City: Bengaluru

As many as 20 members were chosen from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC). However, newly elected Mayor Shanthakumari does not exist in the list. Former mayor B S Satyanarayana too did not make it to the premier list.Metropolitan Planning Committee is the planning body for every metropolitan area mandated by the constitution, which should have hyper-local level peoples’ representatives as its members, in addition to subject experts and executives from the government. This will plan the infrastructure requirements and land use for the city. After a High Court directive, Bangalore is now in the…

One has to be thankful that a beginning has been made to create Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee. But why have the MPC Rules been framed to apply only to Bangalore, while Mysore and Hubli—Dharwad are also about to cross the 10 lakh population criterion, or have already crossed it? Are the rules going to be framed for each city separately? The way the rules have been framed for the MPC’s  functioning, it will serve only two functions: 1) to comply with the High Court order to meet the letter of the law, but not its spirit; 2) to continue to…

Anyone who has lived in Bangalore for some time will fondly remember the pleasant climate, flowers blooming and the city roads covered with flowers of all hues and colours. Alas, it is no more like this today, and the city is competing with Kolkata and Chennai in summer temperatures, and vast stretches of our water-starved city are left to the mercy of water tankers. Rapid urbanisation, unplanned development and a free run to land mafia has led to massive encroachment of lake land, raja-kaluves and large-scale exploitation of underground water. Today, 85-90% of lakes have turned dry and are sitting…

Worshipful Mayor Smt Shantakumari, Kindly accept my heartfelt congrats as well as the ‘Best Wishes’ on entering your new office as the Mayor of Bangalore, from this hearing-challenged senior citizen (75+), a consumer/social activist !! I learnt from a website that dedicates itself for the welfare of the citizens of our city, that you're presently on a mission, visiting nook and corner, to study the civic problems and to improve the state of affairs, amenities, etc, so that we could lead a peaceful life, during your regime. Kindly excuse my liberties to come out with the following suggestions: After worshipping…

Preschools are much-needed in today's situation, but the sector is unregulated, so does not have any norms. File pic. There has been a preschool boom in Bangalore. Each layout, especially the residential ones, has at least a dozen preschools. The reasons seem quite obvious. What was once a play home for toddlers has now evolved as a lucrative business. Playschools have upgraded to preschools, which is undoubtedly a welcoming development for parents. What is unfortunate is the way this progress has blatantly turned into a money-making opportunity. A few years earlier, preschool education was a choice. Today, preschools have become…

  Pashmina Waterfront as seen on a Google map. Investing in real estate in Bangalore is a dream of any investor. However, is the growth of this sector in tune with the infrastructure that the city can handle? A close look by Citizen Matters at 26 constructions coming up in Whitefield - KR Puram area in East Bengaluru shows some alarming observations. When the 8,000 flats are fully occupied, new residents will need 10,662.87 KL of water a day (equivalent of 1780 water tankers of 6000 Litres). More than 19,697 cars will add to Whitefield traffic. Ministry of Environment and…

A view of the lake in the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. Pic: Christopher Martin Lopaze Here are a few things listed by a Bangalorean for a first-time visitor to namma Bengaluru. Bangalore is the capital city of Karnataka state in South India. Kannada is the local language spoken in the city though in the current times, most are well-versed with English and Hindi as well. There are a significant number of people who can speak Tamil, Telugu and other Indian languages, even though it may not be their native language. Similarly, there are migrants to this city who are from various…

In 1997, while I was enjoying myself grappling with the policy challenges of the power sector, I was abruptly told that I must hand over my charge to an appointed successor – I was the Additional Secretary in the Energy Department, Karnataka – and take command of a tottering public sector undertaking, the Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation, as its Chairperson and Managing Director. I was aghast; but there was no going against the appointment. The Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation, a once proud institution that owed its prominence to the fact that it was a near monopoly provider of fertilizer retailing…

    Bengaluru this week  September 11th 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!  City news that matters   All of us know of the terrible floods in Jammu and Kashmir and resultant havoc. More than 640 people from Karnataka had been stranded, of whom around 200 have been rescued. The State Disaster Management Cell has opened the helpline 1070. Here is the list of persons from Bangalore in the area, with their current status (missing/rescued). Meanwhile, many organisations are busy collecting the materials needed to help the stranded citizens in Kashmir.…

A press note from the Information Department, Bengaluru, issued by Deputy Director to Government, Disaster Management, said that around 640 tourists from the state have been stranded in Jammu-Kashmir floods, out of which around 200 people have been saved. IAS officers Ramandeep, Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad and Mohankumar from Karnataka Bhavan, New Delhi, have been sent to Srinagar in order to coordinate the rescue of people. As many as 30 people have been taken to Srinagar airport. Around 70 people have been sent to Delhi via flights. Around 200 people from Karnataka are at the Rajbhavan helipad waiting to be air-lifted.…