Articles by News Desk

Bandh gets good response: The statewide bandh on January 25 was fairly successful and mostly peaceful, as it got a good response from diverse organisations. In the attempt to reach a resolution for the Mahadayi row between Karnataka and Goa, the bandh got BMTC and KSRTC buses to stay off roads, with shops remaining shut. However, Metro services remained unaffected, while taxis and autos too were plying on the roads. Though it was fairly peaceful, the protest also witnessed some stray stone-pelters. There were more than 15,000 police personnel, along with 50 platoons of KSRP and CAR police persons who…

Mumbai’s vehicular explosion Mumbai has seen an explosive growth in its vehicle population, jumping by 56% in just 5 years, with 32 lakh registered vehicles on its streets. These include all vehicles -- private cars, buses, two-wheelers, app cabs, school transport and trucks. Close to 700 vehicles hit city roads daily (till Oct-Nov 2017). Experts now fear that the gap between every extra 10 lakh vehicles on road is narrowing. Soon, it could take a mere two to three years to add another million vehicles in Mumbai and this could sound alarm bells for the city—where the road length has…

Google to help Bengaluru police manage traffic better: "A team of officials from Google and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) are developing a custom-made ‘Traffic analyser app’ for the traffic police, which will help in congestion management, benefiting the general public," said R. Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), to The Hindu. Rooftop restaurants already shutting shop: A number of rooftop pubs, bars and restaurants have complied with the orders of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to close down their establishments. They had been found operating without trade licenses. About 135 establishments had been given a week’s…

Fire kills five in Kailash Bar: Safety norms are always drawn up carefully, but remain only on paper. Even though the state fire department had asked Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to cancel the occupancy certificate of 106 high-rise buildings in 2015, no steps were taken to ensure safety. Notices had been issued to roof top pubs after the Kamala Mills tragedy in Mumbai, yet a fire, maybe due to short circuit, killed five staff members in Kailash Bar, Kalasipalyam. “My question is: Why did we wake up after a mishap occurred in another city when the matter was known…

Chennai bus strike It was a week of helplessness and frustration for regular commuters in Chennai as a section of transport workers’ unions went on indefinite strike, demanding a revision in wages and settlement of other benefits that they are entitled to. The workers refused to resume work even after an order from the Madras High Court, and several rounds of talks with the State Transport Department failed. Transport workers are demanding salaries on par with drivers in other state government corporations. The unions want a 2.57 per cent hike but the government is willing to increase salaries only by…

From new year parties to short-lived hopes on metro trains to medical strike, it has been an eventful week! New Year pulls in with a peaceful bang:  This year’s New Year Eve stood out for its high-security leash on the celebrations. One man wanted to file an FIR against his wife's molestation and 60 were arrested for creating some ruckus. But no major bawdy, lewd or rowdy scenes marred the noise and pomp like last year. The city’s security teams seem to have pulled out all plugs to preempt bad news. A special 16,000-plus policeman squad, 3,000 home guards, 100…

A lot is happening in India, and a lot of it is happening in our cities. Often much more than we can assimilate while navigating the routinely busy course of our lives. Starting this week, Citizen Matters will present a weekly compilation of news headlines and features that our team feels will be consequential for the Indian urban space as a whole, and interesting to any observer of how our cities are evolving. Here’s a quick round-up of what caught our eyes over the last week. Kamala Mills Fire Even as urbanisation continues at a frenetic pace in the country,…

If you were to ask any commuter in any Indian city about their daily pet peeve, it would be the time spent in traffic. And now, Ola, the new age mobility platform serving 110 cities with 8 lakh vehicles on the roads has presented a year-end glimpse of 'how India commuted' based on their records. Some highlights from the top seven cities - Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai: Total average traffic speed dropped by a whopping 2.9km/hr with Bangalore registering the slowest at 17.2km/hour Ola Share has saved 4 times the fuel from last year, telling of the high customer adoption…

Metro-Phase II is on target Namma Metro-Phase II is under way. Tracks are being laid on the 72-km line at a cost of Rs 455 crore.  The construction of the elevated line (viaduct) and stations along the line are all right on track. Building up an elevated line from Yelachenahalli to Anjanapur and Nayandahalli to Kengeri and stations on the stretch are all in their final stages. In Peenya, the BMRCL has 21,500 square feet of land that will be provided free to manufacturing contractors.   The decision to go ahead with Phase II was because the third rail system…

Inviting you to  write an article to comment on how the Master Plan-2031 will impact your neighbourhood, in this contest presented by Citizen Matters, Bengaluru , B.PAC and ooru.in  Check out the draft of the Revised Master Plan - 2031 (RMP-2031) released by Bangalore Development Authority, that is set to define our city’s growth for the next 15 years. Understand, analyse and write an article to comment on how it will impact your neighbourhood. What we expect Your write up should be based on an understanding of what the Master Plan 2031 is about and how it can impact your locality and city. Substantiate…