Articles by Shashank Atreya

As India reaches the eighth month of its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, with no foreseeable end, states and urban local bodies are severely cash strapped. A situation, which has been exacerbated by the Central government issuing various orders during and after the lockdown on policy issues strictly within the domain of states, such as prohibiting the sale of alcohol, restricting inter-state and intra-state movement, and withholding the GST compensation that each state government is entitled to. According to a report in the Bloomberg Quint, many states’ share in the Central Goods and Service Taxes constitutes an average of only 16-30%. The burden of raising remaining…

Over the past few months, Karnataka has become infamous for its treatment of taxi aggregator apps. It began with the state transport department banning Ola for operating bike taxis. Last week, the department ordered aggregators to stop shared-cab services too in the city. In the absence of a predictable public transport system, many of these services - shared cabs or bike taxis - had become cost-effective alternatives for Bengalureans. But despite their obvious benefits, state government continues to view such services with suspicion, and brings down the law on them. It is not that state government is particular about hindering easier…

Bangalore International Centre in collaboration with Citizen Matters and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, had organised 'Right to breathe- Fixing Bengaluru’s Air', a discussion under Bengaluru Solution Series, on January 11th. This was the second installment of the Bengaluru Solution Series. The panel for the discussion comprised of Randeep D, Indian Administrative Officer and Special Commissioner - Solid Waste Management, BBMP, Anjali Saini, a member of Whitefield Rising, Pawan Mulukutla, Bosch India and Shashank Atreya, a Research Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The panel was moderated by Meera K, Founder, Citizen Matters. The quality of Bengaluru’s air is…

Air pollution has been a cause of worry globally. Economic growth of cities has influenced the spatial patterns of emission sources, directly impacting public health. Bengaluru’s rapid development and changing landscape followed by lack of planning has led to several urban concerns, with air pollution being a crucial one. Contributors to air pollution are unique to each city. Vehicular pollution is among those concerns that contributes maximum to air pollution in Bengaluru. Data indicates that 60-70% of the emissions is said to originate from vehicles. This makes the city the only one in India to be most impacted by vehicular…

The recent movie Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shale Kasaragod gives an excellent insight into what’s wrong with the government education system. The infrastructure is under stress, teachers are underpaid, and the quality of learning is dismal. With the Right to Education process in place, admission to private schools is being preferred, resulting in limited demand for state-sponsored education. India may be spending 3% of its gross domestic product on education, but the impact of this expenditure is rarely seen. Karnataka government, over the past decade, has implemented many schemes to improve its schools. Through these schemes, spending on school infrastructure and…

Bengaluru has 11,000 acres of designated forest land on record, but the draft master plan released recently doesn’t show even a part of this, said Dipika Bajpai, Indian Forest Service officer, who is a Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) in charge of Bengaluru. She said her department has compiled a list of objections to the master plan to dispute the non-inclusion of forest area. Dipika was talking in a discussion organised by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and Citizen Matters, in collaboration with Bangalore International Centre on July 14, 2018. Vidhi Centre and Citizen Matters have joined hands to publish…

Heat, dust and pollution are characterising Bengaluru these days, as opposed to the calm cool heavenly weather that made it a “garden City.The city is slowly losing its green cover and is turning brown with concrete buildings and heat islands. There are efforts from NGOs and citizens to plant trees. But what should the government look at, explores Shashank Athreya of Vidhi Centre for Legal policy. Among the biggest challenges cities face, securing the city’s environment is one of the most important. The definition of “environment” in an urban context is broader than its traditional meaning since it includes the…