 1831. Why did Bangalore take off then? The two main reasons were telegraph connections and rail connectivity to Madras, introduced in 1864. These lessons about connectivity’s importance for development don’t change, not even in the 21st century and notwithstanding the virtual world.

The flyovers and one-way streets didn’t deliver, or didn’t deliver enough. Nor did the Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BMP) deliver, which is perhaps the reason why it was replaced by Greater Bangalore Municipal Corporation (GBMC) in 2007. The role of one factor in improving post-1991 Indian performance is inadequately appreciated and that’s the role of civil society, not just in exerting countervailing pressure and forcing public expenditure to become more transparent and accountable, but also in working with the government. By and large, this civil society role is urban-centric and one of the imponderables is why it happens in some parts (even within urban segments) of the country and not in others. There are several such organisations in Bangalore and, indeed, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) was also meant to achieve this. However, what has happened to BATF is not clear. BATF’s website (www.onlinebangalore.com) still talks about making Bangalore the best city in India by “2004 AD” and implementation of short-term plans by “June 2007”. That doesn’t sound very promising.

Nevertheless, there are some clear advantages an incoming government possesses. First, despite what has happened to the BATF, civil society presence exists. Second, funds have been available from the central budget for improving Bangalore’s infrastructure, including from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Third, there are existing plans for improving transport infrastructure — the new international airport in Devanahalli (inauguration in 2008), the metro (inauguration in 2011) and an elevated toll network all the way to Chennai (date unspecified). For what it is worth, the existing airport isn’t controlled by the Airports Authority of India. Fourth, there were some sporadic attempts to improve police stations in Bangalore, though one hasn’t heard much about this in the last couple of years.

... contd.