Articles by Manasi Paresh Kumar

It was a tenet that helped two journalists bring down an American president. But the essence of “follow the money” is also sound advice for citizens to follow around their political representatives. The Karnataka Legislators’ Local Area Development Scheme (KLLADS) which are more popularly known as LAD funds gives an annual budget of Rs 2 crore to our MLAs to plug infrastructure gaps in their constituency. An analysis of its details gives the electorate a fair idea of what their MLA has prioritised over the last five years of his/her tenure that allow the electorate to make an informed opinion…

For more than a year, residents of Vijinanapura have been complaining to the BBMP about illegal dumping of animal waste near Benniganahalli Lake. There are about eight butcher shops in the 1.5 km stretch from Purva Midtown and the KR Puram Railways station. Everyday, feathers, inedible meat, carcasses (and at one time even a dead cow) are burnt near an overlay bridge at 3rd main road. The smoke, residue and stench from this has made life miserable for them. “This happens every morning, where tempo trucks drive up, dump about seven to eight cement bags of animal waste which they…

On January 23, 2017, it was the last day for citizens to file their objections against the Revised Master Plan 2031. The citizenry of Bengaluru responded back with record of sorts, filing a total of 13,228 complaints. Just a day before, the tally stood at 8,869 objections. Regular residents poured over the complex documents to point errors - factual and logical. Resident Welfare Associations, Builder Consortium, individuals - they came in droves to let the government know there were many things to be fixed in this proposed road map for Bengaluru. The controversial Revised Master Plan 2031 has been in…

As is with the case with any poll-bound state, political parties in Karnataka are ramping up their election propaganda. With the elections just a little more than a month away, the challenge for  candidates is to stand out from the crowd and be recognisable. It is of little surprise that buntings and hoardings have sprung up dime a dozen around the city with names and pictures of political leaders. However, most of these are illegal and are propped up on road dividers, footpaths and trees, which pose a problem for road users besides being eyesores. Since flex banners are also…

A day before Valentine’s, news broke that the Government of Karnataka had quietly tabled an amendment to Karnataka Tree Preservation Act of 1976. Under the proposed amendment, 50 trees were added to the list of 27 existing species that would no longer require permission to be chopped down. Many of these trees were favourites with Bengalureans - Gulmohars , Flame of the forest, Yellow Bells, African Tulips and even the humble Ashoka tree which lined many of the pavements in the city. Most of them were flowering species who’d bloom to their full glory in summer, adding to the beauty…

A newly proposed amendment by the State Government to the Karnataka Tree Protection Act (1976) asks to denotify about 50 species/ subspecies of trees that currently need permission to be cut down. Simply put, if you need to chop these trees down, you no longer need the permission of the Forest Department. Media reports state that most of the species identified in this list are those which line Bangalore pathways and will deal a disastrous blow to the city’s already fragile ecosystem. The amendment however states that it is being proposed to “...exempt certain species of trees, which are grown…

Accessing information is very easy for many of us because our phones are the gateway to all that we need. Type keywords into google or youtube and voila – we have what we need. So the idea of setting up spaces to facilitate this along to include orientation sessions will seem a little silly. But for many people, the idea of learning from the internet is still an enigma. So in a first-of-its-kind experiment in Bengaluru, the Department of Public Libraries opened one of its spaces to three organisations – ATKINS, a company, and two nongovernmental organisations Defy and Headstreams.…

It was the year 1957 that Bangalore elected three women to the erstwhile Mysore Legislative Assembly. It remains the most number of women that the city has elected. Ours is a city that prides itself to be bustling cosmopolitan, representing modern times and yet how do we explain why there are not too many women who represented this city’s people politically? It is truly awesome and terrifying being a woman in these times. The last few months have been rather difficult for the collective patriarchy that has defined our world order so far. This month, the United Kingdom celebrates hundred…

Two weeks after Sanjay Giri (19) died trying to cross Bellandur-ORR opposite Akme Harmony Apartments, and one week after the citizens around Bellandur’s mass protest, it seems like a ‘Sanjay Skywalk’, as residents are calling the proposed footbridge, will see the light of day. P C Mohan, Member of Parliament for Bangalore Central, called for a meeting on Saturday for a spot survey by Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd to give the green signal for a speedy skywalk construction, heeding to a demand by the residents. At the meeting all the stakeholders in the proposed skywalk were in attendance, including…

A judicial verdict on an altercation between two citizens four years ago is really not a headline material or even a case study for legal students. Four years; five hearings and finally a judgment that levied a fine of Rs 1,500 hardly sounds like a thriller. But the matter of Sneha Nandihal versus Gopi actually serves as an important lesson for all those working in the space of citizen civic activism and more importantly doing it as a woman. Sneha, who is the president of the B M Kaval Resident Welfare Association in Indiranagar, is no stranger to aggressive characters…