BMRCL

Residents and citizen groups of Mahadevapura assembly constituency will stage a protest on Friday 9.30 am, at the Marathahalli Bridge bus stop. The #MahdevapuraDemands protest is called against elected representatives of the constituency for failing to deliver on the promises they had made on restoring civic amenities and making the area liveable. Resignation of elected representatives is one of the main demands of the protestors. The representatives here are Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali, Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, BBMP corporators A C Hari Prasad (Hoodi), B N Nithish Purushotham (Garudachar Palya), S Muniswamy (Kadugodi), S Uday Kumar (Hagadur), Shwetha…

In July, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) formally acknowledged that ‘foldable bicycles’ were welcome in the Metro. But its blanket rule on baggage fees has dampened the spirits of commuters who use cycles for last-mile connectivity. The baggage rule implies that a commuter would have to pay Rs 30 every time he boards the Metro with his cycle. This fee may even be higher that the commuter's own ticket cost. Despite BMRCL's avowed support for cycling, it's unwilling to exempt cycles from baggage fee. Rs 30 for excess baggage Since the Metro started operating in 2011, BMRCL had introduced…

BBMP action plan to restore 630 km of roads BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar tweeted that the civic body has drawn up an action plan to restore 630 km out of 3000 km roads in the city once the BWSSB finishes laying drinking water and underground drainage (UGD) pipelines. Citizens had expressed dismay over the condition of their roads, especially in the five outer zones -Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Yelahanka. BWSSB has taken up works in the 110 villages that fall in these zones, and heavy rains worsened road conditions here. Action will be…

Flood alert in Bengaluru  On Friday, state government's Urban Development Department (UDD) issued a ‘flood alert’ to the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike). The department gave flood warnings in 80 localities across the city, especially low-lying areas. This includes major commercial centres like Manyata Techpark, Mantri Mall, Silk Board Junction, Yeshwantpur TTMC, JC Road and Koramangala 4th Block Global Village. The letter from UDD said that the latest forecast indicated heavy rainfall across Bengaluru. And hence BBMP should coordinate with other departments immediately, and alert officials about the likelihood of accidents. BBMP has identified 182 vulnerable spots in the city's…

This February, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) published the Draft Bengaluru Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy. On inviting public suggestions and objections on the draft policy, BMRCL got just 32 responses. To put this number in perspective, Bengaluru’s total population is approximately 120 lakh, of which the working population is around 55 lakh (46 percent). Adding to this, the 5-19 age group which also needs to commute, would peg commuter numbers in the city at an estimated 77 lakhs (about 64 percent of the total population). But, only 28 lakh use public transportation. Obviously, the commuter numbers are…

BBMP to battle UDD move to allow ad hoardings The BBMP is gearing up to battle the Urban Development Department's (UDD) plan to allow advertisement hoardings in the city again. On July 15th, UDD had notified the draft BBMP Advertisement Rules, 2019, but BBMP officials say they were not consulted beforehand. The BBMP Council had decided to ban hoardings in the city about a year back. The UDD notification came just three days after the High Court stayed the BBMP's resolution to ban hoardings. UDD has also invited objections and suggestions on its draft notification. On Monday, the BBMP Council…

  BWSSB: There's enough water, don't panic The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) says there is enough water available in reservoirs for Bengaluru, and hence there is no need to panic. The city's water sources now are the Krishna Raja Sagar dam and the Kabini river. These can service the city with drinking water till June end, says BWSSB. In a recent drought advisory to six states including Karnataka, the central government had warned that water shortage in the dams has dropped to critical levels. While areas served by BWSSB have got more or less regular supply this…

Sewage and rainwater to be diverted from Bellandur, Varthur lakes A committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed officials to build temporary channels to redirect rainwater and sewage that enter Bellandur and Varthur lakes through stormwater drains (SWDs). The committee for rejuvenation of Bellandur lake is headed by former Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde. After a review meeting, Hegde said that the water had to be drained out before desilting the lake, which was the first step in lake rejuvenation. Civic agencies have been asked to take steps to prevent any resultant health-related issues downstream, such as mosquito…

"Cutting down trees to build the Metro line just cannot happen without the permission of the Tree Officer," affirms M K Cholarajappa, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) and Tree Officer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Cholarajappa's response is a firm and surprising counter to a press note released by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) on Friday. The note had announced that the construction of the Vellara Junction station in Richmond Town would not be stopped. This station is along Metro's Red Line, from Gottigere to Nagawara. Activists had opposed Metro construction here, claiming that it would involve cutting of…

  HC to state: Set up expert body to prevent tree felling for Metro  A committee of environment, science and technology experts should be constituted to examine if metro rail projects can be undertaken without felling trees, directed the Karnataka High Court to the state government. This committee should examine every method to save trees; only if this is impossible, should trees be cut, said the court. The division bench comprising acting Chief Justice L Narayana Swamy and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar passed the interim order on a PIL filed in 2018 jointly by Dattatraya T Devare and the…