Articles by Navya P K

After the episode of a senior government official assaulting an elderly resident of Panduranga Nagar, off Bannerghatta road, near Arekere layout, residents in the area are only more determined to take ahead their fight against illegal constructions. Vijay Kumar Patil, BBMP Additional Director of Town Planning, had assaulted 63-year-old Parameshwar Bhat, Secretary of Panduranga Nagar Residents Welfare Assoiation (RWA), on October 23 at 1 am. The attack is said to be retribution against residents, who had dared to take steps against illegal constructions and against Patil who had sanctioned these buildings. Patil was arrested soon after and allowed out on…

Northeast monsoons are here and the fear of rise in Dengue and Chikungunya cases, is still very real. In the urban environment, it seems inevitable that high population and frequent movement of infected people increase the risk of infections. This is true in cases of large apartment complexes too. People residing in such complexes can take some easy steps to reduce the menace of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for spreading Dengue and Chikungunya. Water collected in discarded items such as coconut shells serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. File Pic Water collected in discarded items such as…

The committee set up by the state government to review the zonal regulations in the Revised Master Plan (RMP- 2015), submitted their recommendations on October 15.Three committees were originally set up - one to review Bengaluru's building byelaws and two to examine the negative aspects of ZR. During the reviews it was felt that since the ZR anchor the building byelaws, it would be best if the review of these regulations were done first; then once the government decided on these recommendations, the building byelaws could be suitably amended as well. The review committee that submitted its recommendations on zoning…

It is a sign of increasing resentment in settled residents over continuing permissions given to townships and commercial complexes in the city’s neighbourhoods. While many recent protests have been against illegal constructions (bye-law violations), one case in JP Nagar has come to light where citizens are protesting the construction of a BDA-sanctioned apartment complex. Residents in JP Nagar 1st phase are protesting against Sobha Dewflower, an up-and-coming apartment complex located in a plot measuring 31,160 square meters along Sarakki main road. Residents say that once the 231 new apartments in the complex are occupied, the traffic in the already narrow…

The 60-feet Avenue Road that cuts across the 22-acre Brigade Millennium apartment community has become a matter of major concern for residents. Even though the road was initially supposed to be for the use of residents, it has become a fully public road now. But residents continue to pay for its maintenance through Brigade Enterprises Limited (BEL). Rs 80,000 every month is spent on it from a corpus fund of which nearly 86 % comes from the residents. Guards at the entrance of Avenue Road now do nothing more than collect toll occassionally from a heavy vehicle. Pic: Navya P…

The next time a tree in your neighbourhood is cut, you may actually be able to track it online. NGO Sattva Welfare Association has created a website www.vruksha.com, which aims to make details of all trees in the public space in Bengaluru available online. As a pilot project, the association has completed the tree census of Hampi nagar ward. Around 3000 trees belonging to 39 species were identified in this ward, which has an area of only 1.11 sq km. They covered 102 roads within six months - the main roads had 100-300 trees while the smaller cross roads had…

Despite continued protests from residents for over two years, an illegal building in Amar Jyothi layout in Domlur has almost finished construction and is going to be occupied soon. The building located at site no. 371 and 372 along the Koramangala-Domlur Intermediate Ring Road, is in violation of the sanctioned plan from BBMP as well as many building bye-laws. An outlet of the sanitary ware major Roca is to open here soon. Trouble started two years ago, just as the construction began. Residents nearby complained that the setbacks of the building were insufficient. The building is supposed to have setback…

Two months after their first auto boycott on August 12, Meter Jam - an initiative against menacing auto drivers - is organizing another boycott on October 12. In addition to Bangalore, the boycott will be held in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi as well. Jammers in the city are hoping that the initiative will be successful, unlike the last boycott, during which autos were plying smoothly and many drivers did not even come to know about the initiative. "Last time the focus was on Mumbai, and Meter Jam was only starting to get popular in Bangalore. This time, around 40,000 online…

A new option to get your auto woes addressed is holding out promise for Bengaluru, thanks to the Transport Department's initial enthusiasm to respond. Auto Watch, an initiative by the technology platform Kiirti, is co-ordinating with the Transport Department to address the grievances of auto commuters. The complaints that the public reported have been forwarded to the concerned RTOs for action. Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has instructed officials to ensure that each RTO should seize five autos against which there are complaints. The action taken by the RTOs will be updated in the site soon. Kiirti is an initiative by…

Five days after an ABIDe-led committee was constituted to discuss Karnataka's draft rules for implementing the national Right to Education (RTE) Act, it has already received several suggestions from senior educationists and NGOs. To propose a way through the confusion regarding the implementation of the RTE Act the chief minister's task force for Bengaluru, ABIDe (Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force), formed a working group on September 23. The group plans to collect suggestions from the public and hold discussions with parents, teachers, NGOs, school associations and other stakeholders to discuss the draft rules proposed by the state…