City: Bengaluru

Accessible through one of the four apartments that surrounds it, Lower Ambalipura lake is a thing of beauty. A short stroll around the lake shows what it has to offer - herbs, fruit-bearing trees, a grassy wetland and the sight of birds inhabiting the island. It is quiet, save for the calls of the birds, and the wind rustling through the leaves of plants that line the walkway. Lower Ambalipura lake is a seven-acre lake in Haralur, surrounded by four apartments- Mantri Flora, Trinity Acres and Woods, SJR Redwood and SJR Park Vista. It is maintained by MAPSAS (Mahadevpura Parisara…

Various citizen collectives and individuals gathered at Maurya Circle on Saturday, demanding cancellation of tenders called for the elevated corridor project. When Citizens Live spoke to the protesters, a range of opinions emerged. Some were clear that the project should be scrapped, while some others said that due process including public consultations should be followed first. However, the general consensus was that public transport should be prioritised over mega projects like the elevated corridor that only encourage car ownership further. https://youtu.be/mQWAOY-jf-g

On Saturday, March 16th, Bengaluru saw a gathering of thousands of people who came together to demand for cancellation of the controversial elevated corridor and to better public transport, footpaths and safe cycling and a more balanced and sustainable development of Bangalore and rest of Karnataka as well. This mass action was organized by a large coalition of citizen groups’ in response to the awarding of environmental clearance for the controversial elevated corridors project and floating of tender for Phase 1 of Elevated Corridors. Since the govt. announced its intention of taking up 100 km elevated corridors in the city,…

HC asks govt to halt elevated corridor project Karnataka High Court has asked the state government to halt work on the elevated corridor project until it decides on a case related to the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). MPC, the statutory body responsible for city planning and approving major projects like the elevated corridor, has been almost dysfunctional. A few citizen activists from the Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen’s Action Forum had filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) after government hurriedly called tenders for the elevated corridor project, without public consultations. A bench headed by the Acting Chief Justice Narayana Swamy…

Citizen Action Forum explains their position on the Elevated Corridor controversy -- in the light of the recent court order in their writ petition. The petition is related to the functioning of the Metropolitan Planning Committee, the constitutionally mandated body responsible for city planning.  In our PIL regarding Metropolitan Planning Committee Writ 48720/2014 we have received a recorded mention asking the government “not to precipitate matters” till the Writ is disposed of. This is in specific regard to our Interlocutory Application informing the Court that mega projects like the Elevated Corridors are being planned and tenders floated in the pendency…

The last few weeks, Bengaluru's netizens have been having intense discussion about the proposed Elevated Corridors (EC). Having gone through all the available material, I have decided to join the protest group. I took the decision based on the following reasons: The organisers have clearly enunciated the demand: to cancel the tender, and then go for public consultation. The demand does NOT reject the EC, as some people are claiming. The organisers have given first-cut reasons to justify this demand. This is perfectly legal, and in good democratic spirit. I cannot see any ulterior motive (so far). The mega-buck project has…

The Government of Karnataka proposes a long network of elevated traffic corridors, totalling close to 90 kilometres in length, to alleviate congestion in Bengaluru, and recently floated a tender for the first phase of the project. This tender, and subsequent ones to follow, are on the basis of a detailed feasibility report commissioned by Karnataka Road Development Corporation and prepared by a trio of private consultants engaged for the purpose. The report only mentions the construction cost of the project, which is over Rs. 19,000 crores. There have been press reports that claim once land acquisition and other costs are…

Political blames and balms have kept the pot boiling for the past five years. With parties crossing boundaries, no dull moments, though lack of dignity was often seen. Now we have the real elections to the Lok Sabha. Should we be voting? A moot question. Don't even ask. Speak through your ballot. If you have not registered as a voter yet, do so immediately, as March 16th is the last date for registration. “The last date for voter registration would be 10 days before the last date of candidate nomination. In Bangalore, the last date for candidate nomination is March…

Did you know that apartments are at higher risk of fire hazard than factories producing combustible materials like firecrackers? Twenty nine percent higher risk, to be precise. And most of us live in apartment complexes. The fire tragedy at Carlton Towers nine years ago, brought to the forefront the perils of fire in high rise buildings dotting the Bengaluru skyline. To mark the ninth anniversary, Beyond Carlton, a group of citizens working towards fire safety in Bangalore, has partnered with the Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) to do a fire risk assessment of registered apartments in the city absolutely free. Cheryl…

Anyone who lives in Bengaluru is keenly aware of the high levels of traffic congestion here. People are forced to spend hours stuck in traffic jams. A 2017 study by the cab aggregator Ola had found that Bengaluru had the slowest-moving traffic in India, with average speed on some roads, like the Outer Ring Road (ORR), dropping to a measly 4.4 km/h, slightly lower than the average walking speed! One of the main constraints on road capacity is junctions where there are conflicting turning movements. For example, if you wish to turn right and the vehicles travelling in the opposite…