GENRE: In Focus

BBMP has taken up road widening work up again and talk of TDR is afloat. But for the first time the agency is saying that if the people do not want TDR, financial compensation may be offered. K R Niranjan, BBMP Special Commissioner, says, "In core areas we can minimise road works by doing junction improvement etc. But in outer areas these works are necessary and land will be obtained through TDR; but if public do not accept TDRs we need to have reserve funds for acquisition."Road widening in outer areas is part of the ship load of projects worth…

The India Against Corruption group at Bangalore announced the results of the 'referendum' on the Lokpal Bill from the Chikkaballpur and Bangalore South parliamentary constituencies. The results indicated a clear majority for strengthening the Lokpal. Ninety-three per cent of people in Chikkaballapur and eighty-six per cent of South Bangalore constituency want the Prime Minister to come under the ambit of Lokpal. Ninety-five per cent of people in Chikkaballapur and ninety-three per cent in Bangalore also want Lokpal to cover central government and state government through Lokayuktas.A total of 85,000 questionnaires had been distributed in Chikkaballapur and Bangalore South, over the…

A government task force report says that the Apollo Hospital on Bannerghatta road is built on encroached land, hence illegal. The report was authored by V Balasubramanian, Chairman of state government's Task Force for Recovery and Protection of Public Lands. A copy of the report is with Citizen Matters. Pages 17-22 of the report are devoted to this case. Who does the land belong to?According to the report, the five acres, where the hospital is located now (opposite IIM-B), was originally granted by government to a certain NRI docor, A M Nisar Syed in 1991. Syed had applied for the…

Residents of a few Sobha apartments in Bellandur have challenged the imposition of annual fees on apartments that operate STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). According to rules of the state pollution control board (KSPCB), apartments that own STPs have to pay an annual CFO (Consent for Operation) fee.STPs are mandatory for apartments with area more than 20,000 sq mt in non-UGD areas. These apartments are treated on par with the most polluting industries, categorised as ‘Red' industries (Orange and green are the less polluting industries). The CFO fees for these industries depend on the capital investment in the project. Depending on…

The Karnataka state government's deadlines to launch mega transport projects continue to be paper statements of intent. Namma Metro's persistent delay is now virtually taken for granted. In the meantime, despite the deadline of 2013-14, Bangalore's Rs.6700 crores High Speed Rail Link (HSRL between city centre and the airport) is still stuck at the preliminary stage. A concessionaire, the firm that will fund, build and operate the PPP, is yet to be selected through tender process; construction will start only after the concessionaire awards tenders to other parties. Currently, only prequalification of concessionaires is completed. Prequalification is the process of…

A recent report by state government's Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has exposed several problems with BMTC's massive Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC) project. TTMCs are jargon for the swanky new terminals BMTC is building around the city, 45 in all, of which 10 are completed. The cost of these 10 terminals is over Rs 450 cr. DULT comes under the Urban Development Department (UDD) of the state government. For instance, only 15 buses can park in the Banashankari terminal at a time, giving each bus only 31 seconds in the bay during peak hours. This is considered…

Hasiru Usiru a citizen's group kicked off a weekly event to identify problem spots for pedestrians in the city on July 11. The group invited citizens to participate in the 'come, cross the road' event at various city junctions and collected data on problems. Broken footpath makes it even more harder. Pic courtesy : Kilikili Here's the report Why the event? In Bangalore, the majority of commute happens through public transport/cycle or walk.  This means that more than 50% of the people are pedestrians. But unfortunately, the projects touted by our authorities are aimed at the vehicle users.  We wanted…

Property values in the city are set to rise with hike in guidance value. Guidance values are expected to go up by 30-100% this year (minimum of 30% within core areas and maximum of 100% in outskirts); rates would go up by more than 200% in outer areas like those near Peripheral Ring Road, since the market rates here have rocketed since the last revision. The previous hikes were in 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2002. During the 2007 hike, the value of residential, commercial and industrial properties were hiked by 50%, 60% and 25% on average.Officials at the Department of…

The Sankey Road trees might have survived longer had the Mayor Sharadamma Ramanjaneya initiated a meeting of the Tree Authority of which she is the convener. But Shardamma is not aware of the Tree Authority for Bangalore. The authority is supposed to hear the public's complaints on tree felling. Citizens and organisations can appeal decisions by forest department officials such as the BBMP Tree Officer, permitting or disallowing cutting of trees in the city. One of the trees BBMP cut during the midnight operation on June 30th-July 1st. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi. The top forest official in BBMP limits, Deputy Conservator…

Leo Saldanha of the city-based green NGO Environmental Support Group intervened in a move that partly led to dropping of charges against the protestors and activists arrested on July 1st during the Sankey Road episode. Protesters were objecting to cutting of 19 trees on Sankey Road for it's proposed widening from Bhashyam Circle to Malleshwaram 18th Cross. Victoria D'Souza, protester, was dragged along with the other women to the police van. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi. Saldanha spoke to city police commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji and questioned the decision of Circle Inspector of Vyalikaval station to slap charges on those arrested under…