City: Bengaluru

Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) is facing a personnel crunch. The city only has 4,638 traffic police personnel for a vehicle population of over 80 lakhs. As per a 2015 report of the Home Ministry's Bureau of Police Research and Development, there should be one traffic police personnel for every 700 vehicles. By that yardstick, Bengaluru has a traffic cop shortage of almost 54 percent. In addition to the challenges in managing traffic, this also means difficult working conditions for the constables who man our roads. Imagine standing eight hours in Bengaluru traffic, not following a regular timetable of shifts, with…

Activists protest 'film city' plan at Hesaraghatta As the BJP government is reviving the proposal to set up a film city, apparently at Hesaraghatta, environmental activists are getting ready for a fight. One section of activists has written to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, asking him to drop the 345-acre grassland as a possible location for a film city as it would create a biosecurity threat to animal farms nearby. Environmentalists explained that the Hesaraghatta lakebed area, and grasslands in the nearby catchment, are an important reservoir of biodiversity. It could act as a large carbon sink, a powerful tool to…

The draft Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) 2019 is essential for providing a long-term vision for Bengaluru’s transport and mobility. But the plan gives little importance to the environment; it does not consider mitigation factors against the city’s depleting green cover, or steps to prevent the heat island effect. On the contrary, a project such as the elevated corridors -- which is included in the document -- would only further environmental degradation. Walking and other non-motorised modes of transport are not emphasised enough in the CMP as well. Besides, the process by which CMP was developed raises a fundamental question about…

Today’s nationwide strike comes in the midst of a stream of ongoing protests in the city and has found many convergences. In particular, the workers’ strike has received widespread support from student and civil society organisations protesting against the CAA-NRC and the violence in JNU, AMU and Jamia Islamia.“Around 20 lakh workers in different sectors are expected to be on strike in Bengaluru,” said K N Umesh, Karnataka State Secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). Workers at major industrial clusters in the city, like Anekal, Kanakapura Road, Bannerghatta Road, Mysore Road (Garment Factories), Ramanagaram District, Magadi Road, Tumkur…

In a recent article, we looked at the severe shortage of traffic police personnel in Bengaluru, and how the administration is trying to bridge this gap. In this article, S T Ramesh, former DG&IGP of Karnataka, weighs in on the issue. There are three 'E' s that have to be followed to ensure good traffic management. They are Engineering, Enforcement and Education.  The police is hardly consulted in matters of road engineering though it affects smooth flow of traffic in a big way. The biggest challenge in traffic management in Bengaluru is the absence of parking spaces; because of this,…

Translated by Madhusudhan Rao and Pavan ಅಕ್ಟೋಬರ್ 4 ರಂದು, 33 ವರ್ಷ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಐಟಿ ಉದ್ಯೋಗಿ ವ್ಯಾಸ್ ರವರ (ಹೆಸರು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿದೆ) ಸ್ಕೂಟರ್ ಗುಂಡಿಯೊಳಕ್ಕೆ ಬಿದ್ದು, ಮೊಣಕಾಲು  ಮುರಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. ನಂತರ ನಡೆದ ಶಸ್ತ್ರ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆ, ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆ ಖರ್ಚು, ಫಿಸಿಯೋಥೆರಪಿ, ಔಷಧಿ ವೆಚ್ಚ, ಗಾಡಿ ರಿಪೇರಿ ಖರ್ಚು ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ರೂ.4,34,323 ಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು. ಆತ ಈಗಲೂ ಹಾಸಿಗೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲ. ವ್ಯಾಸ್ ಪರಿಹಾರದ ಭರವಸೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದಾದಮೇಲೊಂದು ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಇಲಾಖೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ. ಆದ್ರೆ ಜವಾಬು ಮಾತ್ರ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ. ಕಾರಣ? ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಲ್ಲಿ  ರಸ್ತೆಗುಂಡಿ ಸಂತ್ರಸ್ತರಿದ್ದರೂ, ಬಿ.ಬಿ.ಎಂ.ಪಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಒದಗಿಸುವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಿತ ಕಾರ್ಯಸೂಚಿ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸದೆ ಇಲ್ಲದಿರುವುದು ರಸ್ತೆಗುಂಡಿ ಅಪಘಾತ ಸಂತ್ರಸ್ತರಿಗೆ ತಲೆನೋವಾಗಿ ಪರಿಣಮಿಸಿದೆ.   ಇಲ್ಲಿವರೆಗೂ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಕೇವಲ ಮಹಾಪೌರರ ‘ವಿವೇಚನೆ'ಯ ಮೇರೆಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸೀಮಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ಎಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಸಂತ್ರಸ್ತರಿಗೆ ಈಗಿನವರೆಗಿನ ಮಹಾಪೌರರು ಪರಿಹಾರ ಒದಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಅನ್ನುವುದರ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಕೂಡ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಈ ವರ್ಷ ಜೂಲೈ ನಲ್ಲಿ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ…

