City: Bengaluru

On September 24th, Prof. Ashish Verma, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST Lab) released a voluminous 479-page report co-authored with Hemanthini Allirani from IST Lab, recording air quality index and several other indicators of Quality of Life (QoL) due to 'pedestrianising urban streets' - essentially closing roads to traffic. This is a part of the Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) programme, a joint initiative between India and UK to pilot air quality improvement initiatives in Bengaluru. Being the first such initiative in Karnataka, the initiative is named ‘Church Street First', based on the location of the study. Church Street was…

As the second wave of COVID has abated, Bengalureans are getting out and about. Many need transport services to go to work or for chores, but bus services by the BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) are yet to catch up. In fact, the services have not even gotten back to the levels of last March, just before the second wave struck.  Bus numbers and schedules lower than in March During the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, BMTC had stopped all of its services except those for frontline workers. Services started picking up gradually, especially after the first wave of…

I started commuting to work by cycle in 2011, to avoid the stress of getting stuck in traffic jams on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Surprisingly, I found that cycling was not as hard as I imagined it to be. Slowly, my frequency of cycling increased, and while the traffic jams on ORR, Whitefield and Sarjapura Road peaked too, it hardly affected me. I was riding a 23-km round trip everyday to work, come what may! Cycling brought immense flexibility and freedom to my schedule. Now, due to COVID and the work-from-home option, the number of commuters including cyclists have…

50% fully vaccinated, over 10,000 refused jabs The BBMP crossed a milestone on October 5 by covering 50% its population with both doses of COVID vaccine. In Bengaluru Urban district, 58% have been fully vaccinated. But it is among the few districts in Karnataka to have covered half the population with both doses. Meanwhile, the BBMP learnt through a block-and-lane-level vaccination survey that about 10,000 people from 4,437 households have refused to get jabbed. They were identified from a survey of 76,373 households. Many from lower-income groups seemed to be afraid of side effects. The most number of unvaccinated households…

Many Bengalureans don't think of the city as a biodiversity hub. But school students who participated in the 'Biodiversity in my Bengaluru backyard' contest challenged this notion. The contest was organised by Citizen Matters, in collaboration with the conservation magazine Mongabay-India and the apartment management software platform ADDA. Students in grades 9-12 were invited to submit articles or photos/videos of biodiversity in their premises. The best entries were announced at a virtual event on September 18th. Read more: "To protect nature, start at home": Bittu Sahgal Best entries - 'Article' category The following students were selected for submitting the best…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), a citizens' group, in collaboration with Karnataka government's Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), released a report on their 'Livelihood Cyclists Survey', on September 30. The report highlighted the needs and requirements of the cyclist while he/she is riding the cycle across the city, to understand their concerns regarding traffic on the roads, parking facility and other infrastructure. Cycling is one of the most sustainable modes of transport with zero dependence on fossil fuels, zero emissions, making it an affordable transport option. Bicycles have always had an important role in the informal sector, especially in…

Namma Metro construction on Outer Ring Road (ORR) is just starting. If the speed of execution on other lines is anything to go by, the next few years could very well be hell for residents living off ORR. But it need not be torturous. It is possible for the BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) to follow certain steps to ensure daily life is not inconvenienced while construction goes on. Unfortunately, we have no regulations or guidelines on how to execute civic projects without putting citizens through risk and pain. Here, though, are some pointers for BMRCL to consider and…

First electric bus unveiled Bengaluru’s first electric bus, nine-metre-long and non-AC, was unveiled by Transport Minister B Sriramulu. The bus can run 120 km on a single charge, and carry 33 passengers. The BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) had got the e-bus built by the Uttar Pradesh-based JBM Auto Limited.  This is the first of 90 electric buses to be inducted by BMTC by December. Each bus will cost Rs 90 lakh, of which about Rs 60 lakh is contributed by grants from the Smart Cities Mission. Over the next three years, the fleet might expand to 500. The first…

On September 21, two women died in a fire that broke out at their apartment in Devarachikkanahalli. The balcony of their apartment unit was enclosed with metal grills, and hence they had no escape route. The lack of fire safety is a concern in many Bengaluru apartments. Here’s an explainer on how to make your apartment fire-safe, and what to do in case of a fire. What can Management Committees do? First, the Management Committees in apartments have a crucial role to play. They should: Ensure the complex is fire-safety compliant, as per the National Building CodeConduct audits of fire…

BBMP is currently building a parking lot at the entrance of the road to Doddakallasandra, to make it easy for passengers to access Konanakunte Cross Metro station nearby. But this road - Thippasandra/Doddakallasandra fork road off of Kanakapura main road - is an alternative for residents to avoid the dense traffic on Kanakapura road. It’s a thoroughfare linking Kanakapura road to Prestige Falcon City apartments (2500 units), Wilasa (150 villas), Munireddy Layout, Kumaran Children's Home, Doddakallasandra, and further to Anjanapura Double Road. Read more: Konanakunte Cross conundrum – untangling the spaghetti The triangular patch of land (in orange) is being…