GENRE: In Focus

It is terrible to know of people losing lives in accidents. What if we know which areas are accident-prone? We could try avoiding those routes, or at least be careful while passing through the area. In this background, Citizen Matters tried to compile a list of top ten areas that are most accident-prone in Bengaluru. We also tried to understand why the accidents are more at these places and what is being done to solve the problems. We took into consideration the total number of accident cases over the last three years to come up with top 10 list. Over…

Debris left behind after demolition of Malleswaram Market. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni Heaps of rubble are piled high over the land where the almost half century old Malleswaram market thrived till a few months ago. There were days when this place used to be scented by garlands of fresh vibrant flowers hung outside the numerous shops, patronised by loyal customers for its wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Some shopkeepers have been rehabilitated in temporary shops built along the storm water drain next to the market that used to be spread over 2.08 acre of land. Some shopkeepers who had not been rehabilitated have set…

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) presented its annual budget, the last by the current Council, on March 17th 2015. The total outlay in the 2015-16 Budget is of Rs. 6730 crores. Acknowledging the financial situation of the BBMP to be “tight and tough”, Chairman of the Finance and Taxation Committee, V Anand characterised the budget as a realistic one. Instead of initiating new projects, the budget’s main focus would be to see through the ongoing and spilled over works and to cut down on administrative overheads. Total grants of Rs. 2,891 crores are expected from the State Government. The…

Kundalahalli gate, Hosur Road, Old Airport Road, CBD, Old Madras Road, Koramangala Sony junction, Banashankari bus stop, Nrupathunga Road, K G Road, Mysore Road, Tumkur road are a few areas that commuters would avoid if they could. These are wide roads but the sheer volume of traffic, stretches of roads that bottleneck and constant civil works like cables or drainage pipe laying or electrical transformer repairs make these roads perfect traffic gridlock examples. Roads under Tender SURE Phase 1 Vittal Mallya Road St. Marks Road Richmond Road Residency Road Museum Road Commissariat Road Cunningham Road Roads under Tender SURE Phase…

Licence for operating a sewage treatment plant can now be renewed once in five years. Pic: Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya Now, apartment management committees don’t have to trudge to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) once in every two years, to renew their licence to operate sewage treatment plants (STPs). Industries have to renew their licence to operate only once in five years. This is the result of the KSPCB’s recent decision to eliminate extra paperwork and make the processes user-friendly. In a move perceived to be industry-friendly, the KSPCB has decided to extend the minimum consent period for operation…

Onus of ensuring accuracy in test reports is on laboratories. File pic. When 31-year-old Shweta, who is expecting her first child in the month of June 2015, went on a routine visit to her doctor, she was asked to undergo the usual tests recommended during pregnancy. When the hemoglobin count in the Complete Blood Count (CBC) test turned out to be lower than normal, the doctor advised her to take the three other tests — B12 test, Ferritin test and hemoglobin electrophoresis test, in order to be able to pinpoint the exact cause for the low hemoglobin count. As suggested…

BBMP is left with only two officials now, to deal with the rampant tree cutting that takes place in the city. Pic: Shree D N It isn’t for the first time that Bengalureans have witnessed the BBMP and its Forest Cell getting into a nasty fight. The cold war which had once come to the limelight with the repatriation of BBMP’s Chief Conservator of Forest, Brijesh Kumar (IFS) to his parent department in October 2012, had temporarily calmed down with his return to the post. Two years on, the BBMP has relieved him again from the duty by issuing an…

Like many private layouts in the rapidly urbanising outskirts, Classic Orchards is a quiet residential community, with large independent houses. In 2010, the residents of Classic Orchards woke up one day to see the construction of an apartment complex on a piece of land they thought was a common amenity for the layout. If you are a resident of a private layout, this story will matter to you. Battles between property developers and property buyers are not uncommon. In a city like Bengaluru, where there are multiple government agencies involved in handling building approvals, one is often not sure if…

What would be the total number of residential high-rise buildings in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, built during the last five years? If the data provided by the BBMP is anything to go by, 97 is the exact number of buildings built in the Capital city between 2009 and 2014, which have been issued official Occupancy Certificates by BBMP. What is more puzzling is the reply given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Assembly session last month, confirming that no cases of residential apartments failing to obtain Occupancy Certificates have come to the notice of the government. However, if…

  Despite several measures taken, as claimed by the Chief Electoral Officer - Karnataka, to avoid errors in the electoral rolls, it seems the attempts have not yielded in a foolproof result. Like every year, there are glaring errors found in the final electoral roll published on CEO-KA website in the first week of this month, and the error pattern is almost repetition of the previous years. Complaints, suggestions and requests by various forums and active citizens for the improved electoral rolls, perhaps, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Though BBMP election is only a few months away, it…