Articles by Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya

I had one of the most disturbing experiences of my life yesterday. Got a phone call around 4 pm from Bangalore Traffic Police with one man - speaking fast and furious in Kannada - telling me that a lady I know has been in a road accident and has to be shifted to the St John's Hospital. Now, this is an acquaintance through work and although we've been in touch for years now and worked together "virtually" I dont know much about her except her phone numbers and e-contacts. I presume they called me from her last received call as…

Owners of an apartment complex in Sarjapur woke up one morning to find that their builder had claim to a large portion of the premises inside the complex which he was planning to turn into a commercial enterprise. Even worse, the builder was telling the court that they were not qualified to even contest the claim, as the owners' association had been registered wrongly. Instances such as these are not altogether too rare in Bengaluru, as highlighted in an earlier article in Citizen Matters. Prevailing ignorance about existing laws and the deliberate flouting of rules by builders and developers have…

On Saturday, February 9th, as a group of people from vastly different sections of society came together to lead a march from Austin Town to the Ejipura EWS demolition site, with an intent to express solidarity with the displaced, they came up against the indifference of the state and the brutality of the police.It has been close to a month now since the day that 5000 people from over 1200 dwellings lost their shelters, livelihoods and any semblance of stability in their lives that they might have had. 9th of February, protestors were stopped before they reached Ejipura, which led…

India has not been familiar with political action committees of the kind that are common across the United States, but an initiative by corporate heavyweights and prominent members of civil society in Bangalore could well change that. On Sunday, the 3rd of February, the city took its first step towards active urban citizen engagement in the the electoral process with the launch of the Bangalore Political Action Committee or BPAC.Established with the broader aim of promoting a better quality of life for all citizens of the metropolis, BPAC will  seek to identify and support strong candidates - irrespective of their…

Aruna Chandrasekhar's phone hasn't stopped ringing since Tuesday evening. Her desperate call for relief for people at Ejipura had actually reached a significant number of people. This, thanks to involved citizens reaching out through their personal and social networks.Aruna, in her twenties, is a freelance photographer and writer has long been involved in social activism, particularly in environmental and mining-related issues. On the morning of January 18th, her friend and activist Kaveri Indira Rajaraman, a post-doctoral fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, called her. Kaveri has been fighting for the rights of those residing in Ejipura EWS (Economically Weaker…