Bangalore has a low quality of life, says NGO survey

Bangalore, April 5: India's IT capital is not a great place to live in, says a

which was conducted by Bangalore-based

Janaagraha in 11 tier-I and tier-II cities across the country.

The survey included two parts: Annual Survey of India's City-Systems (ASICS) and Voice of India's Citizen Survey on the quality of life in the cities. The benchmark was London and New York. The survey interviewed 4,200 people and the parameters to judge the cities included mobility system, cleanliness, water, public amenities, crime, pollution control and others.

Bangalore was ranked ninth among the 11 cities surveyed. Surat topped the list while Pune and Ahmedabad were placed second and third. Bangalore fared badly in all the parameters.

It was seen that Bangalore ranked fourth in terms of crime, after Kanpur, Delhi and Jaipur. It was ranked 10 in terms of water availability and mobility system. In terms of greenery and pollution control, the ‘Garden City' ranked a disappointing eighth while in terms of cleanliness, it finished ninth. Ahmedabad was termed the best city in public amenities while Bangalore finished at no. 9.

The survey, which also analysed the quality of the cities in terms of planning, saw that none of the Indian cities got more than five out of 10. New York and London scored eight and nine, respectively, in terms of urban design.

The only positive for Bangalore was that it shared the third place with Hyderabad in terms of urban planning and design. Kolkata and Delhi were ranked first and second in the list. In fact, Kolkata shared the top position with New York and London.

The IT capital also fared relatively well in terms of transparency, accountability and participation of the citizens. But it scored poorly in urban capacities and resources. The civic agencies of the fast-growing city have a low access and weak control over finances and human resources. It also lags behind in empowered and legitimate political representation.

OneIndia News