The development of “smart” cities was one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first initiatives upon taking office in 2014. Launched the next year, the stated focus of the Indian government’s Smart Cities Mission is “on sustainable and inclusive development, and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.” However, as the Mission’s portal candidly acknowledges, “There is no universally accepted definition of a smart city. It means different things to different people.” Given the myriad interpretations of that term in this rapidly urbanizing, hugely diverse country, it comes…
Read moreThis city of 11 million, formerly known as Bangalore, is home to India’s software giants and its startups, as well as multinationals such as Samsung, Oracle and Amazon. com. The growing tech sector symbolizes urban India’s upward mobility and economic vigor. But an existential threat hovers over all this new prosperity. Bengaluru is running out of water. A drought that has dropped reservoirs to dangerous levels is only part of the problem. The situation is made worse by rampant and unregulated extraction of groundwater, which is depleting underground aquifers. Anyone who can afford to drill a borewell to tap groundwater has done it, particularly in the…
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