Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

is the capital and the largest city of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. It is India's third largest city and fifth largest metropolitan area. Modern Bengaluru was founded in 1537 CE by Kempe Gowda, a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...

. Kempe Gowda built a mud

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

in the vicinity of modern Bengaluru. By 1831, the city was incorporated into the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

with the establishment of the

Bangalore Cantonment The Bangalore Cantonment (1806–1881) was a military cantonment of the British Raj based in the Indian city of Bangalore. The cantonment covered an area of , extending from the Residency on the west to Binnamangala on the east and from the T ...

. The British returned dominion of the city to the King of Mysore, choosing however, to retain jurisdiction over the

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

. Therefore, Bengaluru essentially became a twin city, with civic and infrastructural developments of the cantonment conforming to European styles of planning. For most of the period after Indian independence in 1947, Bengaluru was a B-1 status city, and was not considered to be one of India's "4 major metropolitan cities". The growth of Information Technology in the city, which is the largest contributor to India's software exports, has led to a decadal growth that is second to only that of India's capital New Delhi. The city's roads, however, were not designed to accommodate the vehicular traffic, growing at an average of 8% annually, that prevails in Bengaluru. This leads to heavy slow traffic and traffic jams in Bengaluru. Particularly during the monsoon season, commute becomes a challenge. The crippling infrastructure and lack of a robust mass transit network have led to the city having one of the worst average commute times in the world.

Early city planning and infrastructure

Within the fort built by Kempe Gowda I, the town was divided into ''pete''s or localities such as Chikpete, Dodpete and Balepete, with each area intended for different artisans and tradesman. Markets within the town were divided by the nature of the provisions supplied and services rendered – Aralpete, Akkipete, Ragipete, Balepete and Taragupete sold various provisions while Kumbarpete, Ganginarpete, Upparpete, Nagartharapete catered to services. The town within the fort had two main streets – Chikpete street and Dodpete street. Chikpete street ran east–west and Dodpete street ran north–south. Their intersection formed the heart of the town – Dodpete square. The town within the fort was cordoned by nine gates. The four main gates of the fort were Halasuru (east), Sondekoppa (west),

Yelahanka Yelahanka is a premium locality in North Bangalore and also a Taluk of Bangalore Urban district in the Indian state of Karnataka. One of the zones of BBMP. It is the oldest part of present Municipal Bengaluru (Bangalore) city and the northe ...

(north) and

Anekal Anekal (ಆನೇಕಲ್) is a major town and taluk of Bengaluru Urban district, part of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. It is a major town in the suburbs of Bangalore, Bengaluru. The Chandapura-Anekal stretch is an emerging residential hu ...

(south). Kempe Gowda encouraged the construction of

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and residential areas, known as ''agraharas'' within the town. Kempe Gowda I sanctioned the construction of lakes within the

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that has no territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and t ...

city, to provide for a source of water supply. The city's residential areas further developed under Kempe Gowda II, who built four towers to demarcate Bangalore's boundaries. These towers in the modern localities of

Lal Bagh Lalbagh Botanical Garden or simply Lalbagh (), is a botanical garden in Bengaluru, India, with an over 200-year history. First planned and laid out during the dalavayi, dalavaiship of King Hyder Ali, the garden was later managed under numerous ...

, Kempambudhi

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

, Ulsoor lake, and the vicinity of

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

Ashram. In 1758, Bangalore was given as a ''jahagir'' to Haider Ali, Commander-in-chief of the Mysore army. Haider Ali built the Delhi and Mysore gates of the fort and further strengthened it with stone walls. The

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

was established in the city during the reigns of Haider Ali and his son,

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

. Captured by the British after the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799, Bangalore fell into the dominion of the

. The Diwan of Mysore, Poornaiah, contributed to the development of Bangalore's infrastructure between 1799 and 1811 CE. He renovated the temple inside the fort and built a choultry for travellers in Tulasi Thota. The British moved their

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

from

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

to Bangalore in 1831, establishing the

. The officer in charge of the city was known as '' Huzoor Shirastedar''. Sir Mark Cubbon,

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the city from 1834 to 1861, was responsible for introducing

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as the official language and for sanctioning the construction of roads and bridges, as well as setting up the

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

system in the city. The South Parade, today known as M.G. Road, became a fashionable area with bars, and restaurants. In his book ''Bangalore: Scenes from an Indian City'', M. N. Srinivas opines that the reasons leading to the haphazard development of narrow, winding roads around the civilian areas around the cantonment was because the British chose to ignore the development of these areas, which were normally reserved for non-European labourers. The first railway lines between Bangalore and Jolarpet were laid in 1864 under the directives of Cubbon. His successor,

Lewin Bentham Bowring Lewin Bentham Bowring (1824–1910) was a British Indian civil servant in British India who served as the Chief Commissioner of Mysore between 1862 and 1870. He was also an author and man of letters. Early life Bowring was born in 1824. He was ...

