Bengaluru's story: 96.21L in 2011, 1.42 cr by 2021

City to see 48% decadal increase in population in next one year: Report

Bengaluru will be home to about 20% of Karnataka’s population in the next one year, according to a new report, with experts worried about the impact of population growth on the city’s overstretched infrastructure. The population of Bengaluru Urban was 96.21 lakh in 2011 and this is projected to rise to 1.42 crore by 2021, a 48% decadal increase in the district’s population, according to the ‘Karnataka at a Glance’ report by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

This compares to a 17.77% decadal increase in Karnataka’s overall population. The state’s population, which was 6.10 crore in 2011, is estimated to touch 7.19 crore in 2021.

But what is worrying is the way population is exploding in Bengaluru. “This is not a healthy sign,” Karnataka State Planning Board vice-chairman BJ Puttaswamy said.

“It is a problem created by successive governments in allowing haphazard growth in Bengaluru. If you don’t control industrialisation here, the population will abnormally increase,” he said.

Puttaswamy said the government should take measures to create satellite towns in all four directions of the city.“Without this, the city will face further problems with regard to pollution, garbage and sewage management, lung space and other infrastructure,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said, “Be it airports, industrial parks, global investments or educational institutions, we are looking at developing Tier-II and Tier-III cities to ensure growth outside Bengaluru and providing subsidies.”

The report also projects age-wise population growth by 2020, based on the 2011 census data. According to that, the population of children up to 14 years will be 31.46 lakh in 2020 from 22.06 lakh in 2011, those aged 15-59 will be 95.21 lakh from 66.79 lakh in 2011, while the senior citizen population is estimated to be 10.47 lakh from 7.34 lakh in 2011. Correspondingly and overall, the state is expected to see a population of 1.85 crore kids up to 14 years (from 1.60 crore in 2011), 4.55 crore of citizens aged 15 to 59 years (from 3.92 crore in 2011) and 66.73 lakh senior citizens (from 58.36 lakh in 2011).