Articles by Navya P K

When we think of groundwater in Bengaluru, we usually think of borewells. However, a webinar jointly organised by Biome Environmental Trust, BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) and Citizen Matters showcased many examples of Bengalureans continuing to use open wells for their daily needs. "Historically, Bengaluru has been dependent on open wells for domestic water," said Avinash Krishnamurthy of Biome. "So it's important that we reconnect with open wells, and rebuild our relationship with shallow aquifers that feed open wells." One way to do this is by building recharge wells into which rainwater falling on rooftops and other open…

If last year’s BBMP budget is any indicator, health and education are likely to once again be at the lower end of the allocation scale this year too. With no elected Council, BBMP had sought suggestions directly from citizens on what the 2022-2023 city budget should focus on. It is probably safe to assume that health and education were high on people’s priorities, especially with the impacts of COVID. Yet, infrastructure seems to be the BBMP’s favourite, despite the myriad problems citizens are facing with ongoing delayed and incomplete projects. In the 2021-2022 budget, BBMP's total outlay was Rs 9,286…

Bengaluru has had to cope with water scarcity for a few years now. While many outer areas and slums are not getting enough water, local water resources like lakes remain poorly managed. The Water Solutions Lab, which is part of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at IISc (Indian Institute of Science), is presently working on projects to improve water governance in Bengaluru and is studying the possibility of using local water sources. In this interview with Citizen Matters, Dr Chandan Banerjee, hydrologist and Associate Director at the Lab, explains the current projects and their possibilities. "The core idea behind…

In recent years, Bengaluru’s usually year-round pleasant weather has seen unusual scorching summers and intense rainfall and flooding during monsoons. What’s causing this, and is there anything we can do about it? Responding to these questions in an interview with Citizen Matters is Dr J Srinivasan, Distinguished Scientist at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc. He has been associated with IISc since 1982 and had helped establish the Divecha Centre at the IISc in 2009. He was chairman of the Centre from 2009 to 2016.  A Ph D from Stanford University, Prof Srinivasan has been a lead author of…

Can the government modify or usurp public spaces as to wishes to? Or should it be the people's decision? This question has been the crux of the multitude of protests to protect Cubbon Park since the 1990s. The park, which spread across 300 acres at one point, was portioned for government buildings along with some private ones over the years. As per a state government notification of 2015, after excluding the land used up for various establishments, the park area now stands at 197 acres. The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, mandates the government to maintain parks as horticultural…

As Bengaluru continues to record over 25,000 COVID cases per day, how well is the city prepared to deal with the third wave? Does the city have enough hospital beds? Is BBMP able to track and support patients in home isolation? Here's a roundup. In the current wave, a smaller percentage of patients seem to need hospitalisation compared to the second wave last year. However, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta has emphasised that the rising case count can increase the absolute numbers of people who require hospitalisation, which can lead to a shortage of beds. A BBMP press release on…

Until a few years ago, Bengaluru used to dump all of its waste in landfills outside the city. While villagers living around the landfills faced serious health conditions, there was garbage dumped and burnt within the city as well, affecting the health of its residents. But now, the majority of the waste from residential households is getting segregated and processed. The 2Bin1Bag initiative was key to popularising waste segregation in Bengaluru households, especially in apartments. 2Bin1Bag showed that all that households had to do was segregate waste into three categories - wet waste in a green bin, reject/sanitary waste in…

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we saw that Bengaluru’s drains are poorly designed and that the government doesn’t even have a full database of the drainage network even as many drains have gone missing. In this article, we explore why these stormwater drain works do not yield results. When a government department entrusts any work to a contractor, it should follow clear procedures to verify the completed works and make payments. But this seems anathema to BBMP's Stormwater Drain (SWD) Department. A 2021 audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), an independent watchdog body,…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw that a CAG report of 2021 revealed Bengaluru does not have a complete map or database of its stormwater drain network. Drains are mapped in two master plans - the Revised Master Plan (RMP 2015) by the BDA (Bangalore Development Authority), and the BBMP’s master plan of drains. But the former does not indicate the type of drain (primary/secondary/tertiary), and the latter does not include tertiary/roadside drains at all. Neither plan has marked the buffer zones around drains; and many drains are missing in either document or both. Drains mapped in BBMP's…

It takes very little to flood a road or home in Bengaluru. In recent weeks, rains have caused severe flooding in many parts of the city, especially in North Bengaluru. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the city’s stormwater drain (SWD) system, released this September, shows why this shouldn’t be a surprise at all.  In any city, stormwater drains are critical for: Preventing flood and its related effectMaintaining clean lakes/water bodiesGroundwater recharge But Bengaluru’s drainage system has been badly mismanaged by the city corporation BBMP’s Stormwater Drain (SWD) department, finds the audit report. The report covered…