Articles by Kedar Koushik

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the tussle between BBMP and state government on allowing advertisement hoardings in the city. Last year, the BBMP Council passed draft bye-laws that ban commercial hoardings. But the state government's UDD (Urban Development Department) recently framed its own Rules that allow hoardings. It's still unclear which of these laws would prevail. The High Court recently upheld the BBMP bye-laws at a PIL hearing, but the final judgement is pending in the case. And the UDD continues to insist on implementing its own Rules. In this part of the series, we look…

For a while, Bengaluru has been sporting skeletal metal frames where glossy advertisement hoardings once stood. The city had been stripped of its hoardings after the BBMP Council passed a resolution last year, banning these. The Council also passed the draft Outdoor Signage and Public Messaging Bye-laws, 2018, that would ban all commercial hoardings. But the state government wanted to allow hoardings in the city, which led to a tussle between the government and BBMP. State government's UDD (Urban Development Department) even published a separate set of laws - the BBMP Advertisement Rules, 2019 - this July 15th. These Rules…

BBMP has, for the first time, drafted bye-laws on Solid Waste Management (SWM). Aiming towards complete waste segregation, the bye-laws define eight different streams of waste - wet, dry, sanitary, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, domestic hazardous, construction and demolition waste, and slaughterhouse waste. It defines specific strategies for processing each of these. The draft bye-laws also prescribe steep penalties for offences such as burning or not segregating waste, for violating the plastic ban, and so on. D Randeep, BBMP Additional Commissioner (SWM), says the penalties have been increased by five times. The bye-laws also have new provisions such as door-to-door collection of e-waste,…

Melissa Arulappan recently counted 13 bikers driving on the wrong side on a one-way street, all within two seconds. This is not a one-off incident. Citizens across Bengaluru have been noticing an increasing number of such violations in the recent past. What’s going on? In 2019, just till July, the Bengaluru Traffic Police booked over 1.3 lakh cases for not following lane discipline, 2.4 lakh cases for violating 'no entry', and 36,579 for reckless driving. In the same period, there were 2713 road accidents in the city that killed 445 people in all. Given over 13,600 kilometres of main roads…

“Tiddalick the frog awoke one morning with a great thirst and decided to drink. He drank all the water in the rivers, the creeks, the lakes and the billabongs and there was no water left for other animals. It was only a matter of time before all the animals died.” This aboriginal children’s story from Australia might sound funny and childish. But replace Tiddalick the frog with any of the major cities in the world, and you will get a glimpse of the bleak reality we live in, where we either scramble for a drop of water, or waste it…

On July 23rd, Lok Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019 during the budget session of parliament. Speaker Om Birla declared the bill passed, based on a voice vote in the house. The Bill, tabled by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. It introduces stringent norms for acquiring a driving license, and strict penalties for traffic violations, in an effort to reduce road mishaps and deaths in the country. Once the Bill is considered and passed by the Rajya Sabha, and signed by the President, it would become…

The spectre of water scarcity is haunting Bengaluru. And from a din of solutions to avert this man-made crisis, one suggestion has take the city over like a storm, and brought to the forefront a debate with myriad perspectives. Recently, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameswara suggested banning apartment construction in Bengaluru for the next five years. His announcement invited strong objections from the real estate industry. Just a day after, the shares of Bengaluru-based real estate giants Shobha and Brigade plunged five percent. However, Parameswara's suggestion resonated with many citizens who have been facing the brunt of water shortage. Questions…