Bengaluru needs a little political will and a lot of community-level initiatives

Many years ago, weather used to be the icebreaker in conversations in Bengaluru. Traffic and its interminable snarls is the only subject every Bengalurean or visitor to the city talks of now. There are 3.5 million vehicles in the city. Its roads can support no more than one million. Traffic jams are the rule.

Water shortage has become grim. People are beginning to accept power shutdowns of over 20 hours a week. Waste piles up in every busy city corner. Pollution and high pollen content in the air has reached massive proportions. Seventy per cent of all ailments in the city are respiratory.

The bjp made two brave promises in its election manifesto last year. One was the sprucing up of infrastructure in Bengaluru with