Articles by Vaishnavi Vittal

In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application that was filed by RTI-activist M V K Anil Kumar, the state government's Department of Town and Country Planning responded to a question on what the procedure is to appoint various town planners in the town planning department, BDA, BBMP and other civic bodies.These rules are as per the Karnataka Town Planning Department Services (Recruitment) Rules, 1996. For the post of Director of Town Planning, the method of recruitment is only through promotion from the cadre of Joint Director of Town Planning. For this a person must possess a post-graduate degree…

Sixteen-year-old Hasina Begum, a student of Magadi Government Girls High School in Bengaluru is entering a crucial year in school, the tenth standard. This is just her third year in school. Hasina used to work as a domestic help before she was rescued by the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grassroots community development organisation. Underprivileged children who study at APSA's Kanasina Shale, located in LB Shastri Nagar. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal Hasina studied and prepared for her seventh standard exams at APSA's Dream School or Kanasina Shale, where formal education is imparted to child labourers and children from…

To the casual observer, power cuts in the city have been erratic and without warning, however, BESCOM officials say these are very much scheduled.Three months ago, on February 25th 2010, BESCOM issued a notification on when there will be power cuts for domestic, commercial and industrial feeders. This was in view of the upcoming summer season. The notification had said that there will be two hours of power cuts everyday in batches – one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. For example, power is cut off in an area between 7 and 8 am in the…

At a time when Bengaluru is facing acute water shortage, call it ironic that over 400 half-litre bottles (costing Rs 8 each) of mineral water were consumed during the two-day special ‘water' session of the BBMP council. Only one corporator, Congress's K Poornima (Basavanapura, Ward 53) pointed out to this, requesting Mayor S K Nataraj to ensure that smaller bottles are provided or to make it compulsory for all corporators to carry the bottles back with them instead of leaving them in the council hall, half-consumed. Poornima's appeal may well have fallen on deaf ears. It is unfortunate that many…

The Karnataka High Court's order with regard to the state government's proposed war memorial project is likely to be pronounced during this week. Just last week, the BDA had begun work at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park, where the memorial is proposed to come up. This was, however, stalled following several media reports that suggested that going ahead with construction work amounted to contempt of court as the case is subjudice. Last week, the BDA had started construction work at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park. This was later stalled after objections from the public. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal The…

For a majority of them, it was their first ever chance to speak as people's representatives. That too on a pressing issue. As BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy put it, "It was a golden opportunity. I couldn't have got so much information from anywhere else". For two days, corporators from across Bengaluru voiced their concerns over water-related problems in their wards. Demands for borewells, jetting machines, regular desilting and replacement of old pipes with new ones, were made. Complaints ranged from lack of cooperation from local BWSSB officials, to the need to hold monthly meetings with engineers. The occasional bouquet…

In the two-day BBMP council session on water, as each corporator spoke about the water problem in their wards, they all had one demand in common. Borewells. And more borewells."I need 20 borewells in my ward", said one. "Give me 10-15 borewells", said another. At the end of the session, as BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy announced the various projects taken up by the Board, the corporators requested him to mention the immediate plan of action to address the water crisis and demanded a response to how many borewells were going to be installed immediately. Mayor S K Nataraj and…

At the two-day special BBMP council session on water, Mayor S K Nataraj and BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy made a slew of announcements to address the water crisis in Bengaluru. These include both short-term and long-term measures to improve infrastructure and ensure water supply to all.Here are announcements made by the BWSSB:111 Assistant Executive Engineers (AEE) are being recruited. The process will be completed in the next 15 days193 valve men are being recruited. This will also be completed in the next two weeks78 sanitary workers will be recruited. The BWSSB has only 136 sanitary workers currently, apart from…

If you live around a BBMP park in any part of Bangalore and are wondering whether the park's open space or stage can be used with loudspeakers for a community event, think again. For one, use of loudspeakers in BBMP parks was barred by the High Court over a year ago. But more importantly, each BBMP official you talk to today will you give a different impression about the exact ban - who and what are allowed or disallowed are still unclear. On May 9th 2010 a music programme, called Udaya Raaga, scheduled to be held at the JP Nagar…

The BBMP has been promoting its own engineers to higher positions in the town planning department, violating a government order that says all town planning posts in the city have to be filled by qualified officials from the state government's Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP). The state government's Department of Town and Country Planning controls appointments to BBMP town planning functions. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal. Take the case of Ravindranath, Joint Director of Town Planning at the BBMP. As per a state government order, Ravindranath has been transferred to the town planning department in Magadi (under the jurisdiction of…