CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Final electoral rolls are out, in the poll-bound Karnataka. There have been serious issues in the electoral rolls in the past, and this time is no exception. The quality issues in the electoral rolls of Bengaluru published at ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in website on February 28, 2018 are of the nature that could lead to denial of voting rights to many citizens. Following is a glimpse of voters’ woes in Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections. The Electoral Rolls Management System (ERMS) is getting worse in some areas though there are improvements in some other areas. Data on voters of Karnataka is officially…

My article titled ‘Bengaluru needs its green cover to remain liveable’, led to questions about what can be done. A mission for re-greening Bengaluru is the need of the hour - a time-bound exercise with goals to be achieved. For example the goal could be to increase tree cover in Bengaluru by 20% in the next five years. Step 1: Tree census For starters, the government, that is the municipal administration - the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) must undertake a tree census to establish a baseline. Trees must be mapped employing qualified experts backed by technology such as a…

I felt quite thrilled as I found these leaves of Four-leaf Clover, and clicked them on February 5, 2018. Why the thrill? Here is the entry about Four-leaf Clover. Amongst other things, it says: The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to tradition, such clovers bring good luck,though it is not clear when or how that tradition got started. The first reference to luck might be from an 11-year-old girl, who wrote in an 1877 letter to St. Nicholas Magazine, “Did the fairies ever whisper in your ear, that a four-leaf clover brought good luck…

Bengaluru is awaiting the release of Mater Plan 2031 (RMP 2031), after the draft master plan was closed to comments in January 2018. Many articles in the print media have discussed the highlights of the plan’s proposals related to transportation, housing, zonal regulations and other aspects, and provided a critique of the development strategies of the plan from various perspectives. Civil society groups and the media have made efforts to help citizens grapple with the complex contents of the plan, with the intent of explaining how to read and understand the plan in a bite-sized manner, and comment on it…

Freedom Pedals initiative by Anvaya Foundation started three years back when we met a girl in Kaiwara temple. She was playing with an old rusted cycle which didn't have bell, brake and not even a seat. After some thought, we started collecting old cycles across Bengaluru and distributed them to government school students in village limits, after repairing them and giving them a facelift. First year we started with four cycles. Last year, we could donate 38 cycles. This year, in total we donated 220 cycles so far, including 120+ cycles donated last week in Seegehalli Government School. Our convenors…

“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!…