City: Bengaluru

In the concluding part of this two-part series, we look at what prevented builders and the government from rushing to the aid of construction labourers during the lockdown. In Part 1 'Why Bhuvilal Mahato stayed back in Bengaluru' we saw how migrant workers who were looked after by their employers, did not feel the need to leave the city. For migrant workers in Bengaluru, the promise of deliverance after a traumatic locked down lasted briefly. No sooner did Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announce shramik special trains to ferry them back to their States, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’…

Special train passengers protest quarantine There was chaos as about 140 passengers who arrived in the first special train from New Delhi refused to check themselves into quarantine facilities in hotels. Many insisted that they should be allowed to self-quarantine at home, but officials refused. After a few hours, all passengers barring 19 agreed to the terms. The remaining 19 were sent back in the Bengaluru-Delhi train that left on Thursday. In all, 507 passengers opted for institutional quarantine of whom 203 availed free government facilities. The rest are in hotels identified by the BBMP, for which the passengers agreed…

https://soundcloud.com/citizenmatters/ep1-lessons-from-bengaluru-cm If you live in Bengaluru, you just cannot avoid the city's waste management problem. Footpaths that are stinking and littered with waste are a common sight. This first episode of 'Lessons from Bengaluru' podcast series explores Bengaluru's waste management problem, and what citizens are doing to address it. Sandhya Narayanan of the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) describes how the city's rapid growth from the early 2000s worsened the waste management problem. SWMRT has played a key role in identifying solutions to the issue and holding civic authorities accountable. Lalitha Mondreti, also part of SWMRT, explains the 2…

Migrant workers from Bihar wait at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, only to be turned back by the BBMP after three days, in early May. Pic Credit: Senthil S Although construction activity in Bengaluru got a go-ahead, Ramachandra returned to his family in Bihar during that brief window when the government ran trains for migrant workers. He had started work at a construction site six months ago. His new home was in a labour camp in Ulsoor, with 400 other workers. Though he had worked through March, he was not paid. The contractor said the builder had not paid him.…

https://soundcloud.com/citizenmatters/trailer-lessons-from-bengaluru-cm 'Lessons from Bengaluru' is a special, limited-series podcast from Citizen Matters, exploring four different issues that Bengaluru faces and what citizens have been doing about those. The city, in the last few decades, has seen a new phenomenon in urban governance. Its rapid development has rendered existing modes of governance ineffective, and numerous citizen groups have emerged, aiming to bridge this gap. Bengaluru is a unique city where such citizen groups are more active and have engaged with matters ranging from misallocation of funds to environmental causes. This, in turn, has engaged a larger number of people in policy…

In this series, individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In the seventh part of the series, a resident of Jakkur describes how her gated community supported those in need. On March 22, the day our Prime Minister called for Janta Curfew, we sensed the challenge ahead was not going to end anytime soon. The Janta Curfew gave a sneak peek into the potential problems during the long haul. It also made me ask - what can each individual do to minimise these problems?   Around that time, my husband…

Construction of a recharge well in progress. Pic: Biome In 2018, Raghuram C G, a software program manager at Adobe, got a recharge well dug in his plot in Vidyaranyapura. “Rainwater falling in the plot gets channelised into the recharge well. The 15-ft well is now filled up to 10-11 ft, and has around 2000 litres of water. I’ve been building a house in the plot, and water from the well is used for all construction needs.” Raghuram built the well after being inspired by ‘A Million Wells for Bengaluru’ movement. The design firm Biome Environmental Solutions, along with the…

Train services for migrants restarted, KSRTC services stopped On Thursday, state government gave directions to restart train services, following criticism of its earlier decision to cancel trains. On Tuesday, after a meeting with the representatives of the CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India) Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that the COVID situation was in control and hence economic activities had to be resumed. Trains were stopped to prevent migrant labourers from travelling back. With this, hundreds of migrant labourers from North Indian states began to walk towards their hometowns. Following public outrage against this, government then…

Karnataka sold over Rs. 45 Crore worth of alcohol on the first day of the re-opening of standalone liquor shops on May 4. The figure surprised many and photographs of people waiting in long queues did the rounds on social media. However, the shock and awe proved to be short-lived, as the state made Rs. 197 Crore in sales, marking a 337% spike from the first day. Bengaluru too experienced a similar rush. Just one store in the city, Tonique, reportedly made over Rs. 4 Crore - or close to 10% of the state's total in sales just on the…

Elected representatives have long been clamouring that the existing Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act of 1976 is unsuited for a huge metropolis like Bengaluru. Hence the state government has drafted an exclusive BBMP Bill. The Bill was placed before the Legislative Assembly  on March 24, without any pre-legislative disclosure in public domain which violated Section 4(1)(c) and (d) of the Right to Information Act. As per the Opposition's demand, the Bill was then sent to a Joint Select Committee that comprises members from various parties. Hopefully, the Committee will conduct consultations. Read the full text of the BBMP Bill hereDownload…