India's millionaires are increasingly moving into isolated gated communities in the midst of the country's largest cities — a move with an unfortunate impact on their neighbors, The Economist reported.

Popping up in Mumbai, Gurugram, and Bangalore, along with India's other most prominent cities, these communities consist of tall, bright towers boasting private parks and playgrounds, luxury pools, and valet services. They are guarded by locks and security guards who check identities and ask for passwords.

This isn't a small problem. India's population of millionaires — there are roughly 850,000 of them, with millions more whose net worths are just slightly below that mark, according to The Economist — is enough to fill thousands of these communities. As of 2021, they totaled 16 million households in the country's 50 largest cities, according to Redseer, and their collective impact is dizzying.

For one, no millionaire household would be complete with only a single car. India's overcrowded city streets are echoed in the parking lots of these housing developments, which may hold three or four cars per household, not to mention all the associated smog.

Then there's the land that is blocked off to create those beautiful, shady gardens and sunny pools for the residents to enjoy. In more responsible city planning, those could be public parks instead of private hideaways, so the neighborhood loses out on that amenity.

The more developers chase after profits from these ultra-luxurious developments, the less affordable housing is being created for the general population, contributing to the housing crisis.

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Perhaps most damaging, these developments have been known to rely on deep wells that deplete local ground water, which affects the water supply and is extremely difficult for the environment to recover from. This is especially true when it causes the land to subside, which is a risk when the water is drained quickly.

For many reasons, the gated community lifestyle is a worrisome development, just like many other instances of excessive consumption worldwide. It may take legal regulations to catch up to the issues and help mitigate some of the worst effects.

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