City: Bengaluru

(This article is part 1 of a three-part event report series)  All property transactions in Bengaluru have to mandatorily be registered with the government. This is important as it provides buyers with essential safeguards; enhances transparency due to the requirement of comprehensive project disclosures; establishes standard practices; and provides mechanisms for dispute resolution. The government has brought in multiple legislations over the years. While it has brought in some level of streamlining of the process, a lot is left to be desired. There are several types of property, which means you will need to deal with different agencies. In a…

In 2023, the BBMP launched Kere Mitra (lake friend) to ensure transparency in lake management. It was introduced to bridge the gap between citizens and the authorities in the daily maintenance of lakes, which fall under BBMP's custody. The Kere Mitras or lake volunteers are selected for a period of three months. While some were satisfied with the programme, others expressed their reservations about the selection process and lack of training. However, is the initiative achieving its intended goals? The BBMP seems satisfied with the applications. The next phase of Kere Mitra will not be open to new applicants. "In…

Through the month of June, we had a sort of extended celebration of World Environment Day (June 5th) by highlighting organisations and collectives that are actively trying to make a change. In case you missed their stories on our social media channels, here's another hat tip to these changemakers, who are fighting to protect natural spaces and ensuring environmental justice in our increasingly chaotic, expanding cities. Nizhal, Chennai We start off in Chennai with Nizhal. Nizhal, which means shade in Tamil, is a non-profit organisation that promotes urban greening with a focus on indigenous tree species and biodiversity regeneration. The…

The recent approval for revamping seven Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) complexes into retail, multiplex, entertainment centres and offices has not been well received by citizens. Residents say there have been no public consultations and a total lack of transparency. Sneha Nandihal, founder of I Change Indiranagar, says the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is not available in the public domain. "We filed an RTI but received a convoluted response, so we obtained it from other sources." Ajay Reddy, member of third block Koramangala RWA, says the biggest issue is that no public consultation has been done so far: ”We don't mind redevelopment…

It is 11:30 in the morning, Aarif (name changed), a vegetable vendor in KR Market, looks ahead, braving the searing summer heat, while waiting for customers. After a long time, a customer finally approaches him and asks for the rate of green chillies. As the day inches towards noon, the footfall in the market starts decreasing. Arif, who primarily sells chillies and ginger, says: “In about 1-2 hours, customers will start decreasing, but we will still sit in hope of getting more customers. We have to do something for survival. No matter how strong the sun is, we have to…

Various documents are required at different stages to carry out property transactions in Bengaluru. If you are not adequately prepared, the complexity of regulations, rules, and procedures can be overwhelming and potentially lead to complications. Often, we don’t fully understand these requirements until we are directly involved in such a situation. Also, if we don’t ask the right questions at the appropriate times, we are more likely to make errors. In this citizen clinic, organised by Citizen Matters, an expert on property law will address questions from the public on the kinds of guide on land types, authorities, etc and…

Bengaluru has experienced extreme weather fluctuations this year. After a severe heatwave, the city enjoyed a brief respite with heavy showers, resulting in a record 111.1 mm of rainfall earlier this month. While Bengaluru received excess rainfall, the rest of the state is grappling with a 38% monsoon deficit, affecting water storage levels in reservoirs. The city is still facing water shortage despite heavy rains. In this multi-part series, analysts at the OpenCity water datajam, examined the level of water security (or lack thereof) in the areas/wards and provided insight into the redressal mechanisms: Part 1: Is your neighbourhood ‘water-secure’?…

(In Part 1, data analysts explained how they arrived at a definition of water security. In Part 2, the analysts explained the methodology used in estimating the Cauvery index and the results have been obtained. In continuation, part 3 will explain the methodology used in estimating the remaining indices and its results) Groundwater index Borewell count: The OpenCity borewell dataset was used to map borewells into Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards and compute the number of borewells per ward. Assuming an average yield of 5,000 litres/day, water supply from borewells was normalised with ward population and the wards were…

(In Part 1 of the series, data analysts explained how they arrived at a definition of water security and created a location-specific index. In Part 2, the analysts will explain the methodology used in estimating the use of the Cauvery index and how the results have been obtained) The variables (below) were indexed and weighted with the Cauvery index, which was prioritised due to its significant impact on Bengaluru’s water security. Groundwater and land-use indices, being interdependent, received equal weights, followed by the governance index. Here is a summary table: Parent IndexVariableWeight AssignedCauveryCauvery supply to Ward1GroundwaterBorewell Water supply (litres/person/day)Ward area…

Bengaluru’s water crisis hit new lows in March 2024, which led to disruptions in water supply. There are areas in the city where water supply is irregular, expensive and unpredictable, bringing the daily lives of many communities to a standstill. It was this issue that made us, as a group, tackle the issue of water security at the Bengaluru Water Datajam held by Opencity.in in March. The notion of water security is a tricky problem to address. It depends on multiple factors like ecological security, risk management of the city, to name a few (Aboelnga et. al., 2019). Therefore, we…