bda

The traffic diversions from Sarajapur Road into HSR Layout, due to construction of flyover at Agara circle, have seriously inconvenienced the residents and shopkeepers of HSR layout.All main and some cross roads have been used mercilessly by all types of vehicles. Just a few months back some of these main roads were repaired and resurfaced. Due to poor quality of work (not supervised) and the last monsoons, roads have cracked and potholes have developed. This has been aggravated by heavy traffic on the main roads in this layout during these three to four months.There appears to be no controls in…

For years now, Bangaloreans have gotten accustomed to seeing dug up roads across the city. Furthermore, one doesn’t know who has dug it up or why and when it is likely to be closed. And then traffic suffers. The traffic police are clueless about the roadwork and are then forced to divert traffic."Sometimes we don't even know who has dug up the road", points out Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic).  Nothing new in namma Bengaluru. Coordination, or the lack of it has always been a challenge for many local authorities - BBMP, BTP, BWSSB, BDA, BMTC, and so…

We all appreciate the planned approach and systematic execution of any project. Many companies do it and among government establishments, the railways, perhaps because it was a British company earlier. For example, if they have to bridge a river of 50 feet and lay the track, they just refer to ready made designs and drawings for bridge girders, fabricate them while the piers are being built, and finish the project in record time. Civic amenities site in Kalyan Nagar is lying vacant for over two decades and is in continuous danger of being encroached upon. Pic: Lina Vincent. We also…

For over 10 days, the power tussle between the Reddy brothers faction and the Yeddyurappa camp has virtually held the work of government hostage. How has the internal turmoil in the BJP government impacted the prospects for “fixing” a whole host of Bengaluru problems? The Government of Karnataka, on November 13th 2009, put out a state-level Urban Development draft policy for public comment. Minister of Law and Urban development S Suresh Kumar released the draft, which has been prepared by A Ravindra, Advisor to the Chief Minister on urban affairs. It mentions the setting up of a Metropolitan Planning Committee…

A few days ago, I visited the 158-acre Beggars' Rehabilitation Colony off Magadi Road, at the intersection of Ring Road, along with officials of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) (which owns the facility) and BDA (to whom the land is now being transferred, at the direction of the Chief Minister). BDA is keen to develop the area, quite nicely located at the junction of the Outer Ring Road and Magadi Road, into a township, and also to ensure some public good outcomes using a portion of the land (perhaps, for a hospital, a man-made lake, a bus terminal for BMTC,…

  A veteran journalist for nearly 40 years, having worked for Samyuktha Karnataka, a regional daily and covering political news for nearly two decades, Gunda Bhat is a well-known name in the field of journalism in Karnataka. Bhat received a BDA plot in 2002 from the state government, under G-category as a mark of respect for his contribution to journalism. He built a single-storey house on the allotted site at Dollar’s colony near JP Nagar. Under the G-category, the chief minister allots BDA sites to eminent personalities. People who are awarded the land are essentially moved up in line and…

The BDA is in the process of building two flyovers on the Outer Ring road near the Iblur and Agara junctions in south-east Bengaluru as part of their 'signal free' Outer Ring Road project.  This article presents some questions, comments and suggestions regarding both the grade separators, on the basis of the project plans obtained from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in response to an RTI request by Citizen Matters. The flyovers have been described in an earlier article in Citizen Matters.  Two dedicated, access controlled, 11.5 feet wide bus lanes on either side of the central median of the…

The Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), a civic action group representing a number of residents' welfare associations in Bangalore, organised a one-day symposium as part of their on-going public dialogues with politicians on 30th August 2008 at Central College. They discussed ways to solve civic problems and debated on two of Bangalore's unsresolved issues: Sakrama and collection of property tax. The programme was structured as panel discussions. Mathew Thomas, general Secretary of CAF made an extensive presentation on ‘Kasturirangan Committee’ (aka Committee on Governance in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and BBMP, headed by Dr Kasturirangan, ex-chairman of ISRO) for a review…

Recently, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the Revised Master Plan - 2015 (RMP), or the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) was admitted in the Karnataka High Court. The PIL was filed by the Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), the Sadashivnagar Residents' Welfare Association (SRWA) and 12 distinguished citizens against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), for disregarding public sentiments and expert opinion and going ahead with the RMP in its present form. Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Ravi Malimath admitted the writ petition (Case: 3676, 2008) on 3 March. The petitioners have charged that the…

A common scene from Hindi movies is where the hero comes in as the good man in power (often as police) and throws out all the culprits. This arose in real life last weekend (May 17) when the Bangalore Developent Authority (BDA) Commissioner H Siddaiah threw out a doctor practicing for three months in a shop in the BDA Shopping Complex (commonly known as the 'BDA complex') on the Inner Ring Road, Koramangala. The shop that was closed; signboard on the right. Pic: Supriya Khandekar. Dr Jalal Farooqui was termed an encroacher by the BDA as he had no papers…