GENRE: In Focus

Frail women carrying bricks or sand on their head and walking in the heat, sometimes with a small kid tagging along. Men in dusty, faded clothes with dry, rough hands smearing cement on the well-laid bricks or sprinkling water on a building that has just been cemented. This is a pretty common sight in a city like Bangalore that is ever-growing, ever-expanding and constantly in the process of being built or rebuilt. Building construction workers are growing in numbers every day, with constructions going on in any given road at any point in time. Labourers at work in the construction…

Basavanagudi - the very word summons the image of the big bull’s statue from which its name has been derived. Famous Bull Temple and annual Kadle Kai Parishe make this oldest locality very special to every Bangalorean.However, this area has been witnessing rapid development over the years. The extent of greenery has proportionately reduced with trees being cut everywhere. Many sewerage and water lines are almost 50 years old and need replacement. Garbage disposal, erratic water and power supply and lack of parking facilities also plague this constituency. The Tagore Circle underpass is another issue that needs to be addressed.…

Rajaji Nagar was among the first few ‘planned areas' in the city. The size of this constituency is about 5.5 sq km. After remaining a traditional, residential area for long, there has been haphazard development here. Many residential areas have commercial developments now; unplanned growth and illegal buildings is an issue.This area has many educational institutions, hospitals and temples. Rajaji Nagar Industrial Area houses many large and small industries.The constituency is BJP-dominated - six out of seven wards here have BJP corporators. The wards here are Dayananda Nagar, Prakash Nagar, Rajaji Nagar, Basaveshwar Nagar, Kamakshipalya, Shivanagara and Sriramamandir. Of these,…

K R Puram constituency has areas that were newly added to the BBMP. Hence the civic issues here are also many, compared to core city areas. HAL Airport and DRDO division come under this constituency. So do ITPL, Tin Factory and ITI (Indian Telephone Industries).K R Pura is a large constituency covering nine wards - Horamavu, Ramamurthy Nagar, Vijnana Pura, K R Pura, Basavanapura, Devasandra, A Narayanapura, Vijnana Nagar and HAL Airport. The constituency is BJP-dominated. Eight out of nine wards here have BJP corporators; only Basavanapura has a Congress corporator. The main issue here is water shortage. Until recently,…

Shanthi Nagar constituency includes many of the posh areas in the city. A large part of the Central Business District - including MG Road, Brigade Road, Richmond Town etc - comes under this constituency. In addition to malls, this constituency also has traditional markets like Johnson Market. Shanthi Nagar bus stand is also located in this constituency. Even then, there are many basic infrastructure issues here. There are many slums that do not even have basic facilities like toilets or water. The constituency comprises seven wards - Jogupalya, Shantala Nagar, Domlur, Agaram, Vannarpet, Nilasandra and Shanthi Nagar. In these wards,…

A constituency situated in central Bangalore, Shivaji Nagar which consists of trading hub in and around the iconic Russell Market and Bamboo Bazaar and affluent wards like Jaymahal and Vasanth Nagar, is in the general category. Known for edifices of religious and historical significance such as St.Mary's Basilica and Jumma Masjid in Shivaji Nagar and Someshwara temple and Gurudwara in Halasuru ward, the constituency has a large Tamil and Urdu-speaking population. With a total of 19 contestants including 11 independents but no women, this area houses the Karnataka headquarters of the Indian National Congress (INC) on Queen's road, Janata Dal…

All wards in Yeshwanthpur constituency are recent additions to the BBMP. This is a large constituency which also includes villages outside the BBMP limits. Hence many areas lack basic facilities compared to old BBMP areas.Kengeri railway station and Kengeri satellite town come under this constituency. It also has many industries. NICE (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises) ring road and BMIC (Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor) passes through the constituency. There have been protests about NICE Ltd acquiring more road than is required, and using it to build private layouts. There have been various court cases on this; but in a recent affidavit,…

  Byatarayanapura is a part of the Bangalore Urban District with around 3.1 lakh voters. It suffers from road infrastructure issues. Bus connectivity is also of concern to residents. Land encroachment is another troublesome issue. Bad roads have been a menace to this constituency. They've led to unbearable traffic and road accidents. Drinking water supply also remains inadequate. Reason being, borewells have gone dry. The constituency consists of seven BBMP wards -- Jakkur, Thanisandra, Byatarayanapura, Kodigehalli, Vidyaranyapura, Doddabommasandra and Kuvempunagar; as well as eight gram panchayats of Doddajalla, Chikkajalla, Hunsemaranahalli, Bagalur, Marenahalli, Sonappanahalli, Betta Halasooru, Bandi Kodigehalli; and three Zilla…

Chamarajpet constituency which is made up of Padarayanapura, Jagajivanaramnagar, Rayapuram, Chalavadipalya, K R Market, Chamrajapet and Azad Nagar wards falls under to General Category. According to a recent report, "Muslim voters who number nearly 65,000 of the total 1.74 lakh are the key. The next highest are the Tamils with about 25,000 votes. There are many other communities too that have between 6,000 and 15,000 votes." Chamarajpet Assembly Constituency has 4 Women corporators. The wards are evenly split between BJP, INC and JDS with 2 corporators each.It is interesting to note that while there were 214,874 registered voters during the…

If you are on Hosur road going towards Electronic city in the evenings and not taking the elevated flyover, chances are you are going to be stuck at the Gaarvebhavipalya junction. The usual sights and sounds of traffic chaos strike you loud and clear. You will also see a bunch of young women balancing plastic pots while waiting for a safe moment to cross the busy junction. These young women cross over the busy and often dangerous highway, from Hongasandra side to Bandepalya to collect water every other day. Water is the biggest concern in sitting MLA Sathish Reddy's backyard…