(1862–1870) established the first organised law enforcement units in the city as well the

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

system and the department of Survey and Settlement. In 1862, the ''Town Municipality of Bangalore'' was constituted under Act No. XXVI of 1850. The municipality board, comprising two European officials, four local officials and two non-officials met biweekly to discuss matters on the city's

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

and improvement. The jurisdiction of the municipality included Balepet, Manavarthpet and Halsurpet. The first project of the municipality was the construction of a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

around the ramparts of the old Bangalore fort. In 1866, the municipality installed

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

lamps on principal streets. A parallel municipality was established in the Bangalore Cantonment in 1862 with Rs. 37,509. The jurisdiction of the cantonment municipality included the

Ulsoor Halasuru, known as Ulsoor during the British Raj, British Rule, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city of Bengaluru. It is in central Bengaluru, and begins near the eastern terminus of M G Road, Bangalore, Mahatma Gandhi Raste. It is ...

division, Southern division, East General

Bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

division, West General Bazaar division, Cleveland Town division and High Ground division. Though the Bangalore town and the Cantonment had separate municipal bodies, they both reported to the President of Bangalore Town Municipality. Despite the establishment of municipal bodies, civic infrastructure in the city did not see considerable improvement. Uncovered drains, some between deep by wide, were common in the town. Contractors of the municipality subordinated farmers for the removal of filth in the cantonment, which they in turn, used as

manure Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nut ...

. The efficacy of this agreement was minimal during agricultural seasons. Contractors engaged in building construction employing more than 10 labourers, were required to maintain a

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

for their use and clean it daily. The

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

of 1897–98 had a dramatic effect on the improvements of sanitation and health facilities. Telephone lines were laid to help coordinate anti-plague operations. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, several unsanitary houses were demolished, and with a lack of manpower to accomplish the demolitions,

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

s from the Central

Jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

were requisitioned. In 1892, the Western extension was formed in the city and sites measuring . by . were sold, by community. This extension was later named Chamarajendrapet. A similar extension was formed in the north of the city, called Sheshadripuram, after Diwam Sheshadri Iyer. The relieve the city of congestion, two new extensions, Malleswaram and Basavanagudi were formed. New roads were constructed linking the new localities and wards of the city during this time. The Avenue Road, so called because of being lined by trees on either side, was the commercial hub of the city. The B.V.K.

Iyengar Iyengars (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Iyengars are divided i ...

Road was constructed as a direct tributary of the Mysore Road. The

silver jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

park near K.R. Market was laid to commemorate the silver jubilee of the accession of the king of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV in 1927. The road on one side of the park was named Silver Jubilee road and Narasimharaja Road on the other. Anand Rao

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

was laid in honour of the Mysore Diwan, while Sajjan Rao Circle was named after a philanthropist. In August 1948, the Governor General of India, C. Rajagopalachari inaugurated the Jayanagar extension, named after the last ruler of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

, Jayachamrajendra

Wodeyar The Wadiyar dynasty,() also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore (also spelt Wodeyer, Odeyer, and Wadeyar), is a late-medieval Indian royal family of former maharajas of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city. The Wadiya ...

. On 3 July 1949, the industrial suburb of the city was inaugurated by the

Maharajah Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...

of Mysore and was named Rajajinagar. In 1905, Bangalore became the first city in India to be electrified, powered by the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plant in Shivanasamudra.

Development after independence

After Indian independence in 1947, the two municipalities of the cantonment and Bangalore town were united under the Bangalore Municipal Corporation Act LXIX (1949) to form a single municipality for the city – the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC). The new corporation consisted of 50 wards and 75 councillors. The first elections to the BCC under adult franchise were held in December 1950, with Congress party candidate R. Anantharaman elected as first mayor of independent Bangalore. The needs of a growing city led to the rapid growth of civic bodies in the city. The BDA Act of 1976 reconstituted and reorganised the City Improvement Trust Board to form the

Bangalore Development Authority The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) of Bangalore, India, is a governmental organization (referred to within India as a State-owned enterprise, parastatal entity) and the principal planning authority for Bangalore in accordance with the '' ...

