Articles by Supriya Khandekar

I would not mind starting with a clichéd phrase for Bangalore - the city of lakes and tanks. But these days this lake city is making news because its lakes are drying up. Some because of waste dumping, some because of encroachments. One of these unfortunate lakes in Bangalore is Bellandur Lake, one of the oldest with 130 years of history and the main water provider or the city. The lake is two kms from the Koramanangla valley southwards of the city. It covers an area of 903 acres and is six meters deep at the center. The water storing…

Manjulatha, 25, died a few months ago while giving birth to her third child. She has left behind a five year old daughter and a two year old son. Manjulatha used to help her husband in his ragi fields and take care of the house also. Her daughter, Anitha is now forced to drop out of school to take care of her younger brother and look after the house while her father works in the field. Manjulatha's is not the only case of Gollahalli. There are several similar cases in this small village 35 kms from the Silicon city of…

Come rains and most roads of the city are flooded. Some roads see potholes and muddy water all over, some lose their asphalt cover and some others are deformed. You may be surprised to know that the BBMP appoints private consultants to repair flood damage on roads with its own engineers. But the roads remain in bad shape even after that.In 2006, the BBMP formed a Flood Damage Control cell to carry out such road works. A total of 26 roads in the city were shortlisted for repairs with a budget of Rs.19 crores. All these road works were awarded…

Did you know that of the innumerable road humps (or speed breakers) in the city, only 282 are authorised by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP)? All the others, according to the BBMP, are unauthorised and do not have any mention in their records. This fact was revealed when BBMP responded to a RTI application regarding the same recently. Most of us are troubled by the road humps we come across every day. It’s a common feeling that some of them are not required at all, while some of them appear to be hastily put up with no concern for…

Everyday, a number of roads get asphalted under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike's (BBMP) road works and a lot more wait to get constructed. It is often observed that soon after these roads are asphalted they degenerate, potholes appear and degradation results. Not many times do we ponder that there ought to be a procedure and specifications for laying roads. Well there is such procedures, and it is available with the BBMP and they are supposed to follow it. M V K Anil Kumar, an RTI activist, filed an application to find out just this. The thought came to his…

On 4th August, former mayor P R Ramesh sent a notice to the State Election Commission asking it to hold elections of the Bruhat Bangaluru Mahanagara Palike within a fortnight. The notice said that though the Karnataka High Court on 2 July 2008, had directed the Election Commission and State to hold elections, no action had been taken so far. It is not that the Election Commission is dragging its feet on the matter or that its officials are lethargic and unwilling to move. The problem rests elsewhere. On 20th August, the Election Commision filed an application with the High…

Believe it or not, Bangalore does have a traffic control room. It is called the Traffic Management Centre and is situated on the first floor of Ashok Nagar Police Station. As you enter the air-conditioned room, you will see five LCD screens mounted on the wall. All of them are connected to computers. The screens show a grid of nine small screens with traffic movements captured through cameras. Any one of the junctions from the screen can be enlarged and seen in particular. LCD screens with a grid of traffic various junctions (Pic: Supriya Khandekar)The system uses two types of…

It is 10.28 on Thursday 14 August morning when Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic and Security arrives at his office in a white Ambassador. The office is located in the most airy place of Shivajinagar, the second floor of the BMTC building in the bus stand. As citizens, we have numerous queries when it comes to traffic in the city. Most of us simply blame the traffic police for the mess. Our questions – the ones we discuss every evening before leaving our offices or when we come late the next day – are the same, but the…

Most of us who are either buying or selling property find the procedures cumbersome and encounter a range of different certificates and documents required to proceed with a deal. Many of us are unfamiliar with what is required until we face the situation.What is a Khata? What is an occupancy certificate? Who issues it? When and why is it needed? What about the ‘possession certificate’? Former Deputy Commissioner of BBMP (Revenue department) H B S Aradhya answered these questions for Supriya Khandekar of Citizen Matters. What is a Khata?There is no specific mention of the term Khata in the Act…

"No power cuts for Bangalore", says H Nagesh, Director Technical, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM). The rains towards the end of July have helped increase the water levels of the reservors resulting in increase hydel power generation. He also sounded cautious about the coming weeks. "Presently the load shedding is stopped for Bangalore alone but if the rains continue in this way there might not be any need for power cuts throughout the state. But if there is irregular rainfall then scheduled power cuts will be implemented", he says. Last month, Bangaloreans all over were experiencing severe power cuts. Karnataka…