Articles by Vivek Vaidyanathan

The fate of the contentious steel flyover is uncertain now with the imposition of an interim stay order for four weeks by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), but the project is far from being scrapped. A media report suggests that the  the Chief Minister has ordered officials to commence work from the Hebbal side, with indications that the government may be open to consultations regarding developments south of Mekhri circle. The steel flyover has seen one of the biggest civil society mobilisations ever in Bengaluru, with very vocal public protests and petitions against the project involving people from different walks of life.…

One of the first things which greets the traveller while passing through Museum Road in Bengaluru is the dug up pavements. The digging has now been extended to the mouth of Church Street, where it meets St. Marks Road. The delay in finishing the work has been apparently on account of delay in payments to the contractors by BBMP. The above situation makes me wonder if there can be a market-based solution to avoid such delays. The stretches of roads where the pavement stretches are being widened represent the central part of the city which witnesses record number of footfalls—tourists,…

A few years ago, when the Bangalore Metro began its work, several roads were either closed or their width was reduced due to the work. And some of those roads still remain closed or under repair. Somehow, the traffic continues to meander and find its way through other roads. In fact, traffic like water will always find its way; so the question which I ask is, ‘Can we permanently close some of these roads and put these spaces to alternate uses’?' This occurred to me the other day while crossing Chinnaswamy Stadium towards Raj Bhavan when I saw a set…

A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest on July 19, 2014. Pic courtesy: Reuters Some time ago, a couple of days after the rape of a school girl in a leading school, there was this very striking image, published on the front page of a leading newspaper; it was that of a visibly angry young woman who was part of a protest group appearing to shout at someone, maybe at someone in the school (we will probably never know). That face and that anger which was so palpable, in essence captured the anger of a whole lot of people, be…

In the recent past, there have been quite a few instances where the courts have intervened with respect to civic projects. The recent one was when the Karnataka High Court directed civic agencies to widen the Hulimavu-Begur road- a case where the BBMP and a real estate company were at loggerheads. In another case, the Karnataka High Court directed the BBMP to get rid of encroachments on footpaths – this order was passed in response to a petition filed by an individual to make footpaths accessible to pedestrians. Yet another case was when the High Court ruled mixed land use…

This is for those who are curious to know what the MPs of Bengaluru did in Parliament. Asking questions is the privilege of an MP, which could be used to obtain useful information by the government. One of the main duties of an MP towards his/her constituency is to participate in debates and ask questions, of relevance to that MPs constituency, state and sometimes from a national point of view. The job of an effective opposition is to make sure that the government does it’s job and in this regard, questions are are effective tool. Questions are mainly of two…

Planned vs Actual Spending of MPLAD funds by sitting MPs You have seen the MPLAD spend data for all three MPs of Bangalore. A closer look at the MPLAD fund spending also reveals some interesting patterns, some of which are presented below. Borewells and borewells During the time that he was an MP, Ananth Kumar spent more than Rs. 4 crores on 106 borewells. P.C. Mohan used Rs. 3.35 crores of his MPLAD funds to sink 67 borewells. Not far behind, we have Chandre Gowda who spent Rs. 1.34 crores on 30 odd borewells. The cost of sinking borewells documented…

It is that season again when politicians are out on the roads doing the usual padyatras, going from neighborhood to neighborhood, showing that unwavering smile, flashing the victory sign, listening/pretending to listen to their constituents — all with a view to garnering votes… Welcome to election season. It is also the time when all major and minor roads in Namma Bengaluru are magically repaired overnight literally, and when prices of essential commodities reduce to affordable levels. Of course, as we all know, one should not expect these good times to last forever. This cycle of infrastructure being the way it…

Last week, when I and my wife were going out, we saw a small political rally behind us. What caught my attention was, one of the politicians who was the centre of attraction in the rally, was using an official vehicle. This left me wondering whether using office vehicle in political campaigning is allowed. So I did my research and bumped on to this set of guidelines called ‘Model Code of Conduct.’ Here is a look at what the Model Code of Conduct is, what does the code talk about electoral violations, how do citizens know if they are witnessing…

The ever-smiling staunch BJPian Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda, popularly known as DVS, has been in politics since 1983. Born in 1953, he graduated in science, and had a brief stint as an advocate, before plunging headlong into politics through Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Jan Sangh. Hailing from Puttur of coastal Karnataka, with a strong RSS background, he became an MLA from Bharatiya Janata Party in 1994. He then contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004. He entered Lok Sabha by defeating the now-central Minister Veerappa Moily. He headed Karnataka BJP in 2006 as its state president, and was perceived…