Articles by News Desk

60 accident black spots The Bengaluru Traffic Police have identified 60 accident-prone locations or “accident black spots” in the city and have outlined some measures to enhance safety. The list will be submitted to the civic agencies. The black spots have been identified on the State Highway, National Highway, Ring Road, and other roads. Remedial measures include installation of accident zone signboards, construction of skywalks, placement of cat eyes and blinkers, CCTV cameras, rumbler strips, road markings, road humps, street lights, raised centre medians and speed limit signage boards. The report showed that over the past three years, the number…

Civic body to revise company tax The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has plans to revise company tax by at least three times the present figures. The revision will come into effect in the second half of this fiscal year. This move has been made with a view to improving the civic body’s finances and revising tax rates that have remained unchanged over many years. Earlier the civic body had revised property tax rates in the city.  With the revision, companies that have an investment less than a lakh will now pay Rs 300 as company tax. Those with investments less…

Private aircraft skids and crashes during landing, injuring 8 Eight people including the pilot and co-pilot were injured after a private aircraft veered off the runway at the Mumbai airport and crashed on Thursday evening around 5.45 pm. “VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Vizag to Mumbai was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at Mumbai airport. There were 06 passengers and 02 crew members on board. Visibility was 700 meters with heavy rain," the directorate general of civil aviation said in a statement. The eight passengers were admitted to the Criticare…

BWSSB: Set aside city's share of Cauvery waters The level in the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir has come down due to low rainfall this year. However, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Chairperson N Jayaram, on September 8th, wrote to Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) requesting to keep aside the city's share of water in Kabini and KRS reservoirs. The sharing was asked to be done on a 'priority' basis reserve'. BWSSB, which supplies Cauvery water to almost 70-80% of the 1.3 crore population in various phases, sources the required Cauvery water from Shiva anicut in Malavalli…

Bengaluru has a culture of active citizenry. Groups working on various issues, such as waste, water, and other civic matters, have mostly been working in silos. Whilst a lot is being said and done on infrastructure, governance etc. the focus on climate change at a grassroots level is still missing. Now, prominent social impact networks and individuals have joined forces. Citizens, civil society practitioners, and academia have come together to launch ‘Ellara Bengaluru’, a community-driven coalition to create initiatives to make Bengaluru climate-resilient and inclusive. The coalition will work on enabling people across all wards to be fully equipped to…

Projects for clean air to be launched in Chennai The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will initiate a slew of schemes to improve air quality in the city. The projects in the pipeline include mechanised cleaning of polluted roads, robust policy for non-motorised transport and revamping of on-street parking in the city. The civic body will also look to create more dedicated cycle tracks across the city.  A city-based NGO also submitted a memorandum to the civic body on the efforts to clean up the air in the city. The memorandum called for the shelving of some of the projects of…

Completion of the Gokhale bridge delayed again The Gokhale bridge, which was supposed to get ready before Diwali this year, will take more time. During the assembling of the girders that came from Ambala last month, it was found that the place for the cranes to move in the area was not sufficient. So, 28 structures affecting the movement of the crane and the pace of work, were demolished. Of these 13 were residential structures and 15 commercial.  According to civic officials, 30 days are needed to assemble the girder and another 15 days to launch it and push towards…

BBMP works held up About 25.2 mms of rainfall on September 5th flooded roads and homes, uprooted trees and caused traffic jams. The maximum impact was seen in areas where Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) are undertaking civil works.  Even after 100 days in office, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar is accused of holding up civic projects with incomplete works on roads, primary drains and lakes. Only the Congress-represented assembly segments have completed some work, while the BJP-ruled constituencies remain inactive. Initially, the contractors had halted work, protesting…

Overwhelming response to a first-of-its-kind outreach initiative 95% of the 3,855 respondents of the #Personal2Public Bengaluru questionnaire are keen to shift to Metro Seamless integration and travel time were a priority over travel cost A campaign towards sustainable commute Namma Metro has been seeing a steady increase in its ridership, despite its myriad issues, such as few lines are operational, first and last mile connectivity. With the much-awaited metro lines to Whitefield and Electronic City expected to be operational in September 2023 and January 2024, respectively, extending the Namma Metro network to ~93 kms, is an opportune moment to promote…

In response to the increasing challenges posed by the rising number of private vehicles leading to traffic congestion and air pollution, concerned citizens and organisations in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad have joined forces to advocate for a "Free Bus Day." Recognising air pollution as a pressing health emergency affecting citizens across all age groups, particularly children and the elderly, the call for enhanced public transportation emerges as a crucial strategy to combat this crisis. The Pune Air Action Hub, a dedicated platform committed to addressing air quality concerns, has submitted a letter to the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML),…