#malini ranganathan

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The encroachment and conversion of Bengaluru’s wetlands into alienable property is not a new phenomenon. Until the mid-20th century, a network of engineered and naturally occurring water reservoirs called keres in Kannada or “lakes/tanks” in English extended across the landscape. More than a thousand such tanks  interconnected through canals (today’s raja kaluves) once crisscrossed the urban district of Bengaluru. As anthropologist David Mosse has chronicled, village-managed tanks were developed all over South India four centuries ago in response to the vagaries of monsoonal rainfall and the cultural and political traits of pre-colonial agrarian states.

Malini Ranganathan, ‘Why Bengaluru is not immune to floods: It’s all about land (and money)’, Citizen Matters

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Urban land has become the frontier for capitalist growth in the last three decades. Fueled by a dizzying flow of global and domestic capital, Bengaluru’s real estate sector is one of the most profitable in the country. “Land” comprising of rivulets, marshes, and drains, known as kharab–B [non-cultivable] land in the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964, is technically owned by the state. In practice, however, such land is not owned by anyone and is thus claimable by anyone. “No-man’s land” is especially profitable: fill in a parcel of wetland, as so many dump trucks in Bengaluru have been doing on a daily basis, and suddenly you have a saleable piece of property. Such filling-in with debris and concrete obstructs the flow of storm water and the percolation of groundwater, leading to a cascade of environmental harms, as researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have documented.

Malini Ranganathan, ‘Why Bengaluru is not immune to floods: It’s all about land (and money)’, Citizen Matters

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A mere 200 water bodies survive in varying states of health within Greater Bengaluru, which translates into a roughly 80% decline in lake surface area over the last three decades. Despite a few noteworthy instances of lake protection advocated by residents and environmental groups, the city’s lakes are succumbing to land grabs. The differences between the encroachments of yesteryear and today lie in the enormous scale today and the fact that such encroachments are almost entirely serving private interests.

Malini Ranganathan, ‘Why Bengaluru is not immune to floods: It’s all about land (and money)’, Citizen Matters

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During a meeting with Srinivas, the then-assistant executive engineer of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP’s) Bommanahalli Zone, I witnessed a group of women storming the engineer’s office, clearly distressed. Living in a low-lying unauthorised “revenue layout” without drainage connectivity meant that the previous night’s rain had flooded their homes. This is a routine occurrence for poorer urban residents without formal tenure and infrastructure. Poorer residents are not only vulnerable to extreme weather, but also continue to be ensnared by a double-edged sword: a nexus between real estate developers, landowners, and various agents of the state. This nexus makes settlement possible for poorer and lower middle class groups without access to planned housing; at the same time, it can be exploitative and dangerous. In simplest terms, this is how the nexus works: a developer (who might also be the landowner) converts agricultural or other land he has authority over (mostly known as general power of attorney, not necessarily ownership) into residential layouts or commercial property and quickly parcels it off to willing buyers without following planning, building, or infrastructure protocols. The “state”, heterogeneous as it is, can be involved (proactively or passively) in abetting and flexibly governing any part of this process for some amount of profit or prestige.

Malini Ranganathan, ‘Why Bengaluru is not immune to floods: It’s all about land (and money)’, Citizen Matters