What bothers Bengalureans ahead of the civic polls? One would think of the obvious answers: traffic snarls and bad roads. However, a survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy has revealed that while middle and upper class mostly lament about traffic congestion, which dominates public discourse, the poor’s biggest concern is access to water.
Of the 503 who were part of the survey, 23% of urban poor said their biggest worry is access to water. With Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) closing public taps in slums and the poor being pushed to rely on costly RO plants for drinking water due to irregular supply of water, even the poor in core areas are concerned. Access to water is predominantly an issue among the poor in the outer zones.
Another issue that dominates their concerns is garbage - 19% of the urban poor respondents - probably owing to irregular collection of waste from urban poor pockets in the city.
Expectedly, 30% of the middle and upper class respondents in the survey said their biggest concern has been traffic. However, cutting across all classes, lack of pedestrian facilities have emerged as one of the biggest pain points in the city - 23% of them listed it as a concern, followed by garbage (20%), traffic (16%), and water (15%). The survey revealed that women and men alike - 83% of Bengaluru voters - appeal for BBMP elections to be fought on the basis of civic issues they face in the city.
