Why Bengaluru is India’s deadliest metropolitan city for deaths arising from civic negligence

It was around 8 p.m. on July 14, 2023, when tragedy struck 18-year-old Rajashekar K.V. He was walking on Cunningham Road in the heart of the city when a huge peepal tree fell on him, causing severe pelvic injuries that left his lower body immobilised.

Rajashekar had come to Bengaluru from Chickballapur just 20 days earlier to pursue an aviation course, and had begun his training. His father, Venkataravanappa, who is physically challenged, works as a waterman at the panchayat office, while his mother is a daily wage labourer.

Speaking to The Hindu three years later, Venkataravanappa said Rajashekar is yet to recover fully and can barely walk 10 metres. He has undergone eight surgeries so far, and one more is likely.

Rajashekar, however, remains optimistic about getting back on his feet and supporting his family within a few years. He still has a catheter and an iron rod in his thighs and was only recently relieved of the pelvic external fixation.

He says the pain persists, especially while travelling or trying to walk, but what hurts more is the feeling of betrayal by the now-dissolved Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). After covering the hospital costs, the BBMP stepped away. No case was filed, and the family has been left to deal with the consequences.

The family’s combined monthly income is between ₹20,000 and ₹22,000. Rajashekar’s medicines cost around ₹2,000 a month. He has to visit the hospital once every month and can travel only by taxi, which costs between ₹5,000 and ₹6,000 for each visit. In addition, the family has to bear consultation expenses.

Choked by concrete

The tree that crashed on Rajashekar had been pruned recently and was reportedly healthy. However, according to sources, its base had been choked by concretisation. The larger concern, however, is that no reactive measure or corrective intervention was planned or initiated, and the incident was treated as a one-off accident. Even more concerning is that the issue of concretisation around trees remains unaddressed to this day.

Rajashekar, who has battled for his life while enduring the pain of multiple surgeries, recalls how BBMP shifted him from a private hospital to a government hospital during his recovery despite his father’s hesitation. “They did bear the cost of my surgeries, but they moved me to Bowring Hospital, promising a separate room and full care. Once I was shifted, none of the officials visited or even called,” he claimed.

Tree-fall and branch-snapping incidents have continued across the city, claiming more than five lives since. In 2025 alone, three people died in tree branch-snapping incidents. In a recent case, a 52-year-old man slipped into a coma after a branch snapped and struck his head. He is currently under observation in the intensive care unit (ICU).

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that Bengaluru has become India’s deadliest metropolitan city for deaths arising from civic negligence. For six consecutive years, the city has recorded the highest number of deaths owing to civic body negligence among metropolitan cities. According to the data, Bengaluru recorded 17 such deaths in 2024, 20 in 2023, 21 in 2022, and 31 in 2021.

Although the data shows a declining trend, Bengaluru remains the only metropolitan city to record such deaths consistently year after year. Significantly, people have lost their lives in more than eight different ways linked to civic body negligence.

The list includes drowning in a flooded underpass, electrocution after stepping on a live wire, a scooter getting entangled in an optical fibre cable, accidents on pothole-ridden roads, deaths while cleaning a sewage treatment plant tank, a metro pillar collapse, wall collapses, falling tree branches, and several other incidents, according to reports reviewed by The Hindu.

Civic activists point to a recurring pattern in which such incidents have no meaningful consequences or a concrete plan for corrective action. Most cases have ended with compensation, the suspension of lower-ranking officials, and criminal cases that continue to move at a snail’s pace. The broader systemic problem remains, they argue, as civic bodies continue to prioritise short-term responses over addressing the root causes.

Repeated incidents, no changes

Clement Jayakumar of Mahadevapura Task Force, a civic group, points out that despite repeated incidents, the complaint-based working culture continues, suggesting no changes.

“There is no mechanism for officials to visit sites and identify problems that need fixing. It is only when a complaint crops up that the issue is attended to and resolved,” Clement noted.

For instance, he explained, civic bodies release data on the number of potholes they have repaired within a specific period and those that are yet to be filled. The figures they rely on come from the Sahaya portal and lists shared by the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP). No proactive on-ground inspection is carried out by field staff. As a result, this complaint-based approach to repairs leaves several hazards on the streets unaddressed, leading to injuries and even deaths.

Murali K., a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, pointed to the failure of civic bodies in understanding the sense of urgency. . “Even when there is an urgent need to prune a tree, there will always be a delay in getting permission. You need to visit their office, fill out a form, and then wait for them to arrive,” he said.

Sujith Cariappa, a member of the Social Amenities Association, pointed out the widespread flouting of protocols during infrastructure works. “Safety measures at work sites are mandatory, especially for pedestrians and commuters who pass through these areas. Contractors fail to make proper temporary arrangements to eliminate inconvenience to the public, often leading to injuries,” he said.

A senior officer from the Forest wing admitted that safety protocols are often flouted because they require coordination between different departments, which rarely happens. “Contractors are usually in a hurry to finish the work, while clearances and compliances from multiple departments take time. So, they simply write a letter and begin work without waiting for the other stakeholders to do their part,” he said.

