Articles by News Desk

  Hello again from Citizen Matters team! We’re back with our newsletter, to bring you more news and analysis. And our most popular story of the week - how this Sarjapur Road layout solved their water problems, with rainwater collecting, recharge, wastewater treatment and more. And they have no more need for water tankers! Read: Reaching water sustainability. The highlight: Why do schools hike fees? Pic: Shree D N After we look at what makes Bengaluru schools hike their fee, we know look at the other side. While there are schools that hike their fee arbitrarily, there are also schools…

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has started the trial of smart cards in a small scale, after unveiling it in a press conference on June 14, 2016. It will take two months to complete the trial and launch the card in full scale, according to sources from BMTC. It can be recalled that BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur had revealed the plans for this card in an interview with Citizen Matters. There was also a plan to launch Intelligent Transport System (ITS). This was done last month, however there are a lot more buses left out of the ITS net,…

Click to view the reports: Mathai’s 5th report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 6th report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 7th report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 8th report on BBMP Advertisement issues

Let us first analyse what is Khaatha. It is just an account number allotted to property owners by BBMP so that property tax paid by them is credited to that particular owner's 'account'. It is in no way different from a Bank Khaatha (account in English). It is directly derived from the earlier Property identifcation number like Survey number or previous Khaatha number. After allotting Khaatha, BBMP Officials move further to assess the property tax which is dependant on the area (how developed the area of the property is), and sq ft area of the relative property. It is also…

BMTC is issuing the Students concessional pass for the year 2016-17 on a staggered time table to facilitate smooth and hassle-free issue of passes to the student community. The passes are now being issued for primary, secondary and high school students from 4th June, 2016 onwards.    43 pass counters spread across the city listed below will issue the passes. The counters will function from 8 am to 5 pm on all working days and remain close on Sundays and General Holidays. Pass Issue centers: Kempegowda Bus Station, Shivajinagar Bus Station, Kalyannagar Bus Station, Kengeri TTMC, Vijayanagar TTMC, Yeshwanthpura TTMC, Jayanagar…

The city faces urban floods every year, in rainy season. Here are the numbers you will need to get help, to clear the floods, to clear the fallen trees and to catch the reptiles that lose base and start scouting around in your locality. BBMP Control room numbers Centre nameNumberIPP Centre22660000BBMP office22221188, 22975595South Zone26566362East Zone22975803West Zone23561692Dasarahalli28393688, 22975904Yelahanka22975936Bommanahalli25732447, 25735642Mahadevapura28512300/01Rajarajeshwari Nagar28601851, 28600954 The names and numbers of snake catchers / BBMP wildlife volunteers Sl.  Name Zone Phone No 1Sharath Babu R West 98801088012Druvakumar R South 98862864613Surya Kumar M South 98451252314Mahesh Kumar Bommanahalli 99169689595Shashikumar M South 98450204986Arjun M South 99026004427Yatish U South 99166764208Akshay Kumar M South 98457355199Adil Arif Dasarahalli 988051082410Sreeram V South 966301500011Sanjeev P South 974208433512Vijayababu S South 997248799113Guru South 994515982914Deepak S West 988617939615Nagabhushan Mahadevapura 934124048216Shivaraj S R.R. Nagara 984412378817Spoorthy P East 984453003318Kumar R.R. Nagara 990279471119Saleem Hameed East 998621001520Abhishek S Byatarayanapura 963205050321Arun Kumar Byatarayanapura 900871956822Mohan K Dasarahalli 984508090323Manjunath P Bommanahalli 994523933724Rajesh Kumar M West 903611100725Jayaraj…

Fig. 3.5.1: East View of Bangalore in 1792 AD by Robert Hyde Colebrooke, British Library, Shelfmark - WD4461 Courtesy: Yashaswini Sharma Were there waterways inside Lal Bagh once upon a time? How did the famous garden get the unique design? How did the famous glass house came to be in it? This chapter from a book on Bangalore's early history — Bangalore - the early city - AD 1537-1799, authored by Yashaswini Sharma, an architect from Bengaluru, to be released on June 4, 2016, at the British Council, Bangalore, provides some insights. Exclusive images collected from archives make it an…

This week’s highlight: Decoding illegal hoardings in Bengaluru A huge advertisement hoarding erected on a rajakaluve in Koramangala. Pic: Akshatha M Ever wondered why the hoardings that are not licensed are not removed in Bengaluru? It's because the BBMP has no proper policy for removal of hoardings. The terms are different each time, which is why the removal of illegal hoardings has become impossible. Here's the story on the enforcement mafia. Also read: Advertising hoardings worth crores actually get no revenues to BBMP. Data: Part I of Mathai’s reports on illegal hoardings in BBMP, obtained via RTI. Fee hike in…

When buildings come up in the catchment area of a lake, there's bound to be flooding during the rains. Two major residential projects, Bren Imperia and Shriram Chirping Woods are coming up on on the sensitive valley zone between Kasavanahalli and Kaikondrahalli lakes. Citizen Matters had written about what was happening in the area.  Residents ask govt to save Kaikondrahalli, Kasavanahalli lake wetlands Yet another construction threatens to dry up Kaikondrahalli lake How construction debris is letting sewage enter Kaikondrahalli lake Just a month ago, the National Green Tribunal had dismissed the petition against these projects. But the recent heavy rain…

Click to view reports. Mathai’s 1st report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 2nd report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 3rd report on BBMP Advertisement issues Mathai’s 4th report on BBMP Advertisement issues