City: Bengaluru

Bengaluru kicked off the Cycle Day campaign with its first event, Feel Bengaluru Cycle Day today morning at Cubbon Park. With close to 1200 cyclists in attendance, the Mayor of our city opened the event by ceremonial inauguration of a new cycle stand at Cubbon Park. He then led all the cyclists off on a 1-km ceremonial kick off ride till the Central Library. After this, all the cyclists rode together on a 5-km rally around Cubbon Park touching several heritage spots along the way. It was a great sight as 1200 cyclists went around Cubbon Park, on Kasturba road,…

Problems in Bengaluru • There is no leadership of the city. Most of the important public services are in the hands of the State government, which is more concerned with its State-level priorities than with the city’s. Mayors serve short, uneventful terms. • There is hardly any planning. BDA does no more than zoning of areas for different uses, and even this is very poorly enforced. Other agencies plan-as-they-go, without any reference to a regional or city-level perspective. There is no commonality of jurisdiction among agencies, either. • The legal steps (outlined in the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, 1992) to…

When the clocks hit 10 on the Saturday, October 26, 2013, residents of Thubarahalli near Whitefield  in Bengaluru left their chores and stepped out in the hot sun. No slogans, no banners or hoardings. It was a sheer, peaceful Satyagraha - the Gandhian way of protesting, to draw the attention of the government towards the much-needed, but never sanctioned road at Thubarahalli. Residents of Thubarahalli Vibgyor School area protesting peacefully by forming a human chain. Pic: Nikita Malusare The buildings along the road wore the same mud which the road is made up of.  Tough the recent rains have washed…

The mud road battered by rains makes it dangerous to commute on this stretch. Pic: Javed Ahmad Citizens of the Thubarahalli area near Varthur in Bengaluru, frustrated by the slippery mud road and traffic jams, will hold a peaceful protest on October 26, 2013, to draw attention to the terrible state of affairs. Cars, trucks, buses, two-wheelers and cyclists get stuck in a chaotic frenzy here during their daily commute. Two international schools are located on this road. There are around 12 big apartments in this area, and a 13th one is getting ready. Over 150 school buses and over…

One of the amazing things about the city of Bangalore is that it sits on a natural wonder... the rock that the city sits on is one of the oldest exposed rocks in the world. Lalbagh rock. Pic: Deepa Mohan This wonder of Nature, called Peninsular Gneiss, is so easy to see. Here’s what the Wikipedia entry says: “The Geological Survey of India identified one of the best exposures of this rock mass, protruding high above the ground as a hillock (pictured), dated 2.5 to 3.4 billion years, in the Bangalore city in India at the famous Lalbagh gardens and…

Only six states of the country have Legislative Councils in addition to Legislative Assemblies. Karnataka is one among them. Assembly and Council together form the legislature. MLCs have almost equal authorities, opportunities and responsibilities as MLAs. There have been several prominent ministers from the Council. Common man does not vote in legislative council elections. Legislative Councils have separate electoral rolls and constituencies different from Assembly Elections. 75 seats in legislative council of Karnataka are divided as: Teachers constituency - 7 Graduate constituency - 7 Nominated by Governor - 11 Elected by MLAs - 25 Local Authorities constituency - 25 Teachers'…

Construction activities continue to encroach the drain that goes to Bellandur lake. Pic: Nikita Malusare The High Court of Karnataka on Monday, October 21, 2013, accepted the Public Interest Litigation against the Mantri developers and Coremind Software and Services along with other nine government departments. A bench comprising Justice K L Manjunath and Justice H S Kempanna directed that the defendants be served notices. Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen Action Forum along with many resident welfare associations in and around Agara lake in south Bengaluru had filed a Public Interest Litigation (Writ Petition 36574/ 2013) on the Special Economic Zone…

Police atrocities can be questioned once the Police Complaint Authority is completely functional. File pic. The Police Complaint Authority (PCA) that existed only on papers for the past three years has now finally been formed. However, it doesn’t have punitive powers - it can only recommend action after an inquiry. The State Police Complaint Authority has started functioning in Karnataka from September 2, 2013.Retired high court judge Justice M P Chinnappa has been appointed as the chairman of the state Police Complaint Authority. The members are retired additional chief secretary Abhay Prakash, IGP- Grievances Alok Kumar and IGP- KSRP Malini…

Over 68 lakh people out of total 96 lakh have already enrolled for Aadhaar card in Bengaluru. Most are waiting for the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme to roll out, and for the LPG subsidy to come to the bank accounts mapped. While everyone was under the impression that Aadhaar card is mandatory for all government subsidies and services, a Supreme Court interim order issued on September 23, 2013, ruled that Aadhaar card cannot be made mandatory, it has to be voluntary. Retired justice Puttaswamy, the man behind the PIL filed in Supreme Court against UIDAI. Pic: Bosky Khanna Justice Puttaswamy,…

BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Kharola has responded to the concerns of citizens on predicted traffic problems on Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru once the Phase-II work takes off, by promising to look into the issues listed by them. Urban mobility expert Ashwin Mahesh, along with a group of residents, had listed out the pain points on Bannerghatta Road that need to be resolved before the commencement of Phase-II Metro work. Here is the list of the bottlenecks to be solved, listed by the residents. a) During construction, it would be extremely helpful if the foot-overpasses of the stations can be constructed…