Bengaluru Struggles With Fallout From India's Breakneck Growth

Bengaluru today shows the costs of breakneck development. India's $194 billion IT services industry has made the city India's Silicon Valley.

On a January stroll around Sankey Tank, a verdant lake in Bengaluru, Kimsuka Iyer noticed that dozens of trees had been painted with red and black X's and O's. As a native of the city that many residents still call Bangalore, the 34-year-old marketing executive understood the symbols: The trees were to be cut down. She soon discovered the government had approved construction of a highway overpass along the water's edge. To make way for the road, the trees had to go - and no one had bothered to ask nearby residents their opinion. "People were pissed," Iyer says. "Once the trees are gone, they're gone."

As recently as 30 years ago, Bengaluru was known as a sleepy place where well-heeled Indians chose to retire, thanks to its small-town vibe and cool climate. Almost 200 lakes were linked by countless canals, low-rise cottages clustered in parklike neighborhoods, and it was easy to bike wherever you needed to go.

The city today shows the costs of breakneck development. India's $194 billion IT services industry has made Bengaluru the country's Silicon Valley. With the economic boom, the population has more than tripled since 1990, to 13 million. In the 1970s the tree canopy covered about 70% of Bengaluru; today it's less than 3%, according to the Indian Institute of Science. Navigation software developer TomTom last year ranked the city as the most traffic-clogged place in India (and No. 5 globally).

Illegal construction has filled in many canals, leading to severe flooding during rainstorms. In May, a flash flood killed an employee of IT services giant Infosys Ltd. And after heavy rainfall a year ago, local news channels and social media lit up with images of inundated luxury homes and people pushing stalled vehicles through the water. The storms forced the closure of the Outer Ring Road, where the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have campuses.