Bangalore-The rains and a history of urban flooding

The recent floods in Uttarakand and other parts of north India, particularly Himachal Pradesh, and years ago in north Karnataka has once again turned the focus on the lack of preparedness of the Governments, both State and Centre and the agencies in dealing with such disasters.

While the defence forces acted with alacrity and dedication, the government, bureaucracy and even local people were found wanting. If the Government and bureaucracy vanished along with the floods, a handful of local people turned parasites and grave diggers, robbing the pilgrims and leaving them at the mercy of  a raging Nature.

While there is no possibility of what happened in Uttarakand taking place in Bangalore, there is little doubt that time is running pout for Bangalore as the powers that be continue to play a game of blind date with Nature.

The politicians, bureaucracy and even the Government has either turned a blind eye or covertly backed encroachment of  forests and grasslands, mine river beds for sand and block natural flow of water.

In Bangalore, there has been massive  and repeated deluge of water from the drains almost every time it rains and the reason is not far to seek, Rampant encroachment, mushrooming illegal layouts, wanton destruction of green cover, throwing filth and debris in rain water drains and blocking it in several places by building structures have led to a situation where even a small shower leads to roads being clogged with water.

However, flooding of Bangalore is not a new phenomenon. Contrary to popular perception, flooding in Bangalore is more than a century old. The first such recorded incident of what is now better known as urban flooding occurred exactly a century ago. It was during the monsoon season of 1912 and Bangalore then had been seeing a particularly wet spell.

It was September 28, and Bangalore that day saw very heavy rains. While the damage in Cantonment was not all that high, houses in Siddikatte (now City Market) and the petes of Bangalore, including Ranasinghpet and Gundopant Street were completely flooded and the waters entered houses and shops, leaving people stranded in knee deep water.

With the rains leaving a trail of  destruction, old Bangalore or the Pettah town looked like a war ravaged city. The then Municipality then swung into action almost immediately and decided to provide food and shelter first to the people.

Interestingly, one of the members of the then municipality was Puttanna Chetty, who later became its president. Sir M. Visvesvara9iah had just taken over as Dewan of Mysore State.

The Municipality realized that the entire infrastructure in the city was almost in shambles. The roads were completely inundated with water and drains were overflowing. Low lying areas were completely flooded and scores of people were marooned.

The municipality shifted the people to choultries and kalyana mantapas and organized food and medicine for the inmates. those associated with the civic administration of the city. The municipality also helped the inmates get their valuables and other necessities from the houses.

To prevent looting and robbery, the municipality took the help of police and posted guards in several areas. The rain havoc was so much that the municipality had to open four choultries to house people and feed them.

The floods receded only after October 2, that is six days after heavy rains lashed Bangalore. The Municipality, on its own, decided to help people rebuild their houses and even offered sites at elevated places. Adequate compensation was give to those who lost their houses.

Bangalore then, the Pettah area, had a population of just about 1 lakhs and it spread over an area of a little over 10 square miles. The Cantonment or the Civil and Military Station was more populated and it was also spread put over a larger area.

Some of the people then blamed the then municipality for the floods. They complained that the first act of the Bangalore Municipality was to dry the moat around the old fort area and drain it of all water and convert it along with Siddikatte lake into house sites.

The residents then felt that the civic agency had also made mistake in allowing construction of houses on plots it sold adjacent to the  Dharmambudhi Tank in Majestic.   

Centuries later, the rains continue to plunge Bangalore into misery and the Bruthut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) keeps on parroting the same line every year-there will be no flooding this year but this refrain sounds as hollow as ever as no steps have been taken to prevent flooding.

(This is the first in a series of articles on Urban Flooding and Bangalore. The sources of these series of articles are the records, chronicles and books of and on civic agencies themselves such as Central Water Commission (CWC), BBMP BDA, BWSSB, Urban Development Department and studies by IISc, IISEC, Bangalore University and other scientific and research institutions.)   

When Cantonment refused to merge with Bangalore

The Cantonment today-it was the Civil and Military Station till 1947- is an integral part of  Bangalore and in some ways it can be called the perfect showpiece of  Bangalore’s urban planning.

Even today, the Cantonment differs with the rest of the City as it is characterised by broad roads, tree-lined avenues, large footpaths, looming spires of churches and military establishments which are an oasis of calm and green cover.

