BBMP

The most important lesson for the Covid first wave was the urgent need to strengthen the state’s public health systems and infrastructure. But the current year’s budgets of both the state government and the city government ignores this need. In fact, the state’s 2021-22 budget has been criticised for its low priority to strengthening the public healthcare system overall. As of now, all attention inevitably is on managing the Covid second wave. “Rs 50 cr is earmarked towards 'natural calamities', that is, Covid management”, says Thulasi Maddineni, Special Commissioner (Finance) at BBMP. The BBMP had spent Rs 90 crore on…

With the rising number of COVID cases in Karnataka crossing over 6,000 per day, of which over 4,000 cases per day are in Bengaluru itself, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been organising a series of meetings with various Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to seek support in contact tracing and improving the reach of administering COVID vaccines. On April 1, the central government extended vaccination for people above 45 years, irrespective of whether they have co-morbidities.  On April 2, during an interaction with the BBMP Chief Commissioner and Commissioner for Health, an overwhelming request by the RWAs was to conduct vaccination…

Bengaluru has a planning history spanning more than fifty years. The first step towards planning for development of Bengaluru City was initiated with the Outline Development Plan prepared by the Bangalore Development Committee in 1952.  The city’s planning got statutory backing in 1961 when the Karnataka Town And Country Planning (KTCP) Act, 1961 was enacted.  The history of planned development in Bengaluru is seen in the timeline below. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is entrusted with the task of preparing a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) as per the KTCP Act. Throughout Bengaluru city's planning history, thought to its future industrialisation,…

Pollution above WHO limits Despite widespread air quality improvements during 2019 and 2020, air pollution continues to be dangerously high, the annual data ‘World Air Quality Report, 2020’, compiled by IQAir, has revealed. Bengaluru recorded an average 15.6% dip in PM 2.5 levels. However, the pollution levels were above the WHO's prescribed limit on 46.7% of the days. The IT city’s annual average stands at 27.5 µg/m3, nearly three times the prescribed limit. Also, Bengaluru’s PM 2.5 levels in December 2020 surpassed the January 2020 levels, indicating that ‘better air quality’ has already faded away. South Indian cities recorded relatively…

ಸುಧಾ ವಿ ಉತ್ತರಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೂವಿನ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗಷ್ಟೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರವೇಶ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಚಿತ್ರ: ಪ್ರಗತಿ ರವಿ Translated by Madhusudhan Rao ಸುಧಾ ವಿ, ತನ್ನ ಹೂವಿನ ಗಾಡಿಗೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲಿ ಓಡಾಡುವ ಹಸುಗಳನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಉತ್ತರಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ರಸ್ತೆಯೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀದಿವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮಕರ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿಯ ದಿನದಂದು ಗ್ರಾಹಕರ ಹೆಚ್ಚಳ ಇದ್ದರೆ, ಮರುದಿನ ಕಥೆಯೇ ಬೇರೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಹಿಂದಿನ ದಿನ ತಾಜಾತನ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದ ಕೆಂಪು ಗುಲಾಬಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇಳುವವರೇ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಸಾಲದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಅದೇ ರಸ್ತೆಯ ಬಳಿ ಮಾರಾಟ ಮಾಡುವ ಇತರ ಮೂರು ಹೂಗಾಡಿಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ತೀವ್ರ ಪೈಪೋಟಿ ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಪಿಡುಗಿನಿಂದ ಉದ್ಯೋಗಗಳು ನಷ್ಟವಾದಾಗ, ಅನೇಕರು ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕ ವಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ತೆರಳಿದ್ದು, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ದುಡಿಮೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು, ಅದು ಮೂಲ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಅವಲಂಬಿತ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸುವುದು ಸುಲಭ ಅನ್ನುವ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ. ರಸ್ತೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ, ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ, ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಮನಾರ್ಹವಾಗಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿದೆ. ಮನೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಸುಧಾ, ಲಾಕ್‌ಡೌನ್ ನಿಂದ ತಾನು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅರ್ಧಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಮನೆಗಳ…

The swanky new Sir M Visveswaraya railway terminal at Baiyappanahalli is due to be opened towards the end of this month. The butterfly-shaped terminal, built at around Rs 350 crore, is bound to be a transportation hub on the eastern end of the city. When operational, this terminal could take the load off the two other major railway terminals in the city: the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway station in Majestic and Yeshwanthpur railway station. While the terminal itself promises to be a state-of-the-art facility, its usability has many hurdles. Access and connectivity to this terminal is the main issue. For…

On 29 September, 2009, the Supreme Court ordered that the authorised construction of any religious structure should not be allowed in streets, parks of other public places. The order applied to every state in India. In case of structures built before the date of the court order, state governments were to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. Yet in Bengaluru, we still see religious structures popping up on public land. This was because the Karnataka government or BBMP took hardly any action to implement the SC order - structures that came up since September 2009 were not demolished, and no…

Only 20% Volvos running High operation costs and low revenues have forced the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation to scale down its air-conditioned bus services. It’s now running only 150 such buses as against the 760 before the pandemic. The daily revenue of the public transporter fell from Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 2.5 crore while the revenue from AC buses is less than 30% of what it was in 2019. The revenue from air-conditioned Volvo buses dropped even before the pandemic, after operation costs rose due to diesel price rise. With most people avoiding public transport due to COVID-19, AC…

Sudha V is a flower vendor in Uttarahalli, and a recent entrant to the market. Pic: Pragathi R Sudha V, hawks on one of the arterial roads of Uttarahalli, warding off cows that tend to steer too close to her cart of flowers. While she witnessed a surge in customers on  the day of Makara Sankranti, the next day was a different story. There are few takers for her once-fresh red roses.  What's more, she faces stiff competition from three other flower vendors hawking along the same stretch.  As the pandemic claimed jobs, many moved to the informal sector because…

Vaccination slower than planned The COVID-19 vaccination drive was halted or slowed down in several city hospitals on Wednesday due to glitches in the Co-WIN app. Reports from the Jayanagar General Hospital indicated that vaccination could not take place on Tuesday and Wednesday as the portal did not permit the entry of names. Meanwhile, it was reported that the Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute did not get the list of healthcare workers to be vaccinated from the State war room. There has been a heavy load on the server as all hospitals are entering data simultaneously.…