BDA to call global tenders for fresh Master Plan
The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) will begin to call global tenders for a fresh Master Plan for the city in a week. The new plan is expected to be ready by mid-2023. The previously drafted RMP (Revised Master Plan) 2031 was supposed to guide the city’s development until 2031, but was scrapped by the BDA last year following objections from the public.
A focus area for the new Master Plan 2031 would be to boost TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) along the city’s transit corridors, especially along the Metro rail and the upcoming suburban rail corridors.
Source: The New Indian Express
State move to allow BBMP to collect fees again
State government has passed an ordinance to amend the KMC (Karnataka Municipal Corporations) Act, 1976, and the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Act, 2020. The amendment will allow the BBMP to collect ground rent, licence fee, building plan approval fee, scrutiny fee and security deposit.
The Karnataka High Court, in August, had deemed these fees and charges “unenforceable” and contrary to the KMC Act after some citizens approached it questioning the basis by which BBMP was collecting the fees. The court’s judgement would have required the BBMP to refund nearly Rs 2,000 crore it had collected from land owners, real estate developers, etc. With the amendment of law, BBMP can avoid the refund. Since the HC judgment, BBMP has not been approving plans or charging fees, incurring huge losses, officials said.
The Bill is expected to be tabled during the legislature’s winter session in December.
Source: The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The New Indian Express
Wettest November in six years
Following heavy rains, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner J Manjunath declared Friday, November 19, as a holiday for all schools. Many areas were waterlogged and people were confined to their homes. Water gushed into houses in low-lying areas. Roads looked deserted without any vehicles.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded an orange alert for the coming days. The IMD observatory recorded 115.8 mm of rain in the first fortnight of the month – against 71 mm in all of November last year – making this the wettest November in the past six years. The formation of low pressure over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and cyclonic circulations have contributed to the downpour this year.
Source: Deccan Herald, Indian Express
Read More: Bengaluru’s changing rainfall patterns: expert points to climate change
BBMP wins clean city award
The BBMP has won an award instituted by the Centre’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for ‘keeping Bengaluru clean’. While the award categories are not known, the recognition was given based on the feedback received during Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness survey). Last year, the BBMP had won the ‘Best Sustainable Mega City’ award. The results will be formally announced at a ceremony to be attended by President Ramnath Kovind on November 20.
The award is instituted under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. But a number of citizens ridiculed the award on social media. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw called it the “biggest joke on us citizens.”
Meanwhile, after lakes, stormwater drains in the city have started frothing. On Wednesday, residents of Kadugodi, East Bengaluru, noticed froth in a stormwater drain near some apartments. BBMP officials said it could be due to industrial effluents or residential sewage.
Source: Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times
Metro rail may reinstate women guards
The BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited) may reinstate women guards in the ladies’ coach of every Metro train that will run from 6 am to 11.30 pm. Women guards were posted in Metro trains since December 2019, but withdrawn after COVID struck. Today there are security staffers at the platforms of every station as well.
Meanwhile, the construction firm NCC Ltd has bagged the contract for building the 37-km elevated Metro line from KR Puram to the KIA (Kempegowda International Airport). The BMRCL issued a LOA (letter of acceptance) on Wednesday.
Source: The New Indian Express
Also Read: How commute can be easy, safe during Metro work on ORR
110 dengue cases; fall in COVID
Between November 1 and 17, 110 persons in Bengaluru tested positive for dengue. As per data with the health department, Bengaluru has seen 1,038 dengue cases this year and accounts for 19% of the state’s total dengue burden. The maximum dengue cases (401) were reported from the East Zone, followed by Mahadevapura (142) and Yelahanka (138), according to BBMP officials. Overall, nearly 40,000 Bengalureans with fever symptoms have undergone dengue testing.
As COVID cases are falling, the TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) for COVID has recommended only 30,000 COVID tests per day in Bengaluru Urban distrct. But Bengaluru Urban remains the major contributor of COVID cases in the state.
Source: The Times of India, Indian Express
Mobile schools from next week
From next week, 10 old buses from the BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) fleet that were converted into mobile schools will begin to ply all eights zones of BBMP, to conduct bridge classes for out-of-school children. BBMP has assigned one bright yellow bus per zone. Two extra buses will be deputed to zones that have more number of out-of-school children.
Source: The Hindu
[Compiled by Revathi Siva Kumar]
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