At one time, MG Road, the erstwhile South Parade, was the jewel in the crown of Cantonment. Much of South Parade’s British links have disappeared over the years  but some vestiges still exist.

Many of the roads and localities in the Cantonment bear British or European names, a testimony to the British administration of the Cantonment ever since its founding in 1806 till the Indian Independence in 1947.

It was only after August 15, 1947 that the Government passed a bill merging both the Cantonment and Bangalore Petta areas. Till then, Bangalore was a city of two municipalities and two administratively controlled areas-the Cantonment directly by the British and the Pettah by the Mysore Government of the Wodeyar Kings.

But what many are not aware is that several decades ago, residents of Cantonment, including European living in the locality, vehemently opposed the idea of  merging their area with Bangalore City.

Many residents, including several well-known personalities, opposed the move by the Mysore Government seeking merger of both the municipal bodies of Bangalore which were then to come under the jurisdiction of the Wodeyars.

The story of this rather strange episode in the history of Bangalore City starts in 1927 when the British Government appointed a commission to look into constitutional reforms in and for India. Its actual name was the Indian Statutory Commission and it had seven British members of Parliament as its members, including Clement Atlee, who decades later became Prime Minister of United Kingdom and oversaw the transfer of power to India in 1947.

Since the Commission was headed by Sir John Simon, it came to be known as Simon Commission. It published its 17-volume report in 1930, proposing among others the abolition of diarchy system of governance and the establishment of representative government in the provinces. It also recommended that separate communal electorates be retained until tensions between Hindus and Muslims had died down.

It suggested the formation of an all-India federation in which British Indian provinces and native Indian states (princely dominions) would join as members. The Wodeyars of  Mysore initially declined to enter the federation but reversed their decision only of the annual subsidy of Rs. 35 lakhs it was paying to the British was abolished. This subsidy had been a burden on the kingdom ever since the British gave back the seat of power to the Wodeyars after the fall of Srirangapatna in 1799.

Another condition that Mysore put forth to join the dominion of India was that the Civil and Military station (Cantonment) should be handed over to it.

The then Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail, on January 29, 1933, submitted a memorandum to the then Viceroy Willingdon (Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, 1931-1936) seeking merger of Cantonment with Mysore. The Dewan’s argument was simple. The Mysore State could not have another independent entity within its own kingdom and since Bangalore was being run independently by the British, it was a blot on the dignity of the Maharaja and the pride of the people.

The recommendations of the Simon Commission and the memorandum of the Dewan soon created a furore in Bangalore. While the Pettah welcomed the developments, Cantonment appeared shocked and soon began leading a movement against its merger.   

Some Muslim residents of Cantonment decided to hand over a memorandum to the Resident of Mysore Lt Col G.T.C.Plowden. They said they were opposed to the merger as the Mysore Kingdom did not have jurisdiction over them. They claimed that the Wodeyars got the Kingdom only after the death of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna in 1799. The Kingdom should have been rightly handed over to the sons of Tipu Sultan and not to the Wodeyars, was their refrain. A more serious claim made by them was that their language, religion, culture and tradition was distinct and that they were at stake in Mysore.

It also charged the Mysore Government of neglecting the Muslims and not caring for them and their culture and heritage. However, several other leading Muslims of  Mysore such as S.G. Mohiyuddin of the Daily Al Kalam, an Urdu newspaper from Bangalore, and Mohammad Abbas Khan denied the charges made against the Mysore Government.

However, the idea of a merger was not an easy issue to digest for even other people. Initially, even the Anglo-Indians and the Congress Party unit of  the Civil and Military station opposed it.

The Bangalore Traders Association also protested against it and submitted a memorandum. The issue gathered so much momentum that it even figured in a debate in the House of Commons in Britain on May 7, 1934. It was then that  Major-General Sir Alfred William Fortescue Knox (1870-1964), a  career British military officer and later a Conservative party politician,  suggested reconsidering of a 'policy which would place thousands of Europeans and Anglo-Indians unwillingly under the rule of an Indian state. The then Secretary of State for India, Sir Samuel Hoare (1889-1959), closed the debate when he agreed that there were negotiations about the civil station but none about the military station.

