CITIZEN JOURNALISM

“We dug the land and let them throw, Soon we had dogs, rats and flies you know? Behind the rising smoke you could see thunderous clouds The rains came and came well and all got washed out, Here and there lay lumps on the road Sanitary napkins, diapers and plastics giving shelter to the microbes Collection vehicle, when will you come back to pick the loads? Enough is enough looks like there is no depending on you. We got to figure out what to do.” This was the situation in Vasanth Vihar, a gated community having 424 dwelling units including…

In a conversation with a colleague on the draft Revised Master Plan 2031, I was told that councilors of the BBMP (of the 198, less than thirty sat in on a presentation on the Draft RMP 2031) are convinced that the Master Plan is not a workable plan. When probed further, I was told that many councilors brought up issues that are technically not the concern/ mandate of the Master Plan. For instance, some mentioned that roads in their wards were in a bad condition. Others mentioned efficacy of water supply. Many others believe that the tool of Transfer of…

While the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) recently published the Draft Revised Master Plan for Bengaluru, civil society groups from the city have filed Writ Petitions in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the constitutional authority of the BDA to prepare the Master Plan. They have argued that it is the constitutionally mandated Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) that should prepare the Master Plan and not the BDA. As the High Court of Karnataka adjudicates whether the BDA or the MPC should have the power to make the Master Plan, this CLPR briefing note authored by Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Mathew Idiculla examines…

For an effective air quality management plan, a lot of information is required at various stages to ascertain the sources, their impacts on health, and their potential to control emissions. However, the most basic information that every city requires is ambient monitoring data. This data tells us, what is the level of air pollution, where and when is it the highest (spatial and temporal trends). It is very important that the ambient monitoring network for a city is representative, spatially and temporally, to support an effective long-term air quality management plan for the entire airshed of the city. For example,…

A recent BBC report projected that Bengaluru will run out of water soon. Yes, it was a superficial list of cities that already have water problem. It just pronounced the harsh verdict without any in-depth analysis of the factors involved. That’s like taking a casual look at an emaciated man and saying, “he is going to die soon”. But in this case, all the x-rays and MRIs are only going to confirm the same verdict. Ignoring the problem is going to worsen the situation. Let’s have a look at this complicated case, Munnabhai-style. He is bound to say, “Ae maamu!…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) recently released the fund utilisation report of MLAs under their Local Area Development Scheme (2013-14 to 2016–17) through a web page. B.PAC undertook this study focusing on the 27 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru Urban to observe the pattern of spending on activities. The data was collated for the MLA’s across 27 constituencies in Bengaluru Urban for the fiscal years 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 from Govt sources. The activities undertaken by the MLA’s under local area development scheme were classified as per KLLAD guidelines issued by Government. The activitywise spending across all the constituencies has been…

The Indian Motor Vehicles Act makes it compulsory to wear a BIS standard helmet when riding a two wheeler. It has been proven that wearing a standard helmet can reduce the risk of fatality by 40% and severe injury by 70%. Yet 70–80% of the helmets sold in the country are spurious. Bengaluru Traffic Police recently decided to make driving safer for two wheeler riders by insisting they wear ISI branded helmets only. Campaigns were launched and repeated reminders were published in the newpapers leading up to the roll out date of 1 Feb 2018. Then came the U-Turn, the…

Piped Natural Gas is available as an alternative to Liquid Petroleum Gas in many cities across India. PNG is preferred by many as it is cost-effective when compared to LPG. Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has started work in Bengaluru on supplying PNG to industrial and a few residential areas and people have been asked to apply for it if they want the connection. Piped natural gas, though not risky as compared to LPG, is also flammable. So, it becomes necessary for all of us in Bengaluru to be aware of the hazards that are related to PNG. What…

The Bengaluru Master Plan for 2031 promises to equip the city to deal with the challenges that will come its way by 2031 - principally more people, causing more demand for living space and transport. There are plans for development of new mass transport options like LRT (Light Rail Transit), BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) and Monorail along several major corridors alongside road and junction improvements.  But in this article, I want to step back from the issues concerning the city at large, and focus on the impact of the master plan on my own area of J.P. Nagar. The strange…

If you have travelled a reasonable number of major cities in India, the first thing that will strike you about Bengaluru is its green cover. The trees that stand regally spreading their foliage on both sides of the road, creating cool, beautiful avenues for passers-by to enjoy. These trees shield us from the fury of the sun during the warm summer months, and bear beautiful flowers in springtime. The joy that comes from watching these flowers in full bloom is truly sublime. It can transport one from mundane surroundings to a veritable paradise. Trees soothe our senses and relieve stress.…