City: Bengaluru

Citizen activism and public pressure forced BBMP, Bengaluru's city government to start convening ward committee meetings in 2018. Citizens and officials have since been making efforts to keep the committees functional and effective. But issues like representation and ensuring regular and effective ward committee meetings need urgent attention. There is the additional issue of the absence of elected municipal corporators since September 2020, since they have to chair their respective ward committees Ward committees are presently functioning informally. Srinivas Alavilli, Head - Civic Participation, Janaagraha, says a system has been put in place for the proper functioning of ward committees.…

BBMP has spent over 100 crores on fixing, remodelling, and maintaining drains in just one ward - HSR Layout. Their Stormwater Drain Department does not maintain records like work registers or the progress reports of works. BBMP has been indicted for ineffective and inefficient collection of waste, non-compliance with waste management rules, and lack of scientific processing facilities at landfill sites. These are just three instances of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies.All these are issues that citizens should demand accountability from their elected reps and officials. One easy way to be aware of such issues is to…

How has Bengaluru city's sweeping transformation over the last 30 years impacted its street-based sex workers? Bengaluru, which has no specific red light area, has hosted a vast landscape for street-based sex work – a category of informal labour that is not strictly illegal, but is considered undesirable and in urgent need of rescue and rehabilitation. However, in the last three decades, the meaning of ‘public space’ has undergone a dramatic change in Bengaluru, alongside the definition of who ought to legitimately constitute the ‘public’ or 'desirable worker'. Consequently, an entire ecology around street-based sex work has slowly disintegrated, pushing…

Metro reduces emissions: Study A study by Bangalore University’s Department of Environmental Science showed that the air quality at six locations along Namma Metro Phase-II improved between 2017 and 2021. The study measured air quality at the following Metro corridors — Mysuru Road Terminal to Kengeri, Puttenahalli Cross to Anjanapura Township, Gottigere to Nagawara, RV Road to Bommasandra, Krishnarajapuram Byapanahalli to Whitefield, and Hesaraghatta Cross to BIEC. The PM2.5 concentration recorded at all the sampling stations were within the limit of 60µg/m3 prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. PM10 had exceeded the prescribed limit of 100µg/m3 in 2017, but…

‘Decoding Everyday’ is a citizen science portal which invites contributions from individual residents, student communities, RWA members and anyone interested to share their experiences and stories about streets and public spaces in cities. It is an initiative of the Bangalore-based Everyday City Lab (ECL) that was recently selected to be a part of the Citizen Innovation Lab’s (CIL) ‘Six-week Sprint’ within its Civic Tech program. Under this program, CIL supports initiatives to develop technologies that enable citizens to engage with the government and/or communities to work towards civic participation in governance. The Everyday City Lab recently launched a series of…

Bengaluru, a rapidly expanding landlocked city without proximity to major water sources such as rivers, is largely dependent on its groundwater resources. And with summer fast approaching, the city’s water needs will only increase even as its availability declines. Bengaluru is blessed with rains throughout the year, which makes it ideal for rainwater harvesting. Even though Bengaluru is listed as the second-highest in rainwater harvesting in Indian cities, is it enough? According to a World Bank Group report, over the last 50 years, the total number of borewells in the country has grown from one million to 20 million, making…

This is the third of the three-part analysis of various mobility policies/plans for Bengaluru that aim to regulate the use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve public transport, and create the right infrastructure for non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking through the mobility intervention. Given the problems and delays plaguing the expansion of the metro lines and suburban rail system, for Bengalureans, the city bus remains the only alternative to using personal vehicles. The financially troubled transport corporations are trying to augment their fleets and increase and improve services. One aspect of these efforts has been the…

This is the second of a three-part analysis of various mobility policies/plans for Bangalore that aim to regulate use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve different modes of public transport and encourage its use, and create the right infrastructure to enable and encourage safe use of non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking. The only way to regulate and reduce the use of private vehicles is for the city to provide different modes of affordable and efficient public transport. Ensuring availability of quality public transport services and non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure finds prominent mention in the approved Comprehensive…

This is the first of a three-part analysis of  various mobility policies/plans for Bengaluru that aim to regulate use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve different modes of public transport and encourage its use, and create the right infrastructure to enable and encourage safe use of non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking. COVID-induced Work From Home (WFH) has given a slight relief to Bengalureans from its perennial road traffic congestion. The last two years have seen manageable traffic around IT parks. But the situation in the CBD (Central Business District) and certain other parts of the city…

Hijab row On Wednesday, the police resolved arguments related to hijab in a government college and a private PUC in Malleswaram. In some sensitive parts of the city, police told students to follow the interim court order banning all religious attire including hijab in educational institutions. Advocates for the petitioners questioning the hijab ban, told the court on Tuesday that the interim order has been “grossly misused” and amounts to the suspension of fundamental rights. On Thursday, Karnataka government ordered that students in schools managed by the minority welfare department, including the Maulana Azad Model English Medium schools should also…