The Resident of Mysore, Lt Col G.T.C.Plowden, said only a  partial retrocession of the civil and military station had been agreed upon. He clarified that Parade grounds. South Parade, Shop area, parts of Ulsoor and all the military barracks and military establishment would not be merged into Mysore.

With both Hoare and Plowden standing firm on the issue of partial merger, demands began to be made by several communities seeking safeguards. When this was brought to the notice of the Dewan, he assured full cooperation from the Mysore Government and promised all steps and necessary safeguards to assuage the feelings of the residents of Cantonment.    

Interestingly, DVG or D.V. Gundappa was among the many people who took on the no-merger group. DVG took to task the people who were opposed to the merger and reminded them that it was Bangalore they were talking about and not some distant province. He also questioned the rationale of  a Cantonment in the 20^th century.

Even as the debate was hotting up, the second world war broke out. Soon, the issue along with several others was brushed under the carpet and it died a natural death. However, the two entities continued: the C and M station ruled by the British and the Pettah by Mysore.

On July 19, 1947, almost a month before Independence, the British Government began the process of transferring the control of  establishments in Bangalore to Mysore State. The then Resident of Mysore, Walter Cambell, oversaw the transfer. The first institution, which they transferred to Mysore was the Indian Institute of Science. On June 26, they transferred the civil area to Mysore and the C and M station on August 14, 1947. Cambell left for England on August 15.

Soon there came only one municipality and the two areas were merged to form the corporation of the city of Bangalore.   

When the twin cities became one

Generally when two cities grow near each other or in close proximity with each other, they are labeled as twin cities. In India, one of the best known twin city is Hyderabad and Secundrabad in Andhra Pradesh. Both these cities have managed to retain their distinct identity and made a name for themselves.

In Karnataka, the cities of Gadag-Betagiri is among the most known. Both Hyderabad-Secundrabad and Gadag-Betagiri have retained their entity and distinctness. However, till 1947, Karnataka had one more twin city that was separated by a beautiful park and a huge body of water. If the older part of the city was ruled by a native prince, the newer part was controlled by the British.

Both the older city and the newer part had separate administrators and each had their own municipality and rules governing them. Each developed separately and till Independence they each retained their identity.

It was only after August 1947 that both the cities were merged and today both are an integral part of the bigger conglomerate of  Bangalore. The old city, till 1947, was called the Pettah or Pete area and the new British area was called the Cantonment.

Even today, the Cantonment retains vestiges of  British style of planning and architecture and the Pettah area the Indian style. Surprisingly, till the late 1920s, it was the British built Cantonment that had more population and also collected more revenue from levy of taxes on people than its Pettah neighbourhood.

The history of old Bangalore or the Petah goes back to several centuries and the discovery of Roman coins have proved that Bangalore was an important trading centre even during the Roman times. Inscriptions of the Nolambas (they ruled over large parts of Kolar and Bangalore), Gangas, Cholas and Hoysalas prove that Bangalore was a fairly well-populated city and it was also an important military centre during the middle ages.

It was, however, Kempe Gowda or Hiriya Kempe Gowda (1510-1569), who gave a push to Bangalore and made it politically significant.  His descendent, Kempe Gowda, the third, had to surrender Bangalore to the Adil Shahis in 1637 and retire to Magadi.

Bangalore from 1637 to 1686 remained under the Adil Shahis of Bijapur. During that time, the Adil Shah granted Bangalore as a Jagir to Shahaji, the father of Shivaji. In 1687, the Mughals under Quasim Khan captured Bangalore and then sold it for Rs. 3 lakhs to Chikadevaraja Wodeyar.

The Marathas once again captured Bangalore in the mid 1700s. Their claim to Bangalore lay on the fact that Bangalore along with Kolar, Doddaballapur, Chikaballapur, Hoskote and Kanakagiri was part of  Shahaji’s jagir. Hyder wrested Bangalore from the Maratahs and his son Tipu held it till his death in Srirangapatna on May 4, 1799.

After Tipu’s death, Bangalore initially was held by the British. The British restored the Mysore throne to the Wodeyars and established their Residency in Mysore city itself. They later shifted the Residency to Bangalore in 1804. The Residency was abolished in 1843 and revived in 1881. It survived till 1947.

