BCity

“To safeguard democracy, the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness” - Mahatma Gandhi.How often do you complain about the state of affairs in urban governance? How many times have you thought that the people who are in charge of the governments could do a much better job? How many times have you thought we need to elect better representatives who understand the nuances of the policy frameworks? We as citizens often forget our power, provided through the Constitution, by the founders of our Republic, to be able to get good, efficient and learned people…

On a sunny-cool afternoon, joining more than a 100 “orange” rallyists to protest violence on women sounds a bit violent. However, it really can’t get more peaceful when you are standing in silence. At the Gandhi Square. With placards that shout out a word that may strike many men as some breaking news: NO! No to violence, No to tyranny and No to No. Does it spring a surprise to the guys who think it is witty and macho to attack women? Yes. Surprisingly. It does. Saying ‘No’ is a rule that men only recently discovered women can say. Even…

Once a year, Bengaluru becomes busy, being the poor cousin of Mysore, the grand-dasara city. The capital lives her dual life with Navrathris, the festive flashes of silk sarees and gold jewellery, surrounded by dry, autumn days of brown trees and dead leaves among trash piles. You do see women visiting each other hurriedly to exchange prasadams and if you peep into their houses, you can also catch glimpses of their droll doll sets, assorted gifts and the sound of bhajans. Still, the seasons run in parallel and it’s a bipolar city. The Durga, Laxmi and Saraswathi idols are prayed…

As a theatregoer, one is used to several constructs as part of an evening of theatre. For example: Theatre is either fiction, or fictionalized fact (the very word 'dramatic" has come to mean, something that is emphasized more than is ordinary). The audience is a passive receptor for what happens on the stage. The audience and stage areas are mutually exclusive. All members of the audience get the same narrative. The narrative in a theatre experience has a buildup, a climax and a denouement. It's not usual to attend an evening of theatre where all these concepts are challenged and,…

On the 17th of August, 2017, I was walking along, musing on the fact that we are now in the eighth decade of our existence of an independent nation. Everywhere there had been an outburst of pride and patriotism. My thoughts broke off abruptly as I saw this: Are we really proud of our country? Do we really love her if, after our display of love, we are willing to make her ugly and dirty with our refuse and discards? Would it not be true patriotism to clean up the country, rather than add to the trash? Patriotism, surely, more…

We often wonder what happens to the Rs 750 crores of rupees spent by the corporation every year just for garbage management. We wonder why the potholes appear so quickly and the storm water drains became garbage canals while the annual city budget is upwards of Rs9000 crores. We often see big announcements of projects that will make a remarkable improvement to our city, the garbage situation and some amazing technology to 'quick fix' the potholes etc etc. but most of these do not seem to translate to the city we experience every day. Our city government, aka Corporation,  BBMP,…

On 2nd October 2014, Prime Minister Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission in India as a national movement. Bengaluru that was buzzing with waste management activities joined the bandwagon. But three years down the line, the problems still exist. We still face many challenges. Garbage dumping in Junnasandra lake and example of a black spot Bellandur lake catches fire due to illegal dumping Feb 2017 Our lakes continue to be the victims of trespassing, sewage and more. At this point, we the residents of Bellandur area have these questions: Have the MLA and Corporator led from the front to stop the…

Pic: Praful Residents of Bengaluru might have noticed in the media, that recently the BBMP has commenced issuing notices to many commercial/non-residential establishments in residential areas to shut shop. Whilst this may come across to many as a sudden and arbitrary act by the BBMP, for those conscientious citizens and Residents Welfare Associations (RWA’s) that have spent numerous hours over the years (mostly behind the scenes) seeking to improve the quality of life of the residents of the city, this is only a long overdue first step towards implementing regulations/orders that have stood violated repeatedly for over 5 years right…

The BMRDA Act was passed in the mid-1980s, to set up the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, and to empower it to direct the planned development of the state capital region. Since its founding, however, the BMRDA has done nothing useful, because the state government has always preferred it that way. Why was the BMRDA set up, then, if no one wanted it to do anything? It's hard to be certain, but if I had to guess, I would say the answer lies with Ramakrishna Hegde. Hegde was an unusual Chief Minister, in one very important way that we are…

In well-planned cities, the government makes the plans and the builders respond to that with project proposals - to build residential communities, commercial facilities, and so on. In our cities, the builders and individual plot owners make their proposals first, and the city then scrambles to figure out how to plan the city around that. The order in which we do things is itself wrong. Within this error, looking for solutions to 'manage' the way things are done is pointless. Which is why making the planning body for the city work - as per law - is important. People sometimes…