City: Bengaluru

It is 10 am on a Tuesday morning on Bazaar Street in Austin Town, Bengaluru. Traffic is moving smoothly, people are walking on the footpaths without hindrance. It is hard to believe that this was once a chaotic and dangerous street to use. About four months back, the footpath was virtually unusable. Shopkeepers had set up canopies and put up advertising boards that blocked the footpath. Some had piled their wares in front of their shops. The street itself was no better. Both sides were lined with street vendors, reducing the road width available for vehicles. Auto rickshaws used to…

In May 2022, Bengaluru’s flooding issues prompted Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to announce modernisation of these drains in an integrated manner, at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore. BBMP then authorised zonal commissioners to take up emergency work worth Rs 1 crore and this included removing silt in all drains. The BBMP engineers were also directed to identify low-lying areas and other vulnerable areas in the city. Housing Minister V Somanna stated that all engineers would be held responsible if flooding persisted during monsoons. The August-September 2022 rains did see more flooding. But no official was hauled up. Removal of…

Viral fever cases Bengaluru hospitals are reporting high numbers of fever patients in the OPD, yet hospitalisations are much lower as patients are being admitted mostly in general ward rather than in the ICU. However, in the last fortnight, government hospitals in the city showed a rise in admissions to 45. The numbers in the state went up from 17 at the end of February to 52 on March 13th. An 81-year-old, suffering from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) in the city passed away on March 9th, one of five deaths reported in the state this year. The weekly test…

Bengaluru’s stormwater drains made headlines last year when the city witnessed its worst floods. The August-September 2022 rainy season saw 7700 houses inundated, over 170 houses partially damaged, and over 12 informal settlements submerged. It once again exposed the faultlines: lack of vision in imagining the city, encouraging haphazard growth, rampant constructions on wetlands, building infrastructure with complete disregard for natural systems, incompetent planning and lack of governance.  “Every time it rains, it floods” Lakshmi, a former bone waste collector, has lived with her family of five in a small 100 square feet house in Cement Huts, JC Road, for…

The general perception has been that residents in large apartment complexes or gated communities are not a significant vote bank and have a lower rate of voter turnout in assembly or municipal elections. Ahead of the Karnataka 2023 Assembly Elections, the Bengaluru Apartments' Federation (BAF) hopes to change this perception by focusing on voter registration, awareness and participation through their Every Vote Matters (EVM) campaign. Towards this, BAF organised a discussion with representatives from political parties, to facilitate objective conversations and debates concerning Bengaluru's development agenda. With Citizen Matters as the media partner, the discussion was led by panellists Tanveer…

Susheela* begins her work at 6 am and finishes around 2 pm. During the eight hour work shift, the 45-year-old pourakarmika rarely takes a break. She tries her best to only drink water and take toilet breaks twice. She controls herself until her morning meal at 10 am and final call at 2 pm at a local government school in Thindlu, in the Vidyaranyapura ward in North Bengaluru. There is a public toilet next to the school, which Susheela and nearly 50 pourakarmikas in her group or mustering use. “I try to avoid drinking water until my breaks ,” she…

Namma Metro (BMRCL), after a long delay, extended the Green Line services beyond Yelachenahalli station to Silk Institute station, with additional five stops inaugurated on January 14 2021. But the new stations are not friendly to senior citizens and persons with disabilities. The metro stations have entry/exit gates on the east and west sides. For commuters on the west side, there is only one upward escalator to reach the concourse (ticketing area). However, after alighting from the concourse they have to walk down the steps (numbering about 35) to reach ground level. Recently, I watched two senior citizens struggling to…

In 2017, 3Wayste-- a French firm--submitted a proposal to the Government of Karnataka (GoK) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to implement an integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management project at Chikkanagamangala.  Using the company's proprietary, patented waste-to-energy technology, the plant would generate electricity from processing MSW, i.e refuse derived fuel (RDF), converting the existing MSW-processing plant to an incineration-based WTE plant.   The plant was intended to process 500 tonnes of mixed waste (300 tonnes supplied by the BBMP, and 200 tonnes from other sources). 3Wayste proposed to process refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to generate 9.2 MW of power.   After 3Wayste…

Viral fever cases among children An increase in hospitalisations, among children, due to viral fever has been reported since December last year. Influenza, including the currently prevalent H3N2 strain, is causing upper respiratory tract infections and body ache. On the other hand, adenovirus is leading to respiratory infections, gastro-enteritis and conjunctivitis, though body ache associated with it is less severe. Fever, cold, sore throat, body pain, vomiting and diarrhoea are probable adenovirus symptoms. However, adenovirus symptoms, which used to earlier resolve in two to three days, are now lasting seven to 10 days, with high-grade fever. The prevalence has been…

As a run-up to the upcoming Assembly Elections in Karnataka, the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF) has launched a campaign Every Vote Matters (EVM). The campaign will have multiple activities to support member residents in three themes: Voter registration, voter awareness, and voter participation. Historically, it is generally believed that apartments/gated communities are not considered a significant vote bank as very few people register and vote, especially in local or assembly elections. BAF, through its sustained campaign, hopes to change this mindset and establish itself as a vote bank to reckon with. The campaign is expected to reach half a million…