Articles by News Desk

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…

BBMP ups security deposit for road cutting  Roads that are dug up by various agencies are often restored poorly, due to the lack of coordination between agencies. To address this issue, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is increasing the security deposit that agencies - including private telecoms and internet service providers - have to pay when they take permission for road cutting. The security deposit should be enhanced to 100 percent of the road restoration cost, as per a circular issued by the BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar to the Palike's chief engineers. So far, the civic body…

Over 3400 illegal banners pulled down in a day Following the public outcry over the recent accident that took the life of a techie, Chennai corporation has pulled down over 3400 illegal banners and party flags, across the city. A large number of banners, erected by political party cadre following the Chennai street food festival in Island Grounds, which was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, were removed by the civic staff. Meanwhile, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the State government to pay an interim compensation of ₹5 lakh to the family of the deceased. Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and…

BBMP will fill potholes, but not count them The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is going to stop counting potholes, calling it an unscientific practice. M R Venkatesh, BBMP Engineer-in-chief, said that the civic body has asked engineers to fix potholes wherever they are found, without counting them. “We’ve stopped counting potholes because we’ve decided to make the city roads pothole-free,” he said. By July 18th, BBMP had listed 5630 potholes, and had filled about 2790. The remaining 2840 holes are yet to be filled. BBMP has decided to not set deadlines to fill potholes; instead, officials have been instructed…

Pallikaranai marsh among 4 other wetlands in the state to get priority tag The Central government, under its initiative of wetlands rehabilitation has given 4 wetlands including the Pallikaranai marsh  its priority tag. Accordingly, these wetlands cannot be developed without any further approvals and all encroachments, dumping of debris, waste and sewage should be stopped with immediate effect. The state government has also been asked to prepare an outline management plan for these wetlands, for the next 5 years, to be submitted within 3 months. Once the plan is approved, the state government can seek funds to manage these wetlands.…