Articles by News Desk

Withdraw FIRs: Sankey road protestors The Sadashivanagar police’s FIR against 70 people, who protested peacefully on February 19th against the proposed Sankey Road flyover, has drawn ire from citizens and Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs), activists, and civic organisations. The group wrote to the Police Commissioner C H Pratap Reddy, and met him on April 5th, demanding the withdrawal of “baseless allegations against the citizens”. The letter was endorsed by over 500 citizens and almost 100 organisations. The case has been transferred to the Halasuru Gate police station. The citizens have been charged with crimes under Sections 143, 341, 283 and…

 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Singh released the list of Aam Aadmi Party guarantees for the Karnataka assembly elections in Bengaluru on March 29th. Read more: How we registered our Apartment Owners Association under KAOA, 1972 Addressing a press conference at the party's state office, Sanjay Singh said, “Aam Aadmi Party is not a party that gives false promises. We offer a guarantee card with 100% fulfillment. We have fulfilled all the guarantees in the manifesto in Delhi. One by one is being implemented in Punjab as well." "Major guarantees related to total ten…

Citizen Matters, Bengaluru, is gearing up for an exciting conversation with the Environment Support Group (ESG) as they turn 25 this year. Representative image. ESG works to mainstream the rights of local communities and voiceless ecosystems. Pic: Kavitha N Kishore ESG is a pioneering environmental organisation that was pivotal in creating awareness on environmental issues plaguing Bengaluru. Over the years, ESG has fought to stop destructive roads projects and pushed for preservation of lakes and our vanishing greenery. The organisation has been vocal in speaking for public commons and environmental justice and has fought several legal battles to prevent destruction…

Retteri to supply water to Chennai Retteri's storage will be increased to 124 million cubic feet to cater to the rising water demand in Chennai. A sum of Rs. 44 crores is to be allotted for this work, said the Water Resources Minister in the State Assembly. Apart from this, the operations of Poondi, Chembarambakkam and Red Hills reservoirs would be automated at a cost of Rs. 32 crores. WRD has also planned to take up flood mitigation works in the Adyar basin, apart from desilting the canals in Kolapakkam, Manapakkam and Gerugambakkam, in the western part of Chennai. Source:…

BMC starts preparations for rise in COVID numbers BMC plans to make 4,000 beds for COVID patients available gradually and has requested all hospitals under its jurisdiction to make preparations accordingly. Additionally, it has also asked private hospitals to do the same if the number of cases rises. As of March 31st, there are 663 active patients in the city and 52 are admitted to hospitals. BMC officials told the press that the situation is being monitored closely even as patient admission is low. The civic body also plans to reactivate its "war room", a dedicated department set up when…

Poll plans roll out Many are worried that as civic officials have been posted to election duties for the upcoming Assembly polls on May 10th, the ongoing infrastructure projects will be affected. Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that urban apathy is a concern in elections. Against the 72% polling in the state in the 2018 Assembly elections, the city's constituencies had only around 55% polling. He said that the EC (Election Commission) has reached out to IT firms, colleges and start-ups to increase awareness. To increase voter participation, the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) listed out some initiatives…

The Karnataka and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Budgets, 2023-24, recently announced that 75 junctions of Bengaluru would be improved, at a cost of Rs 150 crore. In keeping with this vision, the BBMP and Bengaluru Traffic Police, in collaboration with World Resources Institute India (WRI India), under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), launched the Suraksha 75 Mission 2023 initiative on March 25th. The Suraksha 75 Mission aims to create people-centric and holistic intersection designs to make them safe, efficient, inclusive, and universally accessible. This initiative aims to make Bengaluru's busy intersections safer for pedestrians, along…

A recent study found Chennai to be the top city for women in India. Chennai ranked first among metro cities with a million-plus population. The parameters that the ranking was based on included safety and ease of living for women. At the same time, crimes against women in Tamil Nadu have seen an increase by 40% in 2022 according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau. So, how easy is it to navigate life in Chennai as a woman? Is the city as safe and convenient as perception seems to suggest? What does freedom mean for the women of…

GCC issues guidelines for Area Sabhas in Chennai On March 23, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) issued guidelines for holding Area Sabhas across the 200 wards in Chennai. Each ward has 10 Area Sabha with the city having a total of 2,000 Area Sabhas. The guidelines were issued during the orientation conducted for the Area Sabha secretaries and Ward Committee secretaries. The meeting was presided by Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi. The functions of the Area Sabha secretaries and Ward Committee secretaries have been defined in the guidelines and the Councillors have also been directed to convene these meetings at…

Mumbai and beyond catch the flu The recent spike in influence cases has taken the instances of H1N1 (swine flu) and H3N2 in the state to 425 and 264 respectively this year. Suspected cases in Maharashtra are over 3 lakh. Three deaths have been reported due to the former infection, and one is suspected of the latter. Doctors suspect the spread may be the see-sawing temperatures, going from hot in February to a cool spell in March. Precautionary measures are recommended, like wearing a mask, taking the influenza vaccine, and if elderly or with comorbidities, checking in regularly with physicians.…