dult

As COVID-19 cases are steeply rising in Bengaluru, some citizen groups are demanding pedestrian- and cycling-friendly streets, that would help ensure social distancing in public spaces. For a start, they have sent a proposal to the state government and BBMP, specifically asking for three market streets - Commercial Street, Gandhi Bazaar and Malleswaram 8th Cross - to be closed to vehicles and be made pedestrian/cycling-friendly. The proposal was sent by the NGO Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF), and endorsed by groups like Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), Malleshwaram Swabhimana Initiative, Bangalore Apartments’ Federation, CIVIC, Jhatkaa.org, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDukW437_lw&feature=youtu.be

It has been a week of contrasts for transit in Bengaluru last week. Even as the debate about the proposed elevator corridor heated up, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy announced that a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the Suburban Rail project would be set up in a month to help speed up the project under K-RIDE (Railway Infrastructure Development Company Karnataka Limited). This move was welcomed as a shot in the arm for the project that has been decades in the making - except for one tiny detail. A Special Purpose Vehicle for Suburban Rail already exists for Bengaluru! In…

16 traders lose licences for using disposable plastic At a council meeting held in July, BBMP had declared an ultimatum to traders who do not stop using disposable plastic material (cups, plates and spoons). Mayor Sampath Raj had chalked out a week's deadline for the shopkeepers to permanently shift to using eco-friendly materials instead, failing which the licences of establishments would be cancelled. True to their word, the corporation's health department cancelled 16 trading licences of shops in Avenue Road, Bommanahalli and Neelasandra. One and a half tonnes of plastic was recovered through the raids conducted over two days, along with…

  A day filled with joy and fun–Cycle Day–themed Masti ki Pathshala, was hosted jointly by the Rotaract Club, Presidency College and the residents of Coffee Board Layout in Nagavara on January 10th. The event as usual started with warm-up sessions and three rounds of cycle rides around the beautiful avenues of Nagavara. Many residents of Coffee Board Layout came out to celebrate the cycling and the open streets. They also enjoyed the various games that were conducted which included lagori, badminton, chess, ludo etc.  Young and old, with or without cycles, many people turned up to support the cause and…

  Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), UDD, Government of Karnataka which is part of Bangalore Coalition for Open Streets (BCOS) along with local partner Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) conducted the second edition of the  ‘Cycle Day’ event in Yelahanka New Town next to the Allalasandra lake. Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) is the local partner in this initiative and have come forward to take this event to their local community. Sunday August 3rd, saw 13A Main Road in Yelahanka New Town, temporarily closed to motorised traffic, and transformed into an “open, people-friendly street” to promote cycling, walking, fitness and…

Cycling enthusiasts attending Cycle Day event at Yelahanka. Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), UDD, Government of Karnataka which is part of Bangalore Coalition for Open Streets (BCOS) along with local partner Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) conducted the ‘Cycle Day’ event in Yelahanka New Town next to the Allalasandra lake. The program was attended by over 3,000 local residents and cyclists from across Bangalore who enthusiastically participated in the cycle day event. S R Vishwanath, MLA Yelahanka, Manjula-Commissioner DULT, Muniraju-Corporator Ward 4, Mr.Virupaksha Mysore-Additional Commissioner, BBMP-Yelahanka zone and S T Tayappa-President, YUVA addressed the participants. Cycle Day has been…

Bengaluru kicked off the Cycle Day campaign with its first event, Feel Bengaluru Cycle Day today morning at Cubbon Park. With close to 1200 cyclists in attendance, the Mayor of our city opened the event by ceremonial inauguration of a new cycle stand at Cubbon Park. He then led all the cyclists off on a 1-km ceremonial kick off ride till the Central Library. After this, all the cyclists rode together on a 5-km rally around Cubbon Park touching several heritage spots along the way. It was a great sight as 1200 cyclists went around Cubbon Park, on Kasturba road,…

With the Namma Railu project to connect Bengaluru to the surrounding towns moving forward, there is talk of 'land value capture' to finance it. I.e, can we find the money for this project (and others like it) by either giving additional FSI at a price to land-owners in the area, or by higher property taxes after the completion of the project? This is a standard financing technique that is used by many countries. But in Bangalore we have a dubious record on this front. We have arbitrarily increased FSI in some areas (e.g. near Metro stations) in violation of the…

In its March meeting, BBMP Council approved the new parking policy which would allow BBMP to collect parking fee from citizens. As per this policy, parking will be charged across the city, and parking lots will be set up in all areas. The policy aims to encourage public transport and reduce land use for parking. BBMP is now waiting for a study commissioned by state government’s DULT (Department of Urban Land Transport). This study will look at public transport and existing parking availability, identify parking demand and also areas where parking lots can be set up. DULT has commissioned the…