City: Bengaluru

The most important lesson for the Covid first wave was the urgent need to strengthen the state’s public health systems and infrastructure. But the current year’s budgets of both the state government and the city government ignores this need. In fact, the state’s 2021-22 budget has been criticised for its low priority to strengthening the public healthcare system overall. As of now, all attention inevitably is on managing the Covid second wave. “Rs 50 cr is earmarked towards 'natural calamities', that is, Covid management”, says Thulasi Maddineni, Special Commissioner (Finance) at BBMP. The BBMP had spent Rs 90 crore on…

In March 2020, Lakshmi's employer asked her to take a week's leave. After the week, Lakshmi, a domestic worker, was asked to not come to work for another month. After that, her employer stopped picking her calls and that is how she realised that she had been let go. Lakshmi's story is not unusual. This one narrative from a Bengalurean woman finds itself reflected in large-scale numbers seen in published reports. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 saw India slipping down 28 places and being ranked at 140th position among 156 countries. One of the parameters this report looks at…

What is your last name? Do you eat meat? These are questions often asked while renting a house in Bengaluru. While they seem innocent on the surface, these questions enable owners to ascertain caste which, in turn, controls their decision on whether or not to take them on as tenants. “If you are not from the dominant caste, they will delicately backtrack and state how there was a misunderstanding and they did not intend to rent the house at all” says Bengaluru-based author Vijetha, remembering how her mother would cook fish in their Basavanagudi home and light agarbattis to camouflage…

Bus strike continues, trainee staff fired Karnataka road transport corporation employees have announced that their strike will continue until the government hikes their salaries as per the 6th Pay Commission, and offers them the same benefits as government employees. The government said it has agreed to eight out of nine of the workers' demands, and was considering a salary hike of 8%. On Thursday, BMTC fired 96 trainees for boycotting work. Citizens dependent on BMTC fleet turned to private buses, autos and taxis to commute to work. Some passengers at Majestic and Mysuru Satellite bus stands accused private operators of…

With the rising number of COVID cases in Karnataka crossing over 6,000 per day, of which over 4,000 cases per day are in Bengaluru itself, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been organising a series of meetings with various Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to seek support in contact tracing and improving the reach of administering COVID vaccines. On April 1, the central government extended vaccination for people above 45 years, irrespective of whether they have co-morbidities.  On April 2, during an interaction with the BBMP Chief Commissioner and Commissioner for Health, an overwhelming request by the RWAs was to conduct vaccination…

Over the last few years, the city of Bengaluru has been growing beyond its potential. As a city with educated and active citizens, civic activism has been a significant decider in how the city develops.  One of the citizen activism initiatives has been developing the existing railway network to boost the suburban rail project.  A few years ago, the Government of Karnataka (Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Company (K-RIDE)) started developing a plan for the extension of these railway networks. It recently announced that the 48-km Baiyappanahalli-Hosur railway line will be double tracked by 2022.  Public Notice issued by Department of Forest…

On March 27, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's Administrator Gaurav Gupta (he has since been elevated to the post of BBMP Commissioner) presented the city’s budget for 2021-22, in the absence of an elected Council. The budget outlay for this year is slightly lower than that in the last two years, yet high at Rs 9286.8 crore.  Where will the money come from? According to budget documents, the largest chunk of funds (41%) will come from state government grants. The second highest contribution (36%) is expected from taxes, primarily property tax. BBMP expects to collect Rs 2,800 crore of property tax…

Bengaluru has a planning history spanning more than fifty years. The first step towards planning for development of Bengaluru City was initiated with the Outline Development Plan prepared by the Bangalore Development Committee in 1952.  The city’s planning got statutory backing in 1961 when the Karnataka Town And Country Planning (KTCP) Act, 1961 was enacted.  The history of planned development in Bengaluru is seen in the timeline below. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is entrusted with the task of preparing a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) as per the KTCP Act. Throughout Bengaluru city's planning history, thought to its future industrialisation,…

In view of rising COVID cases, on April 2, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) issued an order imposing restrictions in public spaces. The situation of COVID in Karnataka has been reviewed and it has been observed that there has been a persistent rise in the number of COVID cases in the State during the last month, the order said. Further, a large number of social, religious and public gatherings like marriages, political rallies are being witnessed in which COVID appropriate behaviour is not being followed which may cause a setback in the appreciable gains made in the suppression…

Cases surge; Govt imposes restrictions Over 470 children below 10 have been infected with COVID-19, since the beginning of this month. A total of 244 boys and 228 girls have been infected from March 1 to 26. The cases among children were limited to eight to nine daily during the early days of this month but they steadily rose to 46 on March 26. The cases are different from the trends seen last year, as the state reported most new cases among people aged 40 or less. Contrary to the advice from the Technical Advisory Committee, the government ruled out…