Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited, has sparked a heated debate on social media after she said that Bengaluru, once envisioned as a beautiful Garden City, is now on the path to becoming a “garbage city”. In her post slamming officials responsible for this decline, she urged people to take action and “regain the city”. 

While sharing a scenic video from Bengaluru’s iconic Lal Bagh, she wrote, “What happened to all this beautiful planning in our Garden City?  It’s now being planned to be a garbage city!”

“Come on, citizens, regain your city and let it blossom,” she added.

This comes after BJP MP Tejasvi Surya’s open letter to Bengaluru Incharge Minister DK Shivakumar and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath, expressing his anger and disappointment over the poor condition of roads and public infrastructure during the TCS World 10K race held on Sunday.

“Not a single stretch was free of potholes. Many runners stumbled, sprained their ankles, and some even got injured. Senior citizens struggled to even walk without risking a fall. Wheelchair participants had to be assisted throughout the route, not because of their condition but because of our city’s unforgiving infrastructure. To add to this, garbage dumps at multiple locations, stinking corners and broken footpaths painted a very poor image of Brand Bengaluru,” he wrote on X. 

“What image did we portray of our city? Is it so difficult to ensure a bare minimum – pothole-free, clean roads at least for one of the city’s premier events?” he asked, before adding that “every road of the city looks like a construction site – dusty, potholed and lifeless”. 

He further expressed, “Just two months ago, I ran in the Mumbai Marathon and the experience was incredible. And today, it hurts so much to see our city like this.”