Articles by News Desk

BBMP governance issues The government has set a two-month deadline for ward delimitation. Even the previous government reduced the number of wards from 243 to 225. However, senior Ministers are now debating whether civic polls should be organised at the end of this year. As there is no clarity over restructuring the city’s governance structure, the worry is that the civic polls may push reforms to the background. Meanwhile, on the Working Contractors' Association complaint that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has held up its bills, the Governor, Thaawarchand Gehlot, summoned BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath. The contractors said…

Dear  Smt. Manjula V, Commissioner, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) Smt. G. Sathyavathi, Managing Director, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)  This is with reference to a webinar held by Citizen Matters, Bengaluru, on what makes commuters choose cars and bikes over buses and metro and how this can change. The webinar, titled ‘‘Why not public transport?’, was held on July 21, 2023.  The panellists included experts, Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, Integrated Transport and Road Safety, World Resources Institute (WRI) India; Shreya Satish Mokhashi, Assistant Urban Planner at Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT); Jayenkumar Desai, Head of Strategy and Transformation…

Vehicles to be fined for illegal parking The Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) will be imposing fines on vehicles found to have been parked illegally. The traffic police have been instructed to photograph the vehicles and issue a challan to the owners. This move has been put in place as many vehicles have been parked in no-parking zones, affecting traffic flow. All arterial roads in the city have been declared no parking zones and vehicles parked here will be fined. Those found guilty of illegal parking can pay the fine imposed online or through e-seva centres across the city.  First-time…

BEST bus drivers protest again Contractual bus drivers of Mumbai BEST service went on a strike again. The reason was once again various issues related to their salaries - delays, lesser amount compared to staffers. The strike affected the commute severely as only one-third buses were on the road. According to the BEST spokesperson, 500 private bus operators and employees of Daga Group stopped work and protested. “We shifted the buses from other routes and tried to salvage the situation in the best possible way,” said a BEST spokesperson. The BEST has decided to levy fines of ₹5,000 per bus…

HC: Govt should pay for illegal hoardings The Karnataka High Court said that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the state government would have to deposit Rs 50,000 each in the court for every instance of unauthorised hoarding in future. There are too many unregulated and uncontrolled illegal hoardings, banners and flexes, mainly due to the callousness and negligence of BBMP officials, it said. Even though 59,413 illegal hoardings were identified in the past four months and 58,429 of them were removed by spending BBMP’s funds, or taxpayers money, why hadn't the BBMP collected any penalty? the court asked.…

The city of Mumbai is currently at the peak of the monsoon season that significantly impacts the lives of its residents. While these rains are vital for replenishing water sources and sustaining agriculture, they also pose several challenges for the city's infrastructure and residents. Water logging, traffic jams, health risks and infrastructure problems, the list is endless. These problems resurface year after year. We at Citizen Matters Mumbai, believe that the citizens best know the problems they encounter in their vicinity. Hence they are able to offer the most practical and workable solutions to these problems. We have always had…

GCC to provide vaccines for infants and pregnant women Under Mission Indradanush 5.0, an initiative of the Union government, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is set to vaccinate infants and pregnant women. The first round of the vaccination drive will be held from August 7 to August 15. The second and third rounds of the vaccination drives will take place in September and October respectively. The vaccines available will cover a range of illnesses such as polio, jaundice, Japanese encephalitis, whooping cough, tetanus and measles.  A door-to-door survey was carried out by the civic body to identify eligible beneficiaries. The…

Red alert in wettest July, holiday for educational institutions Mumbai rains did not take a pause this week, and the city recorded its wettest July ever with 1557.8 mm rain. The IMD issued a red alert on Thursday due to very heavy rains. The city was flooded in many areas. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared a holiday for schools and colleges on Thursday. On Friday, both the Colaba and Santacruz observatories recorded over 100 mm of rainfall within 24 hours. The northern suburbs, including Dahisar (237mm), Borivali (194mm), Vasai  (138mm), Thane (166mm), and Dahanu (224mm), experienced more intense rains.…

Building Brand Bengaluru The ‘Brand Bengaluru’ project spurred the state government to sign an agreement with Canada-based World Design Organisation (WDO) for suggestions to the BBMP to build the city. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that 200 engineers from the WDO will study and give suggestions on infrastructure, including roads, flyovers, footpaths, junctions, and more. D K Shivakumar had earlier launched a ‘Brand Bengaluru’ campaign and an online portal to invite suggestions by the public on the city’s development. He received 70,000 suggestions from the public, experts, and schoolchildren. Students from 17 schools in a special function spoke…

Application for basic income scheme for women launched in Chennai Applications have been made available for the Kalaignar Magalir Udhavi Thittam, the basic income scheme for women launched by the Tamil Nadu state government.  The scheme excludes households that own a four-wheeler or consumes more than 500 units of electricity per billing cycle. The scheme is expected to benefit one crore women state-wide.  The first phase of the scheme will be rolled out in half of Chennai’s 200 wards. Eligible beneficiaries will be identified and provided financial assistance of Rs 1000 per month. A total of 8.56 lakh application forms…