City: Bengaluru

Saturday December 4th 1971. Morning classes had just begun. Schools had “morning class” on Saturdays – an awkward arrangement with classes starting at 7:30 or some such hour and ending around noon. The previous night, Friday December 3rd 1971, the nightly All India Radio (AIR) newscast had announced the outbreak of war between India and Pakistan. I missed that. Saturday morning, the newspapers carried tall big headlines announcing the events, with details. I merely glanced at these. The second period was Social Studies class by Sri B Narasanna (BN, as he was called at school). We pulled out our extremely…

One of the first things which greets the traveller while passing through Museum Road in Bengaluru is the dug up pavements. The digging has now been extended to the mouth of Church Street, where it meets St. Marks Road. The delay in finishing the work has been apparently on account of delay in payments to the contractors by BBMP. The above situation makes me wonder if there can be a market-based solution to avoid such delays. The stretches of roads where the pavement stretches are being widened represent the central part of the city which witnesses record number of footfalls—tourists,…

A key challenge to inclusion of disabled people into the mainstream is the basic lack of access. Accessibility is not limited to physical spaces alone, but also includes transport infrastructure, information and technology, aids and appliances etc. Access is therefore an issue that cuts across disabilities, sectors, abilities and age groups and forms the very basis of empowerment of disabled people. 'Universal Design', i.e. a design that is usable by all therefore becomes intrinsic to any kind of access. It was to recognise innovative work that improved accessibility and promoted the principles of Universal Design that NCPEDP with the support…

TenderSURE work in progress on St Marks Road. Pic: Josephine Joseph The criticism against Tendersure projects is misplaced. All these days we were shouting from house top that we should have wide, safe and seamless footpaths and when it is provided the same groups are crying hoarse that the width of roads have shrunk. Obviously it will shrink. It is common sense when you are not or cannot widen the roads. It is not about the design which does seem to be faulty considering what happened on St Mark's Road after the recent deluge. There are other far more serious issues…

In 2008, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) rapped the then-Bengaluru Municipal Corporation, BMP, and pointed out they had not put in efforts to ensure segregation of municipal solid wastes at source, which made processing of the waste difficult. The situation did not change even after six years—CAG repeated the observation in their 2014 report. In 2008 and again in 2014, the CAG report points out that the BBMP has no system in place for waste segregation or scientific processing at landfills, which has led to ecological and environmental burden. Biomedical waste is another area of mismanagement. The CAG points…

  Bengaluru this week May 14th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     Before we get into our stories for this week, we need your help! Oorvani Foundation is looking for a lawyer to work with us pro-bono on reviewing investigative reporting stories. This is critical assistance and we are unable to afford commercial rates. Work may amount to an hour per week, and we are flexible about this. If any of you are able to chip in, please send an email to edit@citizenmatters.in with a brief intro about yourself and we…

There are things about Bengaluru that are easy to agree on: The weather is wonderful, the food is fantastic, and the people are omnipresent. But for foreigners living the Garden City, the pleasantries of this south Indian city can come with a price. S2immigration, an organisation that helps visitors to India with resident permits, visa extension etc, estimates that there are 10,000 professional expats working in Bengaluru. Its booming IT sector, academic opportunities, and expanding economy has drawn people from around the world. According to expats, Bengaluru takes the cake for being the city with the most to offer. Danielle…

Namma Bengaluru Foundation met the BBMP Administrator, Vijay Bhaskar and handed over a memorandum requesting them to take cognisance of the following issues and initiate action on the same. Delay in the completion of Tender Sure project across 7 major roads in Bengaluru The delay in completion of the above-mentioned project is a major cause of traffic congestion on these roads and has caused grave inconvenience to the pedestrians. We urge you to expedite the completion of this project and ensure that the contractors are held accountable for the delay in the project. Urgent need to de-silt storm water drains…

Buildings being razed down at the demolition drive at Sarakki Lake. Pic: Rahul Ravi Demolition drives on lake beds is the burning issue in Bengaluru now. The drive that commenced with the demolition of structures in and around Sarakki lake bed in mid-April has continued with Bengaluru urban district administration carrying out yet another eviction drive at Banasawadi last week. While the district administration has been hailed for its bold move to clear the encroachments, it has also been criticised for penalising people who have been living peacefully in the city for decades. Eviction drives and rumours surrounding it have indeed…

SEZ project on Agara-Bellandur lake bed. Pic: Pavithra Ashok Kumar The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued a historic judgment on May 7th, 2015, on the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project by Mantri Tech Zone Pvt Ltd and another project by Core Mind Software and Services Ltd. Both the projects were being constructed on the catchment area of Agara and Bellandur lakes. The highlight of the verdict was the Tribunal slapping a penalty of Rs 117.35 crore and Rs 22.5 crore to Mantri and Core Mind respectively, for commencing the project before obtaining Environmental Clearance. The Tribunal has also formed an…