Articles by News Desk

While the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) recently published the Draft Revised Master Plan for Bengaluru, civil society groups from the city have filed Writ Petitions in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the constitutional authority of the BDA to prepare the Master Plan. They have argued that it is the constitutionally mandated Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) that should prepare the Master Plan and not the BDA. As the High Court of Karnataka adjudicates whether the BDA or the MPC should have the power to make the Master Plan, this CLPR briefing note authored by Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Mathew Idiculla examines…

This statement concerns the recent proposal by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to lease its newly constructed super-specialty hospital to Narayana Health for a period of 30 years. The hospital occupies 20,000 sq ft on Broadway Road in Shivajinagar. The Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties sees this proposal as sign of intended theft against the people of this city with a view to deny them a very basic human right, the right to healthcare. This plan goes against the public interest of ensuring that every resident in this city has access to healthcare, and is another example of private companies…

In the year 2017, data collected by Housing and Land Rights Network India (HLRN) reveals that government authorities, at both the central and state levels, demolished over 53,700 homes, thereby forcefully evicting, at a minimum, 260,000 (2.6 lakh) people across urban and rural India. The total number of persons affected has been calculated by multiplying the number of homes demolished by the average household size according to the Census (4.8). However, many demolished houses had more than one family, and most of the affected families have more than five persons. The real number of people displaced is therefore likely to…

Proposed amendment to Tree Act cancelled: The proposed amendment to the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act of 1976 has been cancelled, as the state government withdrew the bill last Wednesday. It was a victory for the earnest citizens who had been on a non-stop campaign against the plan. The government had been slammed for proposing a plan that would make it legal for authorities to cut down trees. Hence, on Wednesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra, clarified to the House that the government was going to take back the proposed amendment. He admitted that the amendment might have…

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has issued the following rejoinder on 22nd February to the press release by Climate Trends, on the air quality data monitoring exercise, published on 19th February. [Update] On 23rd February, the team behind the study, Climate Trends and Co Media Lab issued an addendum to clarify the points made in KSPCB's statement below.  On 21st February 2018, Co- Media Lab and Climate Trends have released the report on air quality of Bengaluru City, where it is reported that there are huge gaps in the KSPCB data on the smaller particulate matter ( PM 2.5).…

Delhi, Mumbai to be in list of world’s 10 most populous cities by 2030: UN Report According to a report released by United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects, India’s political and financial capitals are both going to find a place among the ten largest cities in terms of population by the year 2030. As per the report released by United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects, the population in the Middle East, Asia and Africa is only going to increase by 2030. In 2030, the following will be the new 10 biggest cities in the world: 1. Tokyo, Japan: 37.2 million people 2. Delhi,…

The Bengaluru In-charge Minister K J George launched the cycle stands and cycle sharing rental services in Sanjay Nagar on Saturday February 17, 2018. BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad, Corporators of wards 18 and 19, Anand and Indira Subhash and residents of Sanjaynagar were present in the event.       The Minister, Commissioner and the corporators took a ride in the cycle as a part of the launch. Minister K J George and the BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad spoke supportive of the initiative and encouraged people to take up such initiatives in other areas. The commissioner requested the residents to partner…

Have you walked around your city lately, and observed the collapsed Electricity Board wires and mounds of garbage near various government departments? Or the remnants from so called developmental work undertaken by the state or the various parastatal agencies? Even as we talk about waste and what can be done to manage household/industrial waste more effectively, piles of unattended debris and confiscated vehicles dumped by various government departments stand as testimony to the inaction by the Tamil Nadu Government. While the Chennai Corporation is frequently under fire for being unable to check dumping of unprocessed waste near water bodies or…

Union Budget mentions Bengaluru Suburban Rail:  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Union Budget that Bengaluru suburban network could spring up at a cost of ₹17,000 crore. It had agreed to invest about 20% of the total expenses, with ₹1,745 crore in two years. State government will invest another 20%, and the rest needs to be funded through loans. The rail project will be partly elevated inside the core areas of the city. Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao agreed that the project can take off when both the State and the Centre contribute 20% of the cost.  They both…

Delhi to pay for parking in residential areas too In a bid to ease the stranglehold of traffic and discourage use of private vehicles, the Delhi government notified The ‘Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017’, which when implemented will require citizens to pay for parking in residential areas as well. The new rules have been approved by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and are likely to be implemented in March. The new parking rates for public and residential areas will be finalised by July.   The minimum parking rates across Delhi will be fixed by a ‘Base Parking Fee…