Contemporary Bangalore, the administrative capital of the southern state of Karnataka (pop.57 million) which through the 1980s was repeatedly adjudged the most well-administered and hospitable Indian city in media surveys, represents all that has gone wrong with urban planning and management in Shining India. Today, this once garden city (pop. 7 million), visibly crumbling under the load of 2.2 million automotive vehicles and continuous migration from neglected rural Karnataka, has morphed into India’s garbage city, severely afflicted by water and air pollution, road and traffic chaos, breakdown of law and order, and rampaging Hindu fundamentalist lumpens who have destroyed the city’s once-bustling social life.
Against this gloomy backdrop which bodes ill for this once green city renowned for its parks, lakes and walks, has re-emerged the unlikely figure of a local politician, Vatal Nagaraj, from political obscurity. Known more for his comic persona, floppy hat, wide grin and photo op grabbing skills rather than political acumen, somewhat late in his political career, Nagaraj has hit upon sanitation, more specifically the severe shortage of public toilets in the city, as his new campaign theme. To illustrate the paucity of public toilets he is given to drinking water in large quantities and threatening to do what comes naturally thereafter near numerous public monuments — including the chief minister’s official residence — which are unserved by way of public conveniences.
Although Nagaraj’s unique protest shows all signs of petering out given the apathy and inertia of the citizenry, there’s no doubt that his grievance and protest is justified. The fact that Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park — showpiece grounds of over 3 sq. km each — offer one small toilet between them, is testimony to the skills of the civic planners of India’s Silicon Valley. Although it’s difficult to take him seriously, Nagaraj’s belated protest deserves the support of all right-thinking citizens, not only of Bangalore, but of all urban habitats where the sanitation issue is ignored in the hope that it will resolve itself. In this connection it is relevant to note that Nagaraj’s campaign would have had the full backing of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who — it is forgotten — accorded the highest priority to sanitation, and routinely cleaned public toilets himself.