City: Bengaluru

As the rejuvenation of Bellandur and Varthur lakes is underway, the NGO Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) has written an open letter to the state government, requesting course correction. The expert committee on lake rejuvenation had recommended that both the lakes be desilted, but BET's letter points out that it'd take 53 years to remove the toxic silt-cum-slush in Bellandur lakebed, and 20 years for Varthur lakebed! This is because toxic waste has flown into the two lakes, unimpeded, for the last 50 years. BET's calculations are based on a recent study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). More importantly, the…

It seems like Bengaluru is sitting on a powder keg. Recently the state Transport Department revealed that a staggering 50,000 vehicles were registered every month in the city, on average, in 2019. The public transport (PT) system here - Metro and buses - is hampered by the lack of seamless connectivity. This in turn forces commuters to use private cars, two-wheelers and private buses, along with intermediate public transport (IPT) like autos and cabs. The increasing number of private vehicles have led to traffic congestion, increased travel time and air pollution. Despite introducing Metro and procuring more buses, Indian cities…

In the summer of 2019, we thought of renting a house within walking distance of our son's new school. Around our home, Sarjapur road traffic was getting worse and he was getting stuck in traffic a lot. The new school was right next to a large, upscale apartment complex in the IT neighbourhood in Bellandur. Hence we considered moving there; maybe we could walk our son to school. In the first few days of our search, we found a flat we liked there, surprisingly, within our budget. The owner said we could move in within a month, as soon as…

Citizens, industry bodies slam BESCOM’s tariff hike proposal Citizens and industry representatives slammed BESCOM’s (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) proposal to increase electricity tariff by Rs 1.96 a unit in the coming financial year. At a public hearing held at the KERC (Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission) on Friday, the advocacy group B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee) said the Commission should ask BESCOM to "submit realistic projections” and streamline power procurement at low costs, instead of passing on the increase in purchase cost to consumers. As per B.PAC's analysis, BESCOM has not shown any improvement in key metrics such as power purchase…

For someone who lives in Bengaluru, chances are that there is a public library not more than a 20-minute ride away. Out of 80 public libraries in Bengaluru, 79 fall within a 20-km radius from the State Central Library located in Cubbon Park. Interactive map of libraries in the city  The Department of Public Libraries website lists 458 government-run libraries in Bengaluru. These include Gram Panchayat libraries, a Travel library, Traffic and Sewage Libraries. About 200 of these are reported to be public libraries. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), contextualising the role of libraries in the…

Starting today, freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, aged 101 years, is to lead a satyagraha at the Town Hall from 11 am to 5 pm, for five days. The protest is against the central government's position on the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), along with other issues such as economic slowdown and price rise. Kavitha Reddy, one of the organisers, says Doreswamy had submitted the application to the police seeking permission for the protest, weeks ago. "We got a call from the local police station yesterday, and they collected all details of the protest." She says that the police didn't mention…

It has been almost five months since ward marshals were appointed in the city to prevent public littering, but the piling up of garbage in places other than the designated ones raises questions about how effective the move has been. On its part, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) holds that violations have come down after marshals started patrolling the wards. The BBMP managed to convince the state government to appoint 232 marshals, to prevent random littering of streets, lakes, Indira canteens, landfills and other public spaces, at a cost of Rs 8.51 crore. Ward marshals were deployed from September,…

Translated by Ankitha Kamath and Katyayini ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ರಸ್ತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿನ ವಾಹನ ದಟ್ಟನೆ ಸಡಲಿಸಲು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಉಪಾಯಗಳು ಕೇಳಿ ಬಂದಿವೆ. #ಸೈಕಲ್-ಟು-ವರ್ಕ್ ಫ್ರೈಡೇ ಆಂದೋಲನ ಈ ಸಾಲಿಗೆ ಹೊಸ ಸೇರ್ಪಡೆ. ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಬಸ್ಸ್ ಪ್ರಯೋರಿಟಿ ಲೇನ್ Bus Priority Lane (BPL) ಯೋಜನೆಯು ವಿನೂತನ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವಾಗಿದೆ.  ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಾರಿಗೆಯನ್ನು ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಜನಪ್ರಿಯಗೊಳಿಸಿ, ಈ ಮೂಲಕ ಖಾಸಗಿ ವಾಹನಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ  ತಗ್ಗಿಸಲು ಉತ್ತೇಜನ ನೀಡಿ ಸಕಾರಾತ್ಮಕ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ತರುವುದು ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಚಿಂತನೆಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ಯೋಜನೆಯ ಬಹುಮುಖ್ಯ ಉದ್ದೇಶ ಶಿಸ್ತಾದ ಸಂಚಾರ, ಮತ್ತು ಸಮಯ ಪಾಲನೆ.  ಬಸ್ಸುಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ನಿಗದಿತ ಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ಅಡೆ-ತಡೆಗಳಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಸಂಚರಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕರಿಗೆ ಸಮಯವು ಉಳಿತಾಯ, ವಾಹನ ಚಾಲನೆಯ ತಲೆ ಬಿಸಿ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ.  ಆದರೆ  ಈ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯ ಪ್ರಯಾಣದ ಬೆಲೆ ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯನ ಕಿಸೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಿತವಾಗಿರಲೂಬೇಕು.  BMTC ಬಸ್ ಶುಲ್ಕವು ದೇಶದಲ್ಲೇ ಅತಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು ದೇಶದ ಇತರೆ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ನಗರಗಳ…

For Ramu B P, who has been driving a BMTC bus between Central Silk Board and KR Puram for many years, the Bus Priority Lane – in effect from November 1, 2019 – came as a relief.  “Earlier, it used to take about 75 minutes. In the last three months, it has come down to 45-50 minutes,” he says. He also believes things can be improved further. “If the BPL is fully implemented, then it would help us in reducing more time.”  For Sanjappa, another driver on the same route, the BPL has provided mental relief. “We used to get…