City: Bengaluru

In April, 2020, Usha Rajagopalan, Chairperson, Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), had sent — like she always did since 2011 — the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to be renewed, fully expecting it to come through. “Later, in June, I realized that the MoU was not renewed and the other citizen-led lake groups had the same experience,” says Usha.  BBMP has been signing MoUs with lake groups since 2011. Usha says: “The MoU states that we do not charge any entry fees or undertake commercial activity such as selling the lake water to…

MLC polls Polling for two Legislative Council seats - one each from Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts - was held on Friday. Overall, the biennial elections are being held in 25 seats across the state, with 90 candidates in the fray. Results will be declared on December 14. With declared assets of Rs 1,744 crore, Yousuf Sharief, Congress candidate from Bengaluru Urban, is the richest candidate in the state. There is no expenditure limit for candidates in this election, unlike in case of assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Source: The Times of India, India.com, The New Indian Express Vegetable…

To achieve targets under the Karnataka Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy, BESCOM has set up electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at 74 locations in Bengaluru, with 136 charging points. It plans to set up 300 more charging stations in collaboration with BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd), BBMP, apartment RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations), etc. GoK is amending the building bylaws to have malls, apartments, and high rise buildings provide dedicated EV charging points in their parking lots. Meanwhile, apartment complexes are already witnessing an increase in EV adoption among residents, leading to a demand for charging stations. To facilitate…

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we saw that Bengaluru’s drains are poorly designed and that the government doesn’t even have a full database of the drainage network even as many drains have gone missing. In this article, we explore why these stormwater drain works do not yield results. When a government department entrusts any work to a contractor, it should follow clear procedures to verify the completed works and make payments. But this seems anathema to BBMP's Stormwater Drain (SWD) Department. A 2021 audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), an independent watchdog body,…

On the evening of November 21st, parts of North Bengaluru were hit by a sudden thunderstorm. Jakkur, in the Yelahanka zone recorded 153 mm. Many layouts and apartments around Yelahanka were flooded. Visuals of a flooded Manyata Tech Park went viral on social media. November is expected to be the start of winter in Bengaluru and the end of the regular rains that start in April. As per the IMD Long Period Average (LPA) - the average rainfall between 1981 and 2010 - November gets average rainfall of only 49 mm, with four rainy days. But this November, IMD Bengaluru…

Two cases of Omicron found A 66-year-old South African national who flew from the city last month and a 46-year-old doctor with no travel history are the first two cases of Omicron in India, detected in Bengaluru. Both were fully vaccinated and showed only mild symptoms. The South African national had tested negative before leaving on November 27, and had not waited for his genome sequencing results to be confirmed. But none of his 24 primary and 240 secondary contacts have tested positive. Whereas the doctor's lack of travel history has raised worries over the possible presence of the new variant…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw that a CAG report of 2021 revealed Bengaluru does not have a complete map or database of its stormwater drain network. Drains are mapped in two master plans - the Revised Master Plan (RMP 2015) by the BDA (Bangalore Development Authority), and the BBMP’s master plan of drains. But the former does not indicate the type of drain (primary/secondary/tertiary), and the latter does not include tertiary/roadside drains at all. Neither plan has marked the buffer zones around drains; and many drains are missing in either document or both. Drains mapped in BBMP's…

On December 2nd, observed as National Pollution Control Day, the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF) is launching an E-Vaahana campaign to facilitate the adoption of community Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations. BAF plans to reach out to over a million apartment residents who could benefit from one-stop access to the knowledge and rules on implementation/technology/choice of vendors for EV charging installation. BAF has partnered with the Energy/Industry departments of the state government, WRI (World Resources Institute) India, Apartment ADDA, Citizen Matters and EV charging vendors for the campaign. The campaign will kick off with a webinar on December 2nd. The federation,…

It takes very little to flood a road or home in Bengaluru. In recent weeks, rains have caused severe flooding in many parts of the city, especially in North Bengaluru. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the city’s stormwater drain (SWD) system, released this September, shows why this shouldn’t be a surprise at all.  In any city, stormwater drains are critical for: Preventing flood and its related effectMaintaining clean lakes/water bodiesGroundwater recharge But Bengaluru’s drainage system has been badly mismanaged by the city corporation BBMP’s Stormwater Drain (SWD) department, finds the audit report. The report covered…

It’s early morning, and the PfA Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Kengeri receives a call. A small bird with blue, green, and black wings is lying immobile on a terrace, said the caller. The roof, wet from incessant drizzle, is bespeckled with a handful of orange and white down feathers. Feral cats are on the prowl. The caller says he picked up the bird and placed it indoors, in a warm corner. He has no clue what this spectacular, multicoloured bird is, but the rescuer, already racing on his bike, knows only too well. A visiting Indian Pitta. Now…