Indian Cities: Not So Smart?

Earlier this week, India's city of dreams Mumbai was left paralysed due to record rainfall. Rampant encroachment and blatant violations of construction norms have been blamed for the deaths of at least 34 people. But such civic problems are not unique to Mumbai. In Chennai, a critical shortage of water has tormented its people. Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. In Bangalore and Gurgaon, traffic crawls. We are asking tonight: How can we be a 5 trillion dollar economy if this is the state of civic infrastructure in cities which are supposed to be drivers of growth?