City: Bengaluru

BBMP presents budget The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) on March 2nd presented its budget of Rs 11,157 crore at Town Hall. Infrastructure projects received 63% allocation, followed by solid waste management that got 14.73%. It is the third time that the BBMP has presented a budget in the absence of a city council. Amid opposition, the civic body also proposed five more flyovers. Pushing for transparency in accounting, the BBMP has created IFMS (Integrated Financial Management System). The BBMP has also earmarked Rs 92 crore to establish 61 primary health centres and allocated Rs 2 crore for the Bangalore Health System…

The hybrid work model, a combination of work from home and from office, has had a major impact on house rents in Bengaluru. Lakhs of IT professionals and their families, who had shifted out of the city during the pandemic and were working remotely from their respective hometowns, are now back and looking for affordable homes on rent. High demand for rented accommodation Homeowners, sensing an opportunity to recoup what they had lost during the pandemic, have jacked up their rents to unprecedented levels. Gated communities and standalone buildings across Bengaluru are seeing overwhelming demand for rented accommodation, especially home…

Global warming due to increasing carbon footprint is a major challenge to environmental sustainability. The use of fossil fuels, such as coal, for power production is among the major causes of carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, Karnataka generates 61.5% of its power requirement through thermal stations that use coal as fuel. Though we have one of the world’s third largest solar power plants, the Pavagada Solar Park Palavalli in Tumkur district, only 0.11 % of the state’s power requirement is met through solar energy. There is, however, huge potential to generate power through large rooftop surface areas with sunshine, which is…

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) was passed by the Karnataka Assembly, in December 2022, to unify all public transport under one umbrella. Part 1 looked at the roles and functions of the BMLTA. In Part 2, we will look at several concerns raised over BMLTA's lack of participatory planning and appropriate devolution of power to a lower level. Citizens and urban transport activists had voiced their concerns over passing the Bill. The primary issue was the lack of inclusive decision-making. 74th amendment act In a letter to B. A Basavaraj, Minister of Urban Development Department and B. Sriramulu,…

In his budget speech on February 17th, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that quality of life in Bengaluru would improve “by ensuring seamless mobility, developing roads, prevention of floods by developing storm water drains and designing scientific and efficient waste management systems.” While such physical infrastructure is undoubtedly important for the well-being of a city, social infrastructure such as housing and health are equally crucial for improving the standard of living. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the gaps in budget allocations to BMTC and education. In Part 2, we will look at how the budget focuses…

While roads and related infrastructure were given importance in this year’s state budget, housing, education and health were neglected. With the BBMP budget slated to be announced soon, Citizen Matters Bengaluru, organised a webinar, 'The mysterious process of Bengaluru’s budget allocations', on February 23rd, to raise questions about why some sectors are given preference over others, the source of funds, the format of the expenditure, and more. Citizen Matters hosted a webinar on the dissemination and allocation of state and municipal finance. Pic: Citizen Matters The discussion was anchored by Bhanu Sridharan, and the panellists were Kathyayini Chamaraj, executive trustee…

Reservation issues The Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022 was adopted by the Legislative Assembly, with the support of all political members. It seeks to provide reservation to Kannadigas in higher education and private industries to give primacy to Kannada. It also aims for a state-level enforcement committee, led by the Kannada and Culture Minister, V. Sunil Kumar. Meanwhile, the High Court of Karnataka ordered issue of notice to the state involving a petition questioning the validity of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under…

The Karnataka government budget for 2023-24 was predicted to be a pre-election gift to Bengaluru. However, it is a gift that not everyone approves of. The majority of the funding is being given to roads and related infrastructure. Meanwhile, education, health, housing sectors, and other bodies like the BWSSB and the BMTC are set to see another year of neglect. In his budget speech on February 17th, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a whopping Rs 9,698 crore grant for the comprehensive development of Bengaluru. A majority of these funds are going into construction and repair of city infrastructure, primarily roads.…

The sight of piles of waste strewn on roads, footpaths, underneath flyovers, lake beds, and other vacant areas has become so common for Bengalureans that most of us don’t even notice what it consists of. It is waste, but all waste is not the same. These piles comprise different types of waste. There is biodegradable waste, like food waste and paper, and non-biodegradable items, like plastics, metal, glass etc. However, a big volume consists of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, including concrete, stone debris, commodes, tiles etc. Have you wondered why this waste is dumped across the city and if…

The Karnataka Budget for 2023-24, presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, primarily focuses on the comprehensive development of Bengaluru, combatting traffic congestion, tackling floods, managing waste disposal, developing the sub-urban railway project, and providing affordable healthcare services. Bommai had earlier said that his government's top priorities are education, employment and empowerment and that he was committed to easing traffic in the city. These aspects were highlighted in the budget. Economic revival In his budget speech, the Chief Minister stressed that the state's economy has "recovered beyond pre-COVID level" as per the 2021-2022 numbers by the National Statistical Office. Quoting the…