City: Bengaluru

Growing up in Bengaluru is no guarantee that you know the city. Though I have spent all my life here, there are parts of it which are still unfamiliar, and once in a while, I get to experience a facet of the city that I had not seen before. The #ModaluTrainBeku Rail Yatra, organised by Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) on August 31st 2018, allowed me a glimpse into Bengaluru’s local train network. The Yatra, from Yeshwanthpur station to Heelalige station, was organised as part of ongoing campaigns to introduce commuter trains for local commutes. On August 31st, I joined the…

Transport is the only development sector that worsens as incomes rise. While sanitation, health, education and employment tend to improve through economic development, traffic congestion tends to worsen as pro-growth forces tend to demand and influence policies. Transport is not a technical problem, It is not an infrastructure problem, It is not even a financial problem, Most often, it is a political problem. The proponents for elevated freeways planned to be built cutting across the city claim many benefits, but the theory behind these has gaping loopholes. Let me analyse them one by one, objectively. City has just 1,500 km…

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been serving illegal notices to apartment residents, threatening to disconnect electricity and water, with the malafide intent of extortion by corrupt officials, says a press note from Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF). Apartment associations are reportedly refusing to bribe the officials who want to “settle” matters, and have joined hands under the aegis of Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF) to fight against these unlawful and malafide practices, informs the notice. The KSPCB notices cite conditions which are completely against the rules laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Environment…

Citizens demand immediate development of suburban railway network Civic collective Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) first initiated the #ChukkuBukkuBeku campaign, demanding better suburban train connectivity, in 2016. A demonstrative rail yatra was held on August 31st as part of the revived campaign, now called #ModaluTrainBeku.  The yatra was aimed at highlighting the time saved in commute during peak hours for regular commuters from IT firms around the traffic-choked Outer Ring Road. Sloganeering techies, RWAs, first-time riders and activists embarked on a journey from Yeshwanthpur railway station to Heelalige station on the local train numbered 76523 between 2:55 pm and 4:04 pm. The train…

The fourth edition of the Bangalore Business Literature Festival is back. It’s on 8 th September 2018 at WeWork Galaxy, Residency Road, Bengaluru, says a press note. The theme this year is ‘Future of Work & India’. 18 Top speakers will look beyond the impact of automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning on factors that will shape careers, business relevance, green jobs, entrepreneurship, and startups in India. It will also delve into how people and governments respond to technology-led massive disruptions to careers and societies. Also, in this state of uncertainty, it will focus on how and what professionals, entrepreneurs…

Through this article, I would like to counter a previous article by Nitin Seshadri, a resident of Koramangala, that recommends elevated roads as a solution to our traffic jams. Here are my points: 1.The debate is based on unreliable data. We do not have the accurate road capacity data, and the OD matrix. Apparently Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has carried out some transportation forecasting, but it was never shared in public. So the entire debate is based on questionable data. Before any elevated roads are proposed, the relevant data must be shared in public domain. 2.The elevated roads are neither…

Two years ago when the Centre for Smart Cities, the same think-tank that came up with the idea of elevated corridors, formulated a proposal to concretise 29 Bengaluru roads, it was with the vision to build sustainable road infrastructure. Like many ambitious government plans, the execution of the project by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) continues to be stalled by obstacles not taken into consideration during planning. The work has been held up in the absence of clearances from traffic police and due to the onset of monsoon as reported by the media extensively. However,  tender documents related to the project clearly show…

It’s the end of a long week. My wife and I decide to relax by eating out, and visit a famed joint in South Bengaluru. We are in for a major disappointment as soon as we land at the joint. There is a long serpentine queue and the waiters are ushering in hungry customers into the waiting room after making them wait for a period of one hour. The crowd at the joint is swelling by the minute and the support staff is really irascible now. This is the scene at most of the old joints in Bengaluru that are…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship As any new comer into the job market will tell you, it is a cut throat world of competition where there are more number of aspirants than there are jobs. One needs to stand out with skills that impress. And it is no different for blue and grey collared jobs than it is a for a highly paid CEO of a company. The informal sector, which houses most of these jobs, is the largest in our country and is actually the dominant sector of employment, clamouring for more applicants every…

KSNDMC warns of possible flooding in September Bengalureans felt the ripple effect of floods in Kodagu District (where a rainfall of 768mm left villages ravaged) on August 24, when the city received 43 mm of rainfall till 9 pm. Areas such as Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, Hebbal, Sadashivanagar, Kengeri, Adugodi and Mysore road received very heavy rainfall. Once the rain started, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) issued warnings by dispatching messages through their mobile application to certain key areas. The centre has forecast heavy rain in the immediate future, and has intimated the same to BBMP. Scientists warn that 80 mm…