Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw flags Bengaluru road woes; minister responds

Responding to Shaw's criticism, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said he was unsure which part of Bengaluru her overseas visitor has seen

Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw flagged concerns over Bengaluru's infrastructure, highlighting poor roads and littered streets. This evoked a response from Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, who questioned the industrialist's view while maintaining that the city is growing at a rapid pace. 

In a recent post on X, Shaw wrote, "I had an overseas business visitor to Biocon Park who said, 'Why are the roads so bad and why is there so much garbage around?  Doesn’t the Govt want to support investment? I have just come from China and can't understand why India can’t get its act together, especially when the winds are favourable'." 

Responding to Shaw's criticism, Kharge said he was unsure "which part of Bengaluru" was seen by her overseas visitor. Speaking to news agency ANI, the Congress leader said the city is growing at a rapid pace, and whatever is necessary for the improvement of the infrastructure is being done. 

Karnataka minister MB Patil also cautioned against public criticism while development work is underway. Speaking to ANI, Patil said Shaw is a big asset to Karnataka and India, but Bengaluru has also given back to her. "Once there were potholes, and heavy rainfalls. Now it's been attended. Thousands of crores have been given, and the work is going on... When the work is going on, you tweeting it again is not in good taste," he said.

 

Bengaluru's 'garbage problem'

 

Last week, Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru development minister, said he has moved "heaven and earth" to fix the city's garbage problems and alleged involvement of "big garbage mafia" that has stalled the city's progress, PTI reported.

 

Speaking at an event, he said that traffic congestion is a global and national challenge and cited London and New Delhi as examples. He added, "Even in London, people have to travel three hours if they don't go by public transport. Even in Delhi, it will take 1.5 hours to reach Parliament from the airport, but Bengaluru is making more noise than Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad."