Articles by Navya P K

A complaint regarding tampered water meter has arisen in Jayanagar 4th T block. David S R, a resident of the area, noticed the issue of steep hike in his BWSSB's water bill around three years back. "The bill would come to Rs.4000 a month sometimes. Whenever I visited the local BWSSB office, I would be sent back saying that the case would be investigated, but nothing was done", he said. The Water Meter. Pic: David S R. During David's many visits over the past few years, he alleges that the officials not only demanded bribes, but also said that the…

Litigations have been flying thick and fast at L&T South City apartments, one of the premium residential complexes in south Bengaluru. Six court cases have been filed between the apartment owners, land owner and the developer within the last two years. South City is located at Mico-Arekere Layout, off Bannerghatta Road. Citizen Matters spoke to state advocate-general Ashok Haranahalli on the issue of 'gated communities'. Read the interview here The main contention is regarding two deeds that the original land owner Dinesh Ranka made to the BDA - one in 1996 and another in 2006 - relinquishing 12 of the…

Tuesday September 14th was Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) day in Bangalore. Drawn into severe scrutiny by citizens protesting the TDR scheme's use as compensation for roadwidening, the state government's Urban Development Department organised a workshop on the controversial scheme. Following that, in the evening Samaya TV, a Kannada 24x7 news channel, organised a live debate on the topic. (See inset box for a brief report on the debate). As was the concern of many citizen action groups, the government's day-long workshop turned out to be a mostly technical session on TDR's implementation. Bureaucrats from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat…

Of the 35 lakes in Mahadevpura assembly constituency in northeast Bengaluru, 23 have become dysfunctional, according to a report authored by urban ecologist Dr Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram (member of resident association federation of Bellandur) and Dr S Subramanya (Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences). The report classifies seven lakes as ‘extremely polluted', another seven as ‘heavily polluted, drying' and nine lakes as ‘completely dry'. Only 10 ten lakes are categorised as healthy while two are under restoration. Bengaluru-based Harini is also co-author of papers with US-based political scientist Elinor Ostrom, Nobel prize winner for Economics in 2009. Harini Nagendra,…

G Manjunath Raju. Bangalore's city budget, presented by the BBMP at the city council session on August 30th raises more questions than answers. The steep revenue projections BBMP has cited are themselves a whole topic. Citizen Matters spoke to G Manjunath Raju, corporator of Kadu Malleswaram (Ward 65) and member of BBMP's Taxation and Finance committee that prepared the budget. Discussion on the budget at the council is scheduled for September 2nd. There is a several fold increase in revenues compared to last year. How are you planning to manage that? There are total 15 lakh properties in the city.…

The BBMP  has proposed an expenditure of Rs.8488 crores for Bengaluru in its maiden budget session today. The same figure for last year (2009-10) when the city administration was running without an elected council was Rs 3582.02 crores. P N Sadashiva (BJP), Chairperson of the Taxation and Finance Committee and corporator of the Sunkenahalli ward, presenting the BBMP budget on August 30. BBMP Commissioner H Siddaiah, Mayor S K Nataraj and Deputy Mayor N Dayananda share the dias. Pic: Navya P K. However, BBMP's opening balance for 2010-11 was a mere Rs 424.72 cr. The administration proposes bridge the gap…

After Governor H R Bhardwaj refused to sign the Sakrama Bill last month, the B S Yeddyurappa-led state government is now planning to take its chances again by re-sending the bill for the governor's approval. The bill has been with the state's Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation (DPAL) for almost a month now after the governor sent it back. But transport minister Ashoka (MLA-Padmanabhanagar) says that the governor's reason for not approving the bill - the 2007 High Court stay on the implementation of the penalty scheme - is not valid. A January 2008 meeting, with citizens discussing Setback…

Forget the common man, not even the judiciary finds it easy to sway the state's government officials from perpetual indifference. At a Lok Adalat hearing on August 6th 2010, many top officials were pulled up by the judges for poor performance and lack of initiative. However, the babus wouldn't be swayed. After the session, many were seen joking about the whole affair. Around 120 people including senior government officials and their subordinates, lawyers, members of non-governmental organisations and civil society groups were present at the hearing, held at the High Court. Among the first to face the wrath of the…

After a huge slump in prices during recession, the housing market in Bangalore is revving up again, thanks to the newly introduced ‘affordable housing' segment. While there are houses priced at Rs 15-25 lakhs that are targeted at PSU and BPO employees, there are more lucrative options at Rs 25-40 lakhs for IT employees. There are also houses under Rs 10 lakh being planned by non-profit organizations to benefit those who do not have a regular paycheck and hence have difficulty getting loans for housing. These houses are targeted at auto rickshaw drivers, construction workers etc who have total household…

click here to print revised fare click here On August 1, new auto fares came into effect in the city, with the minimum fare being Rs 17 and an extra Rs 9 for every additional kilometer. The previous revision of fares was in February 2008, when the minimum fare was increased from Rs 12 to Rs 14, and the charge per extra kilometre was increased from Rs 6 to Rs 7. The factor of increase for the new fare is 1.28 (9/7). So to calculate the approximate new fare, the thumb rule is to multiply the old fare with 1.28.…