City: Bengaluru

High COVID count in four wards Four BBMP wards - Koramangala, Hagadur, Bellandur and Begur - have high COVID counts, reporting around 25 cases a day. The reason is said to be the increased influx of migrants, who had not been tested properly at railway and bus stations, said a civic health official. BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said they are monitoring the situation in the four wards and are continuing surveillance and genome sequencing to check for any new strain. Of 286 cases reported in the state on Thursday, 169 were from Bengaluru Urban district. However, active case count in…

BBMP Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, in a press release, said the revised voters' list for all 28 Assembly Constituencies within BBMP limits was published on November 8th. The list has been published at the Voter's Registration Office, office of the Assistant Electoral Officer and in the ward offices. Citizens can review their details and make any corrections if required. This is in the line up to the Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls - 2022. The voters' list is also available at the website of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka as well as the BBMP website. You can also find…

India has, over the years, seen several schemes that promised free or subsidised medicine. In 2008, the then UPA government proposed a Jan Aushadi scheme for nationwide subsidised supply of generic drugs. However, there were not many takers for the scheme at the time. While some chalked it up to poor supply chain management, others believe heavy pressure from the pharmaceutical industry was the reason the scheme failed to take off. Tamil Nadu had already established government stores in 1994 that provided certain drugs at reduced rates. But other states were slow to follow. Only some states like Rajasthan (2011)…

Last year, controversy arose over the Karnataka government’s decision to create a ‘tree park’ in the 600 acre Turahalli Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Protestors questioned the conversion of an existing forest into a ‘tree park’; asserting that the ‘tree park’ would resemble ‘horticulture parks’ with manicured lawns and ornamental plants and not real ‘forests’. The project was stopped temporarily. In mid-2021, walkers around the forest noticed signs of activity. Work on the ‘tree park’ had restarted without any consultations with citizen groups or locals. The forest department had built a park with statues of tigers, peacocks, bugs,…

Door delivery of govt services launched State government has launched two initiatives - ‘Janasevaka’ (peoples’ servant), and ‘Janaspandana’, an IPGRS (Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System) - to deliver government services at the doorsteps of citizens. These services are modelled after the Delhi government’s doorstep service delivery scheme. Janasevaka can help citizens avail of 56 government services at their doorsteps. These include home delivery of ration at subsidised rates, of Aadhaar card, caste certificate, income certificate, senior citizen card, BBMP khatha transfer and health card. Source: Indian Express Markets crowded, cracker sales brisk for Deepavali Though heavy rains played spoilsport on Deepavali, shoppers…

[BBMP, in coordination with other government agencies, has initiated the K100 (Citizens’ Water Way) project to rejuvenate the stormwater drain network between Majestic and Bellandur lake. Mod Foundation, an urban action and research institute, has been working with these agencies to ensure the project’s goals are met, and is also facilitating the overall design concept. The author, who is part of the Mod Foundation, gives details of the project in this article.] There is growing awareness about the dire state of Bengaluru’s lakes, which has mobilised citizens, institutions and the government to take action. Storm water drains (SWDs) are a…

When former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa inaugurated Bengaluru’s Commercial Street in July, one didn’t expect the makeover to run as quickly as it did. Within hours, the so-called ‘Smart’ street was unable to contain the rainwater, which then found its way into shops. Within a week, the street wore its usual haggard look. It certainly didn’t look like a year had been spent giving the road an expensive makeover! Commercial Street is among the 36 roads being developed under the Smart Cities Mission in the Central Business District (CBD). While the roads under the project have had their issues,…

BMTC app to be relaunched in four months The BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) app to track buses will be relaunched on February 26, 2022, with a new ITS (Intelligence Transport System). The project, funded by the Nirbhaya scheme, had been delayed due to COVID, said BMTC MD V Anbukumar. The app would give a range of information, from vehicle tracking to driver behaviour, seat occupancy and CCTV footage. Meanwhile, a study by the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) showed that, assuming 30% electric vehicle (EV) penetration within BBMP limits, there will be a demand for…

The recent weeks have been difficult for Bengalureans. Bad roads and potholes we were already used to, especially around monsoon; but this year, the situation got worse. Garbage seems to be piling up once again. The biggest shock came when several buildings collapsed, just like that. Thankfully there is no loss of life, but it exposed the cracks in our system and made many of us wonder if all the unchecked growth is coming back to haunt us. While most citizens are outraged, very few express frustration publicly. A small subset of them want to ‘do something’ to ‘fix things’.…

They are not just a danger to life and limb. Bengaluru’s potholed roads are also inspiring artists and activists to get creative about their modes of protest at the poor state of the city’s roads. While artist Badal Nanjundaswamy frequently takes inspiration from a well-formed pothole to unleash his creativity, Aam Aadmi Party activists recently held a Pothole Habba to “celebrate” the city' potholes. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city’s civic body in charge of ensuring road quality had, in 2018, come up with a grand plan of concretising roads to erase potholes, presumably (and disputably) forever. Called white…