EDITORS' PICK

Mobility was arguably Bengaluru’s single largest problem in 2017. Even as people grappled with depleting resources of water and land, it was the nightmare of getting from one place to another that took precedence over all else in our psyche. In a city of about 1.1 crore people, Bengaluru officially has close to 70 lakh registered vehicles. This is the second largest vehicle population in the country, coming behind Delhi which leads the way with a little more than a crore vehicles on its street. Mumbai with a population of 20 million has just over 35 lakh vehicles. In Bengaluru…

The residents of Indiranagar have been dealing with the fall out of rampant and unplanned commercialisation in their area for a few years now. With a number of bars and pubs opening up in arterial roads, the problems have only multiplied. Most of these establishments are concentrated around CMH road, 12th Main Road, 100 Feet Road and 80 Feet Road. Parking woes, overstretched utilities, loud music during nights, drunken misconduct - the list was endless. So while many Bengalureans preferred to head to Indiranagar for a night out, it had become a nightmare for those who lived in the locality.…

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has proposed converting street lights to Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights many times in the last 10 years, but none of those plans were executed. Now the BBMP has come up with a new approach to making it happen. BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad recently explained that the government would in a couple of weeks call out tenders for the work of replacing street lights with LED light bulbs. It is expected to take a couple of years for the project to be completed. Why has there been a delay in the  plan for LED…

On December 22nd, a woman was forced to deliver her child at the Mangalore Railway Junction (MAJN), after an ambulance failed to reach the remote area due to the narrow roads leading up to it. The 26-year-old woman, identified as Lata, a migrant labourer from Madhya Pradesh, was waiting for the train at the station, when she started experiencing labour pain and repeatedly cried out for help. Abubakker, a local rickshaw driver, immediately called 108 emergency services and directed them to the location. However, though the nearest ambulance reached the spot, the vehicle could not drive up to the station…

On December 3rd 2017, Pimple Saudagar, an upmarket suburb under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (sister city of Pune) hosted a meeting of citizens, apartment associations, shop owners and not-for-profit organisations to commit themselves to a movement that could alter the ecological footprint of the entire area. Come January 1st and Pimple Saudagar has resolved to go plastic bag free, entirely! Today everyone is aware of the impact of plastic pollution; there have been enough campaigns, disincentives for usage (such as imposing additional charges for plastic carry bags), incentives for avoidance (such as distribution of free bags by NGOs ) and…

The rains have stopped disturbing the city, but reports of dengue cases are still trickling in. In the post-rain season, buzzing armies of mosquitoes breed wherever they can, continuing to carry the sting of dengue and other mosquito-related diseases. What’s the reason behind this situation? People often complain that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is not doing enough, or even anything, to fight the mosquito menace after the rains. Currently, there is some anxiety related to the lack of efforts for “spraying insecticides” in common perception, or “fogging”. Anant, a resident of HSR Layout, says that BBMP doesn’t seem…

Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has come out with the draft plan for Bengaluru that will decide the city’s growth for next 15 years. The Revised Master Plan-2031 (RMP-2031) has been displayed in its website. It’s time for interested citizens to understand and decode the RMP and comment in it, raise objections or give suggestions. The process of first Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) was started in 1995, but as public were less connected among themselves and to the government, there was lack of engagement from the public. As a result the planning process became an one-sided affair, largely catering to the business interests and commercialisation. However,…

It has been just over a week since Mumbai was lashed by the highest 24-hour December rain in a decade due to cyclone Ockhi. Temperatures dropped sharply, schools were shut, and companies issued advisories to employees. But when such a disaster strikes the city, the most vulnerable are invariably its homeless. Brijesh Arya, an activist working with the homeless in Mumbai, mentions many cases from Mumbai’s monsoon floods this year. One is the case of Anju Kharwa, who held her child on her shoulders for as long as the floods raged. The flood that lasted nearly two days had caused…

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation’s survey for Cantonment metro station has created panic among the residents of Maangalya apartments in Benson Town. In part 1 of this story, Citizen Matters had reported that the mid-tunnel shaft between Cantonment and Pottery Town stations will come up at Maangalya apartment site, if Cantonment metro station is built at its original location as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The shaft is needed because the length of this stretch would be above 1.5 kms. The DPR had mentioned a specific location for the metro station — right opposite Cantonment railway station’s main entrance, under…

As the controversy on the location of the upcoming Cantonment metro station continues, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) has left many questions unanswered. While a citizens’ group has been demanding metro station right in front of the railway station where it was planned originally,  another is demanding it at the alternate location proposed by BMRC, at Bamboo Bazaar. With BMRC refusing to answer questions raised by citizens and the media, the suspense remains. Cantonment metro station was originally supposed to come up right opposite the Cantonment railway station, under its parking lot, as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for…