Articles by News Desk

Govt considers zonal committees in B'luru State government is considering promoting zonal meetings at BBMP, to further decentralise the powers of BBMP Commissioner. The zonal committee will involve special commissioners, engineer-in-chief, ward officials, officials from all civic agencies, MLAs, nominated representatives from citizen groups, and ward committee members of the respective zones. As per a draft brought out by the government, the committee should clear proposals and works in the zone, before these are sent to the BBMP Council for approval. The draft also recommends including the committees in finalising the zonal budget for 2020. As per a recent government…

Daan Utsav, one of the largest volunteer driven philanthropic initiatives across the country is back this week between October 2 - 8. With events, drives and activities helmed by NGOs, individuals and corporate houses, the week-long effort brings together people from all walks and provides an opportunity to improve the lives of the less fortunate.  Chennai will see a variety of activities as part of Daan Utsav, where citizens can contribute their time through volunteering or provide financial support for various causes. Gift a meal No Food Waste, an NGO working to address the twin issues of hunger and food…

Groundwater table rises in the city The city has witnessed a healthy rise of 2 to 4 metres in groundwater level since August, thanks to the rainfall during recent days. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, from June 1st to September 11th, the city has received 416 mm against the normal 356 mm. The rise has not been uniform, however. While localities along the beach in Adyar, Injambakkam, Akkarai and Besant Nagar saw negligible rise in the level, Korattur and Ambattur have seen a steep rise of 5 metres in the groundwater level over the period mentioned. Source: The New…

BBMP action plan to restore 630 km of roads BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar tweeted that the civic body has drawn up an action plan to restore 630 km out of 3000 km roads in the city once the BWSSB finishes laying drinking water and underground drainage (UGD) pipelines. Citizens had expressed dismay over the condition of their roads, especially in the five outer zones -Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Yelahanka. BWSSB has taken up works in the 110 villages that fall in these zones, and heavy rains worsened road conditions here. Action will be…

In a bid to regularise the posts of 4000 pourakarmikas in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) called for online applications in a circular dated 27th August. There are 18,000 pourakarmikas in the city who have been receiving their salaries under the direct payment system since January 2018, and the state government had earlier promised to regularise all of them. The pourakarmikas therefore are frustrated that only 4000 workers may be regularised instead of all 18,000. In this context, the BBMP Pourakarmikara Sangha, affiliated with the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), organised a protest on…

Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP), a political party with the vision to make Bengaluru a model city of the world, was launched this Sunday, September 22nd. The ideology of the party is good grassroots governance. It will focus only on the municipal elections in the Greater Bengaluru Area, primarily BBMP. BNP’s motto is "nanna nagara, nanna hemme, nanna jawabdari - My City! My Pride! My Responsibility!" The party’s stated objective is sustainable, inclusive and balanced development of Bengaluru. Founded by a few passionate Bengalureans, BNP’s members include citizens who have worked tirelessly at the grassroots over the past few years. Through…

City experiences wettest day of the year On Thursday, the sky opened up like never before to record 108 mm of rainfall in a single day, making it the wettest day of the year. It broke the record of 88.2 mm of rainfall that the city experienced on September 11, 2013, which was the highest rainfall recorded in one single day. The Met office attributed this downpour to the presence of upper cyclonic circulation off the south coast of Andhra Pradesh that resulted in widespread thunderstorms across Chennai and neighbouring suburbs. The reservoirs in the city, that has been bone…

BBMP Commissioner proposes zonal budgets BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar has suggested that the Palike can have separate budgets for each of its eight zones. Zonal budgets would help in decentralising powers, in release of funds and sanction of job codes, he said at the BBMP Council meeting last Wednesday. Kumar's proposal followed the chief minister’s recent decision to have BBMP's four Special/Additional Commissioners oversee two zones each. In zonal matters, these officials would have the same powers as the commissioner. The discussion on decentralisation began in the Council when corporators across party lines complained that files on emergency…

On Global Climate Week, three major environmental groups - Jhatkaa.org, Fridays For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) - are coming together to rally the citizens of Bengaluru through a series of events. These events, with the central theme of climate justice, will be held from 20-27 September. Ultimately, the goal is to raise awareness around the current climate crisis, and to tackle it now by going beyond individual efforts and looking at systemic shifts by pressuring our governments and large corporates. The Global Climate Week, Bengaluru 2019 September 20th, Friday: Strike at Bengaluru's Townhall, the event aims to bring…

The jurisdiction of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which extends over 198 wards and 28 Assembly constituencies, has population of more than 1.1 cr. Because of this, providing services and facilities to citizens is becoming a daily struggle. Due to reorganisation, in many cases one assembly constituency is distributed over more than one zone, and this has created difficulties in citizen and administration related tasks. Presently, many major infrastructure works are being implemented in the BBMP jurisdiction, and many more are in the pipeline. In the present system, the concerned Joint Commissioners submit all files pertaining to zones for the approval…