(BDA), whose objective was to ensure proper planning and development of the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

. Bangalore's city layout today has various types of "growth poles", consisting of Markets – K.R. Market, Malleshwaram, Magadi Road,

and others, Commercial Centres –

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

, MG Road, Brigade Road, Commercial streets among others, Industrial layouts –

Electronics City Electronic City is an information technology hub in Bengaluru, India, located in Anekal taluk. Spread over 800 acres (3.2 km²) near Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur it houses a large number of electronic/IT industrial parks. Electr ...

Bharat Electronics Limited Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, public sector aerospace and Military, defence Electronics, electronics company, headquartered in Bangalore. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products ...

layout and HAL Layout, and other socio-economic precursors – Hospitals
Mallya
Bowring and Lady Curson, Vanivilas) and areas of religious and ethnic concentration. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) was constituted in 1968 to supply water to the city and to provide for the disposal of

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

. The Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) was formed in 1957. Losses in revenues through the mid-1980s and 1990s prompted the Karnataka Legislature to pass the Karnataka Electricity Reforms Act in 1999, which corporatised the KEB into the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), with the distribution of

Bangalore division Bangalore Division, officially Bengaluru division, is one of the four divisions of the Indian state Karnataka. The division comprises the districts of Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Kolar, Ramanagara ...

vested with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), which caters to 2.1 million customers in the Bangalore metropolitan area. To cater to the electricity needs of a growing population, BESCOM has sought to commission 11 additional 66/11 kV substations. Over 4,000 distribution

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

centres were added. One survey indicates that 94% of citizens were satisfied with BESCOM's performance. However, Bangalore continues to experience residential and industrial power outages ("load shedding") for as long as 2 to 4 hours a day, while its contemporaries such as

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

remain largely free of such outages. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was separated from the parent

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is a state-owned public road transport corporation company in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to 31 districts and as wel ...

through private sector investment, first making a profit of Rs. 267 million (US$5.6 million in 2001–2002. As of 2001, the company operated close to 3000 regular and ''Pushpak'' busses and services 2.8 million customers daily. The

Bangalore Agenda Task Force The Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) in South India was a public-private partnership (PPP) that ran from 1999 till 2004 at the direction of the Chief Minister (India), Chief Minister of Karnataka. The purpose of the taskforce was to bring in bu ...

(BATF), a private-public partnership enterprise, was established during the S. M. Krishna administration to coordinate civic improvement and development activities with the BDA and BMP. The BATF, along with other civic bodies identified ten junctions and roads for upgrade and improvement, including the Bannerghatta ring road junction,

toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * Tollgate (Hale single), "Tollgate" (Hale single) * ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heye ...

junction and the

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Inner Ring Road Junction. Under the leadership of Sir Mirza Ismail, Diwan of Mysore, the

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. H ...

(HAL), a public sector undertaking was established in Bangalore for the purposes of research and development of

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

in the 1940s. The HAL operated an airport for test-flights. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) obtained a small piece of land, known as ''Civil

Enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

'' for the construction of a civil airport terminal in the HAL airport for handling peak-hour traffic of 300 passengers. By 1991, peak-hour traffic to Bangalore had increased to 1,800 passengers, making HAL the fourth busiest airport in the country by 2004. When a tender was issued in 1991 by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

for the construction of the Bangalore International Airport, HAL decided to discontinue civil aviation service.Victim of Politics
The Indian Express. 2006. The Indian Express Group. 17 Jul. 1998 This led to a prolonged three way tussle for operational ownership between the HAL, the Government of Karnataka. Construction of the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) was repeatedly delayed due to a lack of agreement between successive administrations and the private consortium over operational ownership of the international airport and the status of HAL airport upon the completion of construction of the international airport. Clearance for the construction of the US$288 million airport was eventually granted in June 2004. The major stakeholders of this project include

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest o ...

Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Limited, abbreviated as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate, with interests in industrial technology, heavy industry, engineering, construction, manufacturing, power, information technology, defence and financial se ...

consortium, Airports Authority of India and Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation. Construction work on the airport began in March 2005. Bangalore's road network exceeds 3,000 km (1,800 mi) and consists of

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

s, sub-arterial roads and residential streets. The city road network is mainly radial, converging in the centre. The main roads of Bangalore coming into the city include Bellary Road in the north, Tumkur Road and Mysore Road in the west, Kanakpura Road,

Bannerghatta Road Bannerghatta Road (ಬನ್ನೇರುಘಟ್ಟ ರಸ್ತೆ, commonly known as BG Road) is an Indian State Highway in Karnataka. It connects Bangalore with the towns of Bannerghatta, Jigani, and Anekal. It extends for . It starts a ...

