Articles by Vaishnavi Vittal

S Vishwanath is a pioneer in rainwater harvesting. He is the founder of Rainwater Club, a city-based group that promotes and provides information on rainwater harvesting. Vishwanath has been working in the areas of urban planning, ecological architecture and water management for the past 25 years. Rainwater Club was one of the winners of the 2009 Namma Bengaluru Awards. In this interview with Citizen Matters, Vishwanath speaks about the desperate water scene in the city and suggests what immediate measures can be taken to address the issue of shortage.S Vishwanath, Rainwater Club. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal When you hear of water…

With taps running dry and citizens left crying hoarse for want of water, the state government and Bangalore city council have gone into damage-control mode. Mayor S K Nataraj recently announced that borewells will be drilled in each assembly constituency and water will be supplied through tankers. A borewell being drilled in Yamalur in North Bangalore, by Maanasa Drillers and Borewells. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal According to BWSSB's Public Relations Officer (PRO) A N Prahlada Rao, starting last Sunday, the water board will be drilling two borewells a day in each division of the city (North, South, East, West). Rao says…

For the past few weeks, fire safety in Bengaluru has come under the scanner. With high-rises dotting the city's skyline, it isn't clear whether all these buildings are compliant of fire safety norms laid out by the city administration. Rules for highrise buildings in Bangalore are stringent. Builders must follow norms for setbacks, elevators, inhouse fire safety equipment, service ducts, electricity supply, exit routes, a published fire safety plan and more. See our fire safety norms article for more.  One of the key factors that decides whether compliance is required is the height of the building itself - the height…

After three years of no city council, the city finally saw the day when its 198 newly-elected corporators took oath to office. The city also welcomed its first citizens, Mayor S K Nataraj and Deputy Mayor N Dayanand, both of who were elected unopposed. There were mixed emotions in the air. While nervous first-time corporators quietly waded their way to their seats, the experienced lot seemed to be in a lighter mood. Few Congress MLAs turned up to lend their support to their party corporators. City BJP MLAs and ministers came in larger numbers, breaking into bouts of laughter amongst…

Since the formation of Bruhat Bengaluru in January 2007, the BBMP's first ever council session took place on April 23rd. All 198 corporators were sworn in and the city got a new mayor and deputy mayor. The session itself was rather eventful with both bouquets and brickbats thrown about.See the pictures in a special Citizen Matters slideshow. While most came dressed in their best, Ashwath Y N, Corporator of Kempegowda ward (Ward 1) took it a step further. He came riding on a horse and dressed as Kempegowda himself. Pic: Vaishnavi VittalThe council building decked up for the first session…

It has been two months since Bengaluru witnessed the fire at Carlton towers. Nine lives were lost. Then came the fire at Gold towers on Residency Road and another in a godown in Peenya. Just four months into 2010 and the fire department has attended to over 900 fire-related calls.All this and there is still no system in place to periodically check for fire safety violations in high-rise buildings in the city. While officials of the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services (KSFES) are toothless as they do not have powers to reinspect Bengaluru's buildings after issuing the Occupancy Certificate,…

He refers to himself as a whistle-blower. At 70, his concern is for social justice "especially when local bodies are perpetrators". Meet S Vasudeva, a practicing advocate in the Karnataka High Court, who has filed a number of public interest litigations (PIL) on various issues concerning Bengaluru. 70-year-old S Vasudeva is an advocate with the Karnataka High Court. He has filed over 70 PILs in the city. Pic courtesy: S Vasudeva "Government is meant for welfare of people. If they fail to provide basic neccessities, then who will?", he asks passionately. It is because of this that he filed a…

The electoral rolls of Bengaluru have now become a point of conflict with evidence showing they are in a mess. And both in the recent BBMP elections and last year's Parliamentary elections, Bangalore recorded a dismal 45 per cent voter 'turnout'.Not far from here, in the metropolitan city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a whopping 63 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Of the 32 lakh voters in the city, around 20 lakh citizens had gone out and voted. Whereas in Bangalore, of the 62 lakh voters, only about 27.5 lakh cast their vote in…

With the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council elections having concluded, the city is all set to see the city council functioning after a gap of three years. But first, for the council itself to hold its first meeting, the state government's Urban Development department must issue a notification to conduct elections to the standing committees and for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Within 30 days of the notification, the first meeting has to be held.According to Additional Council Secretary Mario Pires, the functioning of the BBMP Council is as per rules mentioned in the Karnataka Municipal Corporations…

“Whatever we are doing today is adding to the bank balance. One day you can draw from it”, consoled Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, founder, Lok Satta party and sitting MLA in the Andhra Pradesh state assembly. Addressing his party colleagues, well-wishers and supporters in Bangalore, Narayan asked them to not be disillusioned by the outcome of the BBMP election results. “I salute your courage”, he added.In the recently concluded city council elections, Lok Satta put up five candidates across five wards. Contesting in an election in the state and the city for the very first time, the party did not win…