100 years apart, a tale of Bengaluru's two pandemics

Much like the plague of 1898, experts say the Covid pandemic will change the DNA of Bengaluru

The year is 1898. As travellers arrived in Bangalore (now Bengaluru), they were checked. Only those unaffected by the plague were allowed to enter the city. Even those who tested negative were escorted by the police to their homes and kept under observation for 10 days. Their clothes were disinfected before entering the city.

A view of Bangalore during the 1890s (left); MG Road in Bengaluru wears a deserted look during the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 on July 5, 2020 (WikimediaCommons/PTI)

Over 100 years later, the people of Bengaluru experienced familiar scenarios during the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit India in 2020. From appointing a health commissioner to monitor the pandemic to creating isolation centres, there were many similarities in how the city dealt with the pandemic then and now.

But most importantly, the years following the plague resulted in a change in the way people lived in Bangalore. This included developing new layouts and creating a new sanitation system, among others. Those studying history and contemporary Bengaluru feel that just like the Plague, even the Covid-19 pandemic will change the DNA of the city.

The days of the Plague

According to government records, the first case in then Bangalore was reported in the city cantonment in August 1898. After the servant of the railway superintendent died due to the Plague, the disease was reported among the porters at the station. By the end of the pandemic, around 3,393 unofficial deaths areas outside the cantonment and 3,321 deaths were reported in the cantonment. Talking about how the city changed after the devastating pandemic, Meera Iyer of the National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said that the first change was the development of a new, spacious layout system instead of the crowded markets like Chickpet. Basavanagudi, Malleswaram, Frazer Town and other areas were developed to ensure people didn’t live in congested areas.

“There was a lot of emphasis on lighting, ventilation and hygiene post the Plague. This changed the way houses were built too. In the cantonment side of the city, especially in Fraser Town and Richards Town (which came up in 1911), there were the so-called plague-proof rules — country tiles allowed, no thatch roof, no mud floors, houses to be built slightly higher so that they were higher than the drains and so on,” she said. In the Maharaja-administered part of Bangalore, Chamarajapet and Seshadripuram had been built in 1892. “Basavanagudi and Malleswaram came up just six years later so they provided an interesting study of how the Plague had affected planning and architecture. For instance, Chamarajpet had quite a few row houses, but thanks to the plaque-induced horror of ‘congestion’ and ‘lack of ventilation’, Basavanagudi houses were mostly built with gardens,” she said.

She also added that there was also an increased emphasis on proper sewage and drainage. Roads were built very carefully with proper drainage in mind. “Even today, you will rarely find flooding in Basavanagudi’s streets,” she added.

In 1899, the Mysore government diverted ₹27 lakhs for sanitation work across the state. Several administrative experiments took place thereafter. Between 1898-1902, the post of Special Commissioner for Plague came into being. In 1913, the head of the Medical Department was designated as Sanitary Commissioner.

The new pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic too is an opportunity for such a change, say experts. Mohandas Pai, former director of Infosys said one of the first changes the city will see is the way it works, and work from home is here to stay, at least in a hybrid model.

“The pandemic forced companies to rethink the way they operate. In the future, the idea of having a large office with all employees in one place will be obsolete. From an employee point of view, people are thinking of the quality of life, especially by wasting time travelling large distances within the city. A hybrid model which involves work from home and having small hubs across the city will be the way forward. Many are already doing it,” he said.

V Ravichandar, a civic expert said that the city should and will have a ‘5 km city’ in the coming days. “The work from home culture will enable people to work and live in a 5km radius. Such a system will make Bengaluru a pandemic proof city to some extent. One thing this pandemic has taught us is that cases happen in bubble and travel results in the spread,” he further added.

Both experts felt that a combination of hybrid work culture and removal of cross-city travel would not only decongest Bengaluru but also improve reliance on public transport.

“Once the need for long-distance travel within the city is limited, we will see people walking or using cycles more in the 5 km hubs,” Ravichandar added.

Such a move, however, requires a change in the government’s thought process. While Ravichandar asked for a relook at the city’s master plan with this new outlook, Pai said that areas across the city should be developed as hubs with all provisions, for which, people travelled across the city in the pre-pandemic era.

“To give an example, Mysuru can be the new hub for the Bengaluru dwellers. The city provides a better quality of life and since work from home allows people to be away from the big city, more people could move there,” Pai said.

A senior official of Bengaluru traffic police agreed to the assessment and said that since the pandemic, despite the economy opening up, the volume of traffic in the city has reduced considerably.