GENRE: In Focus

When the Karnataka government announced a flyover on Bellary road recently, citizens protested over the secrecy shrouded around the project. Their main contention was against the Bangalore Development Authority for silently moving the project without much details in public domain. The fact is that the State government had announced the project in its budget 2014-15, and kept pursuing it without transparency. In fact there are many grand infrastructure projects that successive governments have announced in the State budgets over the years, for which little information exists in public domain. Blame it on bureaucratic and political apathy, or on technical glitches…

Bengaluru's bruhath problem with sewage is notoriously well known, with pictures of foaming lakes and fish kills attracting global media attention. But what is less well known is the fact that this city has the highest number of apartment-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the country. With over 2000 small-scale STPs housed in apartment complexes alone, along with an equally substantial number in commercial complexes, Bengaluru could well be called the 'city of STPs'. The primary driver of this ‘revolution’ of small-scale STPs in the city is the 2004 KSPCB order mandating all new residential complexes with more than 50…

A solidarity meeting was held at the Institute of Agricultural Technologists on Queen’s Road on 13th November 2016 for farmers across Karnataka who are suffering from acute drought in the last two years. This meeting is part of an effort to engage those who influence public opinion, such as writers, academics, journalists and any other professional in towns/cities to the farmers’ struggle as part of the ‘Bengaluru stands with the farmers in distress’ campaign. Chukki Nanjunda Swamy, Dr Vasu, Geethamma, K T Gangadhar, Prakash Kalmadi and other eminent people spoke about the problems the farmers are facing and how to overcome the drought…

We have almost grown used to it now: serpentine queues before ATMs, chaos in banks, the hapless senior citizen waiting on the pavement and praying that the bank dispenses some 100-rupee notes today, and even the strident urban supporter who thinks all the pain is for greater gain in the end. It has been two weeks since the decision to ban currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in a purported drive against black money in the economy, but the implementation of the policy so far has left the ordinary citizen grappling with serious liquidity crunch. As problems due…

In October 2016, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala rejected the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2016, sending it back to the state government for reconsideration. The Bill allowed for reducing the area of parks and open spaces within residential layouts, in towns other than Bengaluru. Currently, 15% of the area of residential layouts have to be retained for parks and playgrounds for the use of general public, and another 10% for civic amenities. The amendment would reduce these to 10% and 5% respectively, which will be applicable for all upcoming layouts. The KUDA Bill had been passed by the legislature…

I thought I was smarter than the rest. Whilst people scrambled to bank ATMs minutes after our Prime Minister’s announcement about demonetization and the carefully framed narrative that followed, for me it was a bit of a waiting game. I had my credit cards and debit cards on me and some 100 rupee notes that had just been withdrawn a few days back before the much-touted surgical strike on black money happened. I informed my maid and cook rather nonchalantly that their salary would be delayed and they manage the ‘small’ inconvenience for the larger national good. It was just…

In our ongoing focus on Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and the various welfare schemes that they are entitled to, we have already reported that many of those eligible aren't even aware of the government schemes meant for their benefit. If you are one of those who know a BPL family — whether your help, cook or security guard at home -- and would like to help them avail such schemes, here is a reference list of important welfare schemes for the poor, sponsored by the Central and State governments. Members of a women's self help group in Jayanagar, Bangalore…

In the first part of the series, the problems faced by the buyers of a famed developer who didn’t handover flats as promised, were explained. Read the first part here: When the developer conned buyers This part will explain how buyers formed a community and tackle the issue. When meeting in groups with the local management of the builder did not help, the residents decided to print banners and sit in protest at their office in June-July 2013. Meanwhile, Nayak suggested that all the buyers get together, form a registered association and fight out the builder legally. As a prelude,…

The longstanding suffering of home buyers at the hands of the builders may be a common occurrence. This is the story of how three of us fought to get our due from the builder. It has been a long battle for my fellow buyers Kartikey Khanna, an RTI activist, and MS Shamasundara, an armed forces employee, and me. We had put our hard-earned, lifetime’s savings in what we thought would be our dream house. Like so many others, we were impressed with the lofty promises of world class living standards and amenities and quick possession (within 36 months of signing…

In the bylanes of Swatantrapalya, hundreds of BPL families live struggling to make both ends meet. Pic: Akshatha M In our previous story on welfare schemes for the poor, we narrated the difficulties that below poverty line (BPL) families face in availing these. A majority of the people we spoke to said they were unaware of most schemes, others said they cannot really put their time and effort in running around government offices to get the schemes sanctioned. The general notion among those belonging to the economically weaker sections is that one needs to make multiple visits to the government…