City: Bengaluru

Taking into consideration the rate at which Bangalore is expanding and the space constraints that came with the expansion, in 2012, the BDA announced that ‘vertical’ was the way to go. With this announcement, the BDA forayed into the construction of low cost housing, announcing that 6180 flats would be made available for purchase by the public. Private real estate sector and some people were sceptical about the quality of low cost housing by BDA. Citizen Matters wrote about this in detail. 3000 flats allotted Of the proposed flats, applications were invited for 3000 flats across 17 sites in March…

The BMTC has been the city’s lifeline for many years carrying about 40- 45% of its commuters. With a fleet of over 6000 buses, the corporation can claim to have a significant presence in comparison to other city bus providers. The BMTC is also a monopoly in the sense that private bus companies are not allowed to ferry passengers on a mass transit basis. Significantly, one of the strongest points of BMTC has been that it has largely been a profit-making body since its inception in the late 90s (when it was created out of the then BTS which was…

After a recent discussion on TV, I got the feeling that people hardly know what corruption is and generally share a feeling of despondency and lack of hope about reducing or eliminating it. However, corruption is a systemic failure like many others and can be and has been cured in many countries, and within countries, in many sectors. Over the last four years, anticorruption has been a significant part of my consultancy portfolio. Starting from my experience in ipaidabribe.com, a site that began to crowd-source corruption-related experiences of citizens, I have since worked in several countries and authored reports on…

Sweet Indrajao (Wrigtia tinctoria) is a small, deciduous tree with flowers that look like snow flakes. Native to India and Burma, Wrightia is named after a Scottish physician and botanist William Wright. The leaves of this tree yield a blue dye called Pala Indigo. The wood of this tree is used for making Channapatna toys. The wood is suitable for matchboxes, bobbins, engraving and printing-blocks, mathematical instruments and rulers. It is also suitable for stained wood inlay-work. Medicinal uses: A survey conducted showed that tribal people in Chhattisgarh district control diabetes with their own drugs prepared from plant sources proving…

From ‘Pete’ to ‘K R Market,' Bengaluru's oldest market built in 1920’s has seen many changes. However, presently not many citizens in Bangalore might have visited this area, as the traffic and garbage problem is terrible and repulsive. The new market with the unique architecture was built in 1990’s. If the BBMP's plan goes well, K R Market will see another big change, as a feasibility report for multilevel car parking and some re-organisation in K R market has been prepared and being discussed. New building in K R Market was built in 1997, but vast area remains underutilised. Pic…

Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board has issued an order instructing M/s Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd / M/s Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd to stop the construction of the Special Economic Zone, residential and commercial buildings coming up on 72 acres of land that lies between Bellandur and Agara lakes, in South Bengaluru. Post the Upa Lokayukta’s comments on Mantri SEZ in a meeting held on December 20, 2013, KIADB’s 327th Board Meeting discussed the matter and passed an order directing Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd to stop the construction with immediate effect. According to the minutes of the KIADB Board meeting, the…

The Lake division of Bangalore Development Authority has handed over the lakes under its supervision to respective zonal engineers of BDA. The north and south lake divisions have been closed down, and have been merged with the BDA's Engineering Department. A BDA official, who didn't want to be named, said that BDA's lake division had 123 lakes to look after, but only five engineers. These five had to manage the execution of restoration plans. They also had to oversee the protection of these lakes spread all over the city and take action against encroachers, which was practically impossible. Hence the…

It's time to let go of your favourite horn that you chose to fit your vehicle with. Wonder why? The Supreme Court of India, in its judgment dated December 10, 2013, on the petition SLP (Civil) 25237/2010, has banned the multi-tone horns in vehicles. The last date for removal of this is January 10, 2014. Bangalore Traffic Police, in accordance with the obeyance of law, has issued a notice regarding this. A pamphlet that is issued by the Police Inspector of Indiranagar Traffic Police station says that all kinds of air pressure horns, musical horns, reverse horns, hooters, trumpets and…

A large number of people, motorists as well as pedestrians, traditionally throng M G Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road, St.Marks Road and Church Street on the New Year’s Eve. Parking restrictions will be in place to regulate the movement of traffic of vehicles on M G Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, St.Marks Road, Rest House road and Residency road on the night intervening between 31/12/2013 and 01/01/2014. A press note from Bangalore Traffic Police has put in place the following regulations: 1.    No entry for vehicles except police vehicles and vehicles of essential services on duty, from any direction, from…

Recently, there was an article in Citizen Matters by Ganga Madappa pointing to the fact the BMTC fares are higher than the distance indicates. I have been having a problem with this for some time now and given this opportunity, would like the share some information. As I understand it, BMTC buses are considered to be 'Stage Carriages' and their fares are governed by notifications put out by the government under the act. The latest notification that I could find dated 03-11-2010 on Maximum Fares for Stage Carriages in the State of Karnataka can be seen here: http://rto.kar.nic.in/Maxi%20rate%20for%20SC.pdf The notification…