DATA

According to the recently released 2023 Bengaluru Crime Data, there is a significant gap between reported and detected crimes in the city.  In 2023, 12,627 cases of total crimes were reported, of which only 3,603 crimes were detected. This shows a gap of 71.48% between reported and detected cases. From 2022 to 2023, there seems to have been a 36% rise in crimes across the city, driven by various motives. However, sudden and grave provocation topped the list for motives. “We can never definitely say that crime has increased or decreased, because crime is always there, only the trend in…

In the first of this two-part series, we discussed the quality of the building plans sanction dataset on the BBMP website. The data is potentially crucial in informing, visualising and guiding the built-form in the city. Thus, the imperative to streamline and quality-check the data collation exercise cannot be over emphasised. In the second part, we illustrate the insights from this data. The publicly available data was used to understand the direction and typology of built growth expansion across time at the city, zonal and ward scale. These insights, we argue, are critical inputs for planning and managing the city.…

After a steady reduction from 2017 to 2020, the city witnessed an increase in waste collection from 5500 Metric Tonnes per day (MTD) in 2020-21 to 6300 MTD in 2021-22, says a report released by Praja Foundation. The highest contributor is wet (food) waste which comprises 73% of the total garbage collected at the landfills. The report on the status of civic issues in Mumbai, highlighted challenges in solid waste management, sewerage and water bodies. Moreover, due to the deteriorating sanitisation facilities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) failed the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 5-Star Rating of 'Garbage Free Cities' in…

A lot has changed in Bengaluru in the last 20 years. Millions of people moved in and made the city their home in the last decade. Lakhs of jobs have been added. Infrastructure too has been added to keep pace with the growing population. Municipal wards went from 100 to 198 to now 243. A new BBMP Act has been enacted that extended the Mayor's term from one year to 2.5 years. The BBMP Act also brought in Zonal level Commissioners and Zonal Councils. We saw so many Chief Ministers, Bengaluru Ministers, Commissioners, and Mayors but one thing remained more…

An analysis of BBMP's work order data over the last five years shows 74% of funds were meant for roads and drain works. From "Remodelling of stormwater drains, culverts-bridges and allied works" to "White Topping on selected roads" - the packages range from a few lakhs to many a crore. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru’s city government, administers an area with a population of around 12 million and has a budget of around Rs 11,000 crore as of 2023-24. In spite of its massive expenditure on civic works, BBMP is often in the news for all the wrong reasons,…

Bengaluru is a mess! Traffic is horrendous. Garbage is not picked up and lakes are polluted. Unplanned development is affecting the quality of life.  'I pay my taxes - why am I not getting services?!' But are you going to be voting on May 10th? No? Why not? 'C'mon, one vote does not matter!' This is a myth that needs to be busted especially in Bengaluru. In our city, the winning margins are very thin! Bengaluru's story of low turnout Over eight Bengaluru constituencies have a deplorable turnout of less than 50% last time, which is in the bottom third…

Traffic, or mobility in general, has been one of the biggest challenges Bengaluru has faced for decades now. While diverse solutions in the form of flyovers, underpasses, signal-free corridors, grade separators, and road-widening have been tried, the issue has defied a sustainable solution. Most experts have pointed out that the only way to solve congestion is to plan to move people, not personal vehicles, and that public transport is the best investment for the city.  Problem statement In the “Bengaluru Constituencies Datajam'', conducted by OpenCity.in on April 1st, we looked at public transport in terms of accessibility to Metro and BMTC…

One of the important pillars of democracy is civic participation in the processes of governance. Participation by citizens in their local governance can vary from something as simple as turning up to vote in elections - general, assembly and local body-to registering their grievances with the local bodies and participating in ward committee meetings. In the “Bengaluru constituencies datajam”, conducted on 1st April, at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, we looked at publicly available data to evaluate the 28 assembly constituencies in Bengaluru Urban district on their civic participation. Problem statement Rank Bengaluru’s constituencies in terms of civic…

OpenCity.in, on April 1st 2023, organised a datajam at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore to analyse data of various sectors-education, civic participation, and mobility-for all the 28 Bengaluru Assembly constituencies. The event brought together participants from diverse backgrounds, including urban designers, policy wonks, GIS experts, developers, data scientists, and more. This article highlights the team's findings in education. Problem statement How many students are there per constituency population? Are there enough staff and facilities in the schools to serve these students? Background We started out by asking basic questions on what constitutes education and the basic infrastructure needed…

Find out how Chamrajapet Assembly Constituency is faring and what the major issues in this constituency are. Learn about the incumbent MLA and INC candidate BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and other candidates Bhaskar Rao (BJP), Govindaraj C (JDS), and Jagadish Chandra C (AAP). Table of contentsAbout the constituencyKey issues in the constituencyKey parameters - How does this constituency fare?SchoolingMobilityCitizen engagementHealthConstituency mapCitizen demandsIncumbent MLA: BZ Zameer Ahmed KhanWork in the termIn the newsQuestions raised in the assemblyList of candidatesCandidate: Bhaskar Rao, BJPCandidate: Govindaraj C, JD (S) Candidate: Jagadish Chandra C, AAPFull list of candidates  Past election results About the constituency Chamrajapet constituency…