City: Bengaluru

The #MahadevapuraDemands protest against elected representatives last Friday seems to have had some positive impact. But residents of the constituency are not yet ready to celebrate. The protestors, who highlighted the lack of basic infrastructure and facilities, had demanded the resignation of all their elected representatives - eight corporators, Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali and Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan. While none of the corporators responded to the protest, Limbavali and Mohan claimed that the new state government had already released funds for the constituency. Top BBMP and state government officials visited the constituency and made promises to residents, and…

Like many metropolitan cities in India, Bengaluru is facing a dire water crisis. There is an imminent need to manage the city's water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner. With population projection of 13.6 million in 2020, Bengaluru is experiencing high growth rates and predatory geographical expansion that subsumes surrounding peri-urban and rural areas. But necessary infrastructure is not established to meet the basic needs of housing, water, sanitation, and so on. Lacking access to formal housing, majority of residents in informal settlements are forced to rely on water from private vendors, neighbourhood sources, or illegal networks of accessing…

Bengaluru is rapidly losing its groundwater. The city’s water bodies have shrunk, to give way to buildings and infrastructure projects. Come summer and Bengalureans can be seen obsessively discussing water, or rather the lack of it. Though rains bring momentary relief, what about the long-term demand? Access to water is a human right - how can we provide every citizen with enough water for their needs, at a price they can afford? Little has been done to find local solutions. Rainwater harvesting had been implemented in just 1.2 lakh buildings as of May 2019, according to the BWSSB. Meanwhile, big…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo1ewshpDqc&feature=youtu.be

BBMP to set up C&D waste processing unit in Kannur BBMP announced it would sign an agreement with the private company Rock Crystal in a couple of days, to set up a construction and demolition (C&D) waste processing unit in Kannur. BBMP's announcement comes after the High Court ordered it to find solutions for solid waste management in two months. The court had threatened to stop new constructions in the city if it didn't. The agreement for the processing plant has been pending since May. The BBMP had written to the Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban, in May, when the agreement was…

Ever since BBMP publicised its proposal for ward delimitation in June, citizens and experts have raised many concerns. Now, the Whitefield Rising Trust has filed a formal objection with the state's Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, against the "unscientific" proposal. The Trust's letter, submitted on Tuesday, is also marked to Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department E V Ramana Reddy, and to BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar. BBMP's delimitation exercise will restructure ward boundaries so that Bengaluru's population is distributed equally across wards, at 42,645 per ward. This population data is based on the 2011 Census.…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVDpWOLhZzs

Residents and citizen groups of Mahadevapura assembly constituency will stage a protest on Friday 9.30 am, at the Marathahalli Bridge bus stop. The #MahdevapuraDemands protest is called against elected representatives of the constituency for failing to deliver on the promises they had made on restoring civic amenities and making the area liveable. Resignation of elected representatives is one of the main demands of the protestors. The representatives here are Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali, Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, BBMP corporators A C Hari Prasad (Hoodi), B N Nithish Purushotham (Garudachar Palya), S Muniswamy (Kadugodi), S Uday Kumar (Hagadur), Shwetha…

Last month, BBMP started deploying SWM (Solid Waste Management) Marshals to check littering, garbage dumping etc and penalise offenders under the new SWM Bye-laws. The Marshals booked 1129 cases in September, issuing steep penalties under the new bye-laws. This, along with 774 cases booked for the plastic ban, earned BBMP over Rs 14 lakh in fines that month. Now, BBMP is planning to provide handheld devices to the Marshals, to enable them to issue digitally-printed challans to offenders on the spot. Speaking to Citizen Matters, D Randeep, Special Commissioner (SWM) at BBMP, said that predefined fines for each offence would be…

You’ve probably heard about BMTC’s 'bus priority lane' pilot project in ORR (Outer Ring Road) by now. Officials are working full-time to set up infrastructure for the project, and are conducting test runs. Speaking to Citizen Matters, KR Puram Traffic Police Inspector Lokesha says they have been asked to deploy police personnel to ensure only buses ply in the priority lanes. "BMTC will gives us details after the pilot runs are completed. We will then deploy personnel depending on the number and frequency of buses," he says. Here are some quick details about this pilot : Starting November 1st, the…