City: Bengaluru

Onti Mane housing scheme to be restarted by BBMP Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai announced on June 15th that BBMP would restart the Onti Mane scheme, which aims to provide financial assistance to the poor to build a house, if they owned a site. This will be in conjunction with other urban development schemes such as Akrama Sakrama, which regularises revenue collection in pockets of the city where a large number of underprivileged people in Bengaluru live.  The Onti Mane scheme offers upto Rs 5 lakh to people belonging to the SC/ST/OBC and minority categories to build houses in their plots.…

I have been a regular commuter on Namma Metro since 2017 when Namma Metro’s phase one was inaugurated with connectivity to southwest Bengaluru. Two lines, the Purple Line** and Green Line were opened with an interchange at Majestic. I used to take the Purple Line from Mysore Road initially. Now I travel from Raja Rajeshwari Nagar to Cubbon Park/ MG Road almost daily. At the time the two metro lines became operational, the hope was that this would help reduce air pollution and congestion along with the catchment areas of these routes. Hopes that have been totally belied because of…

My mother passed away on May 31st. It was all very sudden. She had been in the hospital for a week and passed away peacefully on the day she was supposed to get discharged. Though the last week of her life was spent in the hospital, it was spent with her loved ones and she truly appreciated the care and support she received from the hospital staff. Our mother’s passing is an irreplaceable loss for all of us in her immediate family and extended circle of family and friends whose lives she touched with her warmth and infectious laughter. But…

Lokayukta appointment soon Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai confirmed that the process of appointing the new Lokayukta is in the final stages. Bommai's confirmation comes a day after the High Court, during a hearing, indicated that the appointment process had begun. The panel formed to choose the Lokayukta comprises Bommai, High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chairman of the Legislative Council, and opposition leaders in both Houses. The position of Lokayukta has been vacant since January. Source: The Indian Express Idgah Maidan row The row over the ownership of the Chamarajpet Idgah Maidan has heated…

Bengaluru now has over 2,450 decentralised Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), including those installed in apartments and large commercial buildings. These STPs cumulatively treat approximately 615 Million Litres of wastewater per day, which is 8% of the total sewage generated in the city. Most of these decentralised STPs are poorly maintained, resulting in poor quality of treated wastewater. There is limited reuse and the excess water is often illegally discharged into open drains, resulting in polluted lakes and water bodies. Reusing treated wastewater for gardening, toilet flushing and washing common areas in apartment complexes can reduce both water scarcity and water…

The contest for control of the Bengaluru municipal council promises at least some surprises. Like first-time contestants Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bengaluru Navanirmana Party (BNP) - formed in 2019 as a party exclusively for Bengaluru city - both hoping to make to make a mark, if not cause any major upsets. AAP is harbouring ambitions of a larger state presence if the BBMP election campaign proves encouraging. The three other contestants, the BJP, Congress and JD(S) are banking on the past record of work they have done for the city. The latter two have only their State leaders to…

One way to be aware of issues of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies and departments is to track the audit reports from agencies like the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). This article is the fifth in the Series: Understanding Public Project Audits, by experts from Indian Accounts and Audit Service. Long lines of migrant workers, many of them from the construction sector, on the highways and outside railway stations during the COVID- 19 lockdown are not so distant and unpleasant memories for most of us. This vulnerable section of the population was literally trapped between…

Thanks to a crowdfunding effort that raised around Rs 10 Lakhs and two months of intensive work by community residents, local villagers and workers from the panchayat starting April 2020, the residents of Zed Earth, a gated community in Dodaballapur, haven’t spent a single rupee on water tankers so far this year. In the past, their annual cost on tankers could go up to as much as Rs 2 Lakhs depending on the ground water situation. “This is the only year when we have not spent a single rupee on buying water,” says an elated Anil Kashyap, resident of Zed…

BBMP ward delimitation report to be out in a week BBMP has submitted the ward delimitation report to the State's Urban Development Department. With delimitation, the number of wards in BBMP has been increased from 198 to 243. The report, which specifies the boundaries of the new wards, will be made public in a week. There are now more wards in the Assembly Constituencies in outer areas. Constituencies that have got the most number of wards are Bengaluru South (up from five to 13 wards), Bommanahalli (from six to 14), Byatarayanapura (from four to 11), RR Nagar (from four to…

Hailing from Naini in Allahabad district, UP, Ajay, 19, runs a roadside gol gappa stall in Sarjapur on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Street vendors are few in this area so the few vendors like Ajay selling street foods like samosas, idlis, vadas, rolls, momos and gol gappas are sought after by students from nearby.  Ajay, who does not face much competition on his street, does brisk business on weekends, especially Sundays, starting at 3 pm and closing shop around 8 pm in the evening. He shares a small home near Billapura with five others, who are also street vendors. A…