Pune best city to live in, Bengaluru ranked 58th

Mangaluru, Belagavi more liveable than Bengaluru

Bengaluru does not figure even in the top 25 Indian cities in the Ease of Living Index, which rates Pune as the best city to live in. Bengaluru was rated 58th among major cities surveyed to assess living conditions of urban areas in the country.

Navi Mumbai bagged the second place followed by Greater Mumbai. Temple town Tirupati was ranked fourth in the country.

The survey was commissioned by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 111 major cities, including all urban clusters selected to be developed as smart cities.

Though three cities in Maharashtra were able to get the top three positions, not even one city of the seven surveyed in Karnataka was able to figure among even the top 25 best cities to live in.

Of Karnataka’s seven cities selected for the survey, Mangaluru emerged at the top with the 41st rank while Davangere was the worst with 83.

Belagavi got the 52nd rank, Hubballi-Dharwad 57th rank, Bengaluru city bagged 58, Shivamogga 67 and Tumakuru 70.

Delhi came at the 65th place and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh figured at the bottom of the livability index. Chennai has been ranked 14th, while Kolkata did not participate in the survey.

This is the first-ever exercise undertaken by the ministry to rank the country’s major cities on the basis of four key parameters of ease of living: governance; social aspects — including educational institutions; healthcare; economic criteria — including job opportunities; and physical infrastructure, including solid waste management, electricity and water supply.

Releasing the index, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Ease of Living Index enables cities to assess livability vis-a-vis global and national benchmarks and encourage them to have a better approach in urban planning and management.

Bengaluru's plight

Social media users said the report holds a mirror to the fact that money is not everything as “cities were analysed based on their infrastructure, social environment and governance” rather than their economy.

Bangalore Central parliamentarian P C Mohan said the poor rank was the result of poor governance over the last five years.

“Bengaluru accounts for over 70% of Karnataka’s revenue but its civic infrastructure, housing and transport sectors have been totally ignored. It has become the hub of corruption with politicians awarding contracts only to make money. We can’t expect better,” Mohan said.

Despite repeated attempts, DH could not reach Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara or K J George, who held the portfolio previously, for comment.

Many on social media saw the rankings as biased. “It’s true that Bengaluru doesn’t deserve the top rank. But seeing that cities with communal flare-ups and poorer environments have got higher ranks, it seems the survey has taken a skewed look at the scenario,” Sujit Gowda wrote on Facebook, citing the example of Mangaluru which scored 1.03 points more than Bengaluru under the "culture and identity" category.

Mohan rejected the suggestion. “When they said Bengaluru is the dynamic city, they didn’t question it. An objective analysis shows that the state has failed to respond positively to the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission or the proposed suburban rail project for which a special purpose vehicle hasn’t been formed yet,” he said.