The officer pointed out that there should be a dedicated online platform with time-bound disposal of requests to facilitate coordination among departments, but no such mechanism exists.

Accountability and the vicious cycle

A volunteer of Whitefield Rising points out that infrastructure failures are often the result of fragmented responsibility. “With multiple agencies working on the same public spaces without adequate coordination or oversight, poor execution compounds over time, creating persistent hazards on our streets,” she said.

Clement added that although engineers are assigned responsibility for wards, their job descriptions do not make them accountable for specific works or preventive maintenance. This creates room to shift responsibility in the event of mishaps, often resulting in no action being taken.

He draws a contrast between the public and private sectors in terms of accountability, arguing that the former enjoys institutional safeguards. In the private sector, similar lapses often result in consequences or legal action, which he believes is the appropriate course.

Jayakumar noted that the existing legal framework governing public sector accountability is rooted in British-era rules, like departmental enquiry and temporary suspensions, that were designed to protect government officers. While these provisions may appear insignificant today, they are outdated and have contributed to serious governance issues, he pointed out.

Both the volunteer and Clement describe this as a vicious cycle. When a death occurs owing to civic negligence, it is typically followed by an announcement of compensation, the formation of a committee to identify the cause, the suspension of a lower-ranking officer, and departmental enquiries whose findings are rarely made public. Only in a few cases that attract widespread public attention, a criminal case is registered.

Once the committee reports are submitted, their recommendations are implemented, audits are conducted, and surveys continue for a few weeks. These efforts are widely publicised through the media, but as public outrage gradually subsides, so does civic action. They stress that the root causes are never addressed, while quick fixes are prioritised. As a result, no meaningful reforms or institutional mechanisms emerge, leading to the repeated occurrence of the same problems.

A missing law

The Whitefield Rising volunteer stressed that there is no comprehensive civic liability law to fix accountability in cases of damages or injuries caused by civic negligence. Such a law is crucial because accountability is questioned and fixed only in cases of serious negligence, while thousands of incidents causing injuries to citizens go unreported.

The absence of a liability law forces aggrieved citizens to file civil suits seeking compensation if civic bodies or government agencies fail to offer it. However, according to advocates who spoke to The Hindu, most citizens do not pursue civil litigation.

Narasimhamurthy, a human rights activist and advocate, explained that the other option is to pursue criminal proceedings, which are unlikely to be initiated even in cases involving serious injuries.

“Government agencies always try to avoid cases by promising compensation, after which people give up. In many instances, those affected belong to vulnerable sections of society, so they are reluctant to file cases and fight prolonged legal battles,” he explained.

Narasimhamurthy argued that the compensation offered by government agencies is often inadequate and that pursuing a legal case could result in better compensation for the aggrieved party. However, he added that citizens generally fear taking legal action.

Besides, criminal cases take a long time to be investigated. In 2023, Bathula Bhanu Rekha, a 23-year-old techie from Andhra Pradesh, drowned in the flooded K.R. Circle underpass in central Bengaluru. A senior police officer told The Hindu that the chargesheet was filed only at the beginning of 2025, two years later, as investigators had to wait a long time for prosecution sanction. Ironically, the same underpass was completely flooded again last month.

Rajashekar cited his own experience, saying his family ultimately decided not to file a case after his father was persuaded by an unknown person at the hospital that pursuing legal action would involve significant hurdles.

Problems continue on the ground

Meanwhile, the state on the ground remains the same. State Highway 35 between Varthur and Sarjapur has been undergoing road widening for the past year. A visit to the stretch revealed numerous hazards, including dug-up roads, broken footpaths, mounds of mud, and snapped cables. There were no signboards indicating that work was in progress or warning commuters about the hazards.

Similarly, stretches such as Srinivagilu Road and Hennur-Bagalur Road, where white-topping works are under way, remain in poor condition, with construction equipment left unattended and drainage slabs removed, creating conditions that could potentially lead to tragedy.

Audits and surveys intended to identify long-term solutions have shown little progress. The tree census has been under way for the past six years but is yet to be completed. More recently, a proposal for scientific tree management was prepared, but the file continues to gather dust as the final decision is still pending.

Accident blackspots, which arise from engineering defects, require coordinated action by multiple agencies. In 2023, Bengaluru had 60 identified blackspots. According to the latest report, the number has increased to 63. While three blackspots were rectified over the past two years, six new ones were added during the same period.

Staff shortage, an issue

Despite the mounting challenges, the newly formed Bengaluru corporations are grappling with a shortage of engineers and staff, according to a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) official. A city corporation commissioner also pointed out that when a single official is burdened with multiple responsibilities, fixing accountability becomes difficult.

The shortage extends to the forest wing as well. The city’s entire green cover is managed by just 19 officials, including Deputy Conservators of Forests (DCF), Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACF), and Range Forest Officers (RFO).

In this situation, mishaps continue to recur. Just a week after a motorist slipped into a coma after a tree branch fell on his head, a 24-year-old man and a woman sitting on a bench at B.M. Kaval Park in Indiranagar were struck by a falling tree on June 29.

As these long-standing administrative issues continue to plague the city, victims suffer in silence, hoping their ordeal will eventually come to an end.