City: Bengaluru

While COVID-19 is causing fatalities across the world, it also brought to focus our frailties when it comes to collective action problems. There were forced lockdowns across India, starting late March, that highlighted clean air gains from the lack of vehicle emissions. Social distancing measures and closure of gyms kept people indoors, which meant lack of activity would take a mental and physical toll after a while. Across the world this was a perfect opportunity to promote a clean, healthy and socially-distanced personal transport vehicle called the bicycle. The window of opportunity presented itself and some of us in Bengaluru…

Bengaluru has more than 50 lakh two-wheelers on its roads. Let that number sink in. These two-wheelers make up ~70% of all motorised vehicles in the city.  This staggering number of two-wheelers is often attributed to Bengaluru's inadequate and inaccessible public transportation system, whose modal share stands at a meagre 48% in comparison to 80% for Mumbai.  In a 2019 survey conducted by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), 24% of respondents who don’t use public transport cited lack of first-mile and last-mile (FM-LM) connectivity as the major hindrance. Given the need for better connectivity to public transportation and the ubiquity…

In Part 2 of this series, we looked at the kind of documents you need to scrutinise while buying any property in Bengaluru. In addition to these documents, you need to verify some specific documents while buying different types of property such as apartments, BDA sites, land with agricultural past, etc. In this article, we look at these requirements. Documents for scrutiny before buying apartments i. Joint development agreement & GPA In recent times, the most popular method for building apartments is by way of a Joint Development agreement (JDA). This is an agreement signed between the landowner and the…

We have come a long way from the days of paraffin or kerosene lamps. Though our grandparents may be familiar with these lighting relics, they are now relegated to occupying a small space in our storage or as a curio on display. Days of kerosene street lamps Kerosene street lamps were part of daily life in Bengaluru up till August 5, 1905. The task of cleaning, refuelling and lighting them was designated to three men appointed by the local administration. An inspector was also tasked to oversee the entire lighting operation in the city. This Victorian-era practice of lighting street lamps…

As COVID cases rocket, authorities plan to increase fine amounts for not wearing masks, and criminal prosecution of repeat offenders. Pic Credit: Wikimedia Commons Bengaluru topped in cybercrime in 2019: NCRB data Bengaluru has recorded the maximum number of cybercrime cases (10,668) among all metros in 2019, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The overall crime rate in Bengaluru for 2019 saw a marginal increase when compared to the previous year. While the crime rate was 470.4 per lakh of population in 2018, it went up to 492.5 for 2019. The number of cases registered…

Drone shot of a Metro station. All transport projects including Metro should be reviewed in light of COVID-induced changes, says a letter from three civic groups to the Centre. Pic: Siddharth Sriram This September 16, Hardeep Singh Puri, Centre's Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, said no time limit could be specified for the sanction of the ORR-Airport Metro line (from Silk Board to airport). He further said that Metro projects are cost-intensive and hence require extensive inter-ministerial consultations. In this context, members from three civic groups - Bangalore Environment Trust, Praja-RAAG and Citizens for Citizens - have written to…

After supporting hundreds of ‘Cycle Days’ in Bengaluru, the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) is now inviting citizen groups to propose sustainable transport solutions in their neighbourhoods. DULT's new initiative, the Sustainable Mobility Accords (SuMA) will offer Rs 50 lakh to implement approved projects, along with the required technical expertise. In the first year of SuMA, 10 applicants will be selected. While the original deadline for submitting applications was September 30, it has now been extended to October 7. (Note: The deadline has been extended again, to October 15.) Sonal Kulkarni, Senior Transport Planner at DULT, says they are…

A survey conducted by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palik in November last year said there were 4,246 homeless people in the city. As many as 3,380 of them are males, 857 females and nine sexual minorities. They live in and around the city railway station, bus station, footpaths and empty plots. Civil society organisations had proposed then that the BBMP set up 77 shelters for the homeless, including separate ones for women. While these are the official figures, the number of shelterless is clearly far higher. The current availability of working shelters, 10 by official claim, is nowhere near the…

In my lifetime, I’ve transitioned from an Indian-type squat-pour-flush toilet to a more spacious western-style commode toilet with the luxuries of a mirror and wash-basin.  This transition is one of the more eloquent symbols of my upward mobility.  It was in the privacy of the toilet that I have felt the most free and uninhibited.  It is the place where my deepest angsts have found their release in helpless tears and the place where I’ve imagined my wild aspirations coming true. It is where I’ve thought of the comeback line to the school bully and where I’ve pretended to be…

Traditionally, Bengaluru’s lakes stay dry for a couple of months, and fill up during the monsoons. This made it easier for potters, brick makers and farmers to collect silt from lakes. But due to climate change, rapid urbanisation and unplanned development, more lakes have been drying up for longer periods of time. An article by Times of India states that “According to BBMP, about 50% of the lakes have water less than half of their holding capacity. Some of them have gone dry and in others, the water level is fast depleting”. Sowl Kere, Kannamangala lake, Arakere, Sarakki, and Yelahanka…