The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has a current strength of 4,638 personnel. Its sanctioned strength is 5,306 personnel, as per data obtained from the Traffic Management Centre. On the face of it, this indicates a shortfall in recruitment, of 12.59 per cent. Most of these -- 598 vacancies out of the 668 -- are for the post of police constables, the men on the street.  The shortfall may not seem like much.  Almost every police department in the country has some vacancies due to multiple reasons, says Bengaluru’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda. “It is not…

Translated by Purushothama Nag and Umesh Babu Pillegowda ಪ್ರಮುಖ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ, ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಹೆದ್ದಾರಿ (ಪೀಣ್ಯ ರಸ್ತೆ) ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಉಪನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಹತ್ತಿರವಿವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ವಿಧಾನಗಳು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಸಂಯೋಜಿತವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಬಳಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ತೊಂದರೆಗಳು ಉಂಟಾಗುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಹಳೆಯ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೊಗೆ 2.3 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ನಕ್ಷೆಯು ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದ ಪ್ಲಾಟ್‌ಫಾರ್ಮ್ 1 ಇರುವ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಹಳೆ ಪ್ರವೇಶದ್ವಾರದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದವರೆಗಿನ ಅಂತರವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಅಂತರ ಕ್ರಮಿಸುವ ವಿಸ್ತರಣೆಯು ಸುಮಾರು 2.3 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಉದ್ದ ಆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ಲಾಟ್‌ಫಾರ್ಮ್ 8 ಇರುವ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರವೇಶದ್ವಾರದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಇರುವ ಅಂತರವು ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಎರಡರ ನಡುವೆ ಮೀಸಲಾದ ಮಾರ್ಗದ ಕೊರತೆಯಿಂದಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರಿಗೆ, ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ಸರಕು ಸಾಮಾನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವವರಿಗೆ ಮೆಟ್ರೊದಿಂದ ರೈಲ್ವೆಗೆ ಹಾಗೂ ರೈಲ್ವೆಯಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೊಗೆ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ರೈಲ್ವೆ  ಬಳಕೆದಾರರು ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ಇತರ ಸಾವಿರಾರು…

Mittiganahalli landfill to be delayed The Urban Development Department (UDD) turned down a bidder chosen by the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) for setting up a scientific landfill at Mittiganahalli near Hennur, and asked BBMP to initiate a fresh tender process. BBMP had hoped to dump waste in the Mittiganahalli landfill since the landfills at Bagalur and Bellahalli quarries had already been overflowing. But UDD rejected the bidder on grounds that he was not technically qualified, having had prior experience only as a sub-contractor and not as primary contractor. Garbage management in the city is likely to be hit since…

Last month, the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) released a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Bengaluru. You have till January 5th to send in your suggestions and objections to the plan. Set in three phases, CMP is expected to be implemented between 2020 and 2035. What are the key suggestions and projects in the CMP? It's heartening that pedestrian infrastructure - which had been ignored in previous mobility plans - makes an appearance in this one. But what's most striking is that the elevated corridor project, which the government had shelved after major citizen protests, makes a sudden comeback…