The British planned a Cantonment to house their troops in Bangalore and construction of this township started in 1806. The Cantonment was planned away from the Pettah area and the British compelled the Wodeyar King to hand over the vast area covering the present Ulsoor to them. It was divided from the Pettah by Cubbon Park and Sampangiramanagar tank.  

In just a few years, both the Pettah and Cantonment began developing in contrasting styles and soon they became among the first twin cities in Karnataka.

The Cantonment had broad and clean streets and footpaths and huge bungalows. The military were housed in barracks surrounded by rolling lands. The British introduced gardens to the city by surrounding their houses and offices with flowers and fruit trees. The localities came to be well laid out and beautifully designed.

In sharp contrast, the Pettah area continued to be “dingy, dark and ugly.” The roads were narrow and winding. The houses were small. Sanitation was almost absent. The drains were narrow and mostly clogged. Since the Pettah was under the control of the Wodeyars, all decisions could be taken only in Mysore. The decision making process thus was delayed unlike the Cantonment which enjoyed a free hand.

The old Bangalore had more temples and more historic structures than the Cantonment. On its part, the Cantonment had more churches and educational institutions.  If the Pettah was the epitome of a typical Indian city, the Cantonment had an European flavour.

While drinking water to Bangalore was from several lakes and  tanks like Dharmambudhi and Sampangi initially and Hesaraghatta and Thippagondanhalli reservoir in the later period, water to Bangalore Cantonment was mainly supplied from Ulsoor, Millers tank, Sankey tank and Shoolay tank.

When Bangalore was under the Wodeyar rule for 68 years from 1690 to 1758, it was governed by administrators known as Parupathegars. There were 26 such administrators who governed Bangalore.

In 1758, Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the second, gifted Bangalore as a Jagir to his able Commander Hyder Ali. Under Hyder and Tipu, the Kannada speaking Parupathegars were replaced by Muslim Amildars.

When Bangalore came back to the Wodeyar fold again in 1799, it came to be ruled directly by them. Thus, the history of the two cities began unfolding in distinct ways. It was on March 27, 1862 that Cantonment got its municipality. It was called Bangalore City Municipality (BCM).  This municipality was set up under the provisions of the Improvement of Towns Act of 1850. The first nine members of the municipal board comprised Indian officials, non-officials and British officials.

A few years later, the pettah too got its municipality. The two bodies were legalised in 1881, but both continued to function independent of each other. In 1882, the system of election was introduced to induct non-official members in the municipality. The same year saw the introduction for the time property tax on houses and business establishment.

The British also conferred the right on property tax payers to become eligible to elect non-official members to the board of each of the two civic bodies. It was only in 1920 that the British agreed on the idea of electing a president.

Thus the president was the same for both the municipal boards and this system was in force till 1949, after which the two boards were legally merged to form the Corporation of the City of Bangalore, Now it is the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Dr. J.H.Orr was the first to head both the Bangalore and Cantonment municipal bodies.

When a census was conducted in 1891, the population of Cantonment outstripped that of Bangalore, As per this census, Bangalore had a populace of  80,285. Of this, 67,388 were Hindus and Jains, 10,472 Muslims and 2,425 were Christians. In  contrast, the Cantonment’s population was 1,00,081. Here, the Hindus including Jains numbered 58,251, Muslims 23,892 and Christians numbered 17,902. Of the Christians, 4,985 were classified as Europeans, 2,649 Eurasians and the rest Indian Christians.

However, till the mid 1920s Cantonment outstripped Bangalore in both population and collection of taxes, particularly octroi. Till 1923, the area of Cantonment exceeded that of Bangalore and it was only in later years that Bangalore expanded rapidly.  

The following table shows the comparative population of both the municipal bodies.  

Year	Population of Bangalore Pete	Population of Bangalore Cantonment
1901	69,447	83,599
1911	88,651	1,00834
1921	1,18,556	1,18,940
1931	1,72,357	1,34,113
1941	2,48,331	1,58,655
1951	5,00,786	2,78,191

So we see that Bangalore Pete began developing only from the mid 1920s and since then there has been no looking back. Today, Bangalore is the fifth largest municipality in India and it was only  Independence that brought both the entities together.