In the past few days, the torrential rains have brought Bengaluru to its knees, with long traffic, heavy floods in the gated societies, and widespread power cuts making headlines almost every day. Several startup founders and venture capitalists have expressed their worry and disappointment regarding the crumbling infrastructure in Bengaluru. Amidst this, Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath has shared a solution that is likely to alleviate the situation.
In a series of tweet, Kamath said, “Most large Indian cities weren’t built in a way to handle as many people living in them today. Disasters are bound to continue. The only real solution is to have smaller cities with their own economies. Over 50% of our team now live there; a silver lining from Covid.”
“If companies can afford to have team work remotely or through small satellite offices, I think they should nudge teams to work out of small towns & cities. This way, the company can play a part in problem-solving. Moving to another large city will only be a temporary fix,” he added.
Most large Indian cities weren't built in a way to handle as many people living in them today. Disasters are bound to continue. The only real solution is to have many smaller cities with their own economies.
Over 50% of our team now live there; a silver lining from Covid. 1/5
He further said that this solution is backed by data after his team moved to smaller cities like Mysore and Belagavi. Kamath said, “The quality of life can go up significantly, with more bang for the buck, more savings, lesser time in traffic, better work-life balance & more. This isn’t just a hypothesis anymore; we now have enough data from our team, many of whom have moved to Mysuru & Belagavi.”
He said that this will also help to tackle the climate crisis and creation of livelihood in the country. “The best part is if these people consume locally, it can also help in terms of climate change issues & creation of livelihood, probably the two biggest problems we are facing as a nation. Otherwise, money keeps circulating in the large cities, enticing everyone to migrate,” Kamath said.
“That is what we are chasing through our foundation, @RainmatterOrg, backing organizations working on helping smaller towns and villages to be self-sustainable, help create livelihoods and more,” he added.