and

Hosur Road Hosur Road is the part of National Highway 48, erstwhile NH44, which connects metropolis Bengaluru and industrial City Hosur. It is a four to eight-lane access controlled highway. The road is part of the National Highway network. The Nati ...

in the south and Airport Road and Old Madras Road in the east. Many of Bangalore's erstwhile colonial and town streets were developed into commercial and entertainment areas after independence. The B.V.K Iyengar Road became the retail hub of Bangalore, while MG Road, Commercial Street and Brigade Road became important shopping, recreation and corporate areas. Consequently, traffic increased, especially on MG Road, which forms the main artery for the city's east–west traffic. But for MG Road, other roads in and around the erstwhile Parade Ground remain narrow, winding roads. Bangalore's vehicular traffic has increased manifold, with 1.6 million registered vehicles in the city – the second highest for an Indian city, after New Delhi. The maintenance and construction of roads to address the growing traffic in the city has been a challenge to the BDA and the BMP. Development of the city road infrastructure has revolved around imposing one-way traffic in certain areas, improving traffic flow in junctions, constructing ring roads, bridges, and other grade separators. Six high volume junctions were identified for improvements, through a public-private partnership involving corporate sponsors and various state government agencies, such as the Siddapur Road and Hosur Road junction, sponsored by

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

and the Airport Road and Intermediate Ring Road junction sponsored by the

TATAs The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 ...

. Flyovers were constructed in the city to ease traffic congestion. Newer flyovers were planned for the city for 2006 and beyondTraffic police trash all proposed flyovers
''The Times of India''. 2006. Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. 28 November 2005 The construction of flyovers near the Domlur sector was delayed twice while the flyover near the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology on

was also delayed.Court Raps BDA on flyover delays
. ''Deccan Herald''. 2006. The Printers (Mysore) Ltd. 22 June 2005 Some of the flyovers and one-ways mitigated the traffic situation moderately, however the volume of traffic continues to grow at an annual rate of between 7–10%. Roads near Airport Road and the residential areas in

Koramangala Koramangala () is a southeastern neighbourhood of the Indian city of Bengaluru. One of the largest in that metropolis, it is a residential locality with wide, tree-lined boulevards and a mix of commercial structures and bungalows. Planned as a ...

were dug up for renovation but have remained in this state for over two years.Residents target delay in flyover
''The Times of India''. 2006. Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. 5 June 2005 The Outer Ring Road was initially constructed to ease truck congestion in the city, however the growth of suburbs reduced the positive impact of the ring road.
''The Hindu''. 2006. 21 June 2005 Bangalore Development Authority is laying additional lanes on many of the major roads around Bangalore. The Peripheral Ring Road, expected to be completed in 2007, is designed to bePeripheral ring road to be thrown open next month?
. ''Deccan Herald''. 2006. 13 December 2005 concentric to the Outer Ring Road and covers 108.9 km. The

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Hosur is one of the 21 municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

Road, which connects Bangalore to the

, is heavily congested and is part of the National Highway (NH7), therefore witnesses heavy truck traffic as well.Work on Bangalore-Hosur Road from Feb
''The Times of India''. 2006. Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. 16 January 2006 Rapid population growth in Bangalore was brought about by the IT and other associated industries, leading to an increase in the vehicular population to about 1.5 million, with an annual growth rate of 7–10%.Road yet to catch up with city
''The Times of India''. 2006. Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. 13 August 2001 Bangalore's infrastructural woes have led to protests by students and IT workers in the city.Bannerghatta Road drives IIM-B students to streets
'The Times of India''. 2004. Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. 5 October 2004 In July 2004

Wipro Wipro Limited () is an Indian multinational technology company based in Bengaluru. It provides information technology, consulting and business process services. It is one of India's Big Six IT services companies. Wipro's services include cloud ...

's CEO

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as the Czar of the India ...

threatened to pull his company out of the city unless there was a drastic improvement in infrastructure over the next few years, stating "We do not see the situation (state of Bangalore's infrastructure) improving in the near future".Wipro threatens to quit Bangalore
Rediff.com. 2006. Rediff.com India Limited. 27 July 2004 Ideological clashes between the city's IT moguls, who demand addressing of the infrastructural problems of the city, and the successive state governments, whose electoral base is primarily rural Karnataka's agricultural workers, are commonBangalore Crumbling
''The Indian Express''. 4 December 2004 In 2005, however, the Central and state governments allocated sizeable funding from their annual budgets towards the improvement of Bangalore's infrastructure.

Early city planning and infrastructure

Development after independence

References and notes

Further reading