GENRE: Voices

Over 200 citizens, resident groups, environmental organisations and civil society groups have urged the Karnataka government to roll back its decision to amend the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, which would allow portions of parks and gardens to be used for concrete-heavy infrastructure projects. Gathering at Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bengaluru, the groups showcased a banner saying: NOT 5%. NOT 1 INCH. LEAVE OUR PARKS ALONE. "Bengaluru is becoming hotter and more climate vulnerable, yet the Karnataka government is making it easier to take away one of the city’s most important forms of natural infrastructure. Parks help cool neighbourhoods,…

On August 11, the Urban Development Department quietly published the draft Greater Bengaluru Authority (Parking) Rules, 2026 — the legal framework  meant to give teeth to Bengaluru's much-discussed Parking Policy 2.0. Citizens have thirty days to send in objections. Yet, few will read all eighteen pages of the notification. Fewer still will notice that a law framed as a way to curb traffic demand is, on close reading, a plan to expand parking supply and hand over enforcement to private players, while leaving the ordinary resident worse off.  That gap between the promise and what’s on paper matters, because parking…

When Lokayukta officials conducted a surprise inspection of Gottigere, Anjanapura, and JP Nagar 9th Phase in early April 2026, they found what residents of these neighbourhoods already knew: large heaps of uncollected garbage piled along roadsides, a city generating 5,000–6,000 tonnes of solid waste every day and visibly failing to manage it. Lokayukta Justice BS Patil summoned the Chief Operating Officer and senior officials of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML), directed them to appear for a hearing, and asked for a detailed report on the lapses and remedial measures. It is a familiar script. Inspection. Summons. Report. Repeat. Howoever,…

The Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) in Bidadi, first notified in March 2025, received its final notification in June 2026 under the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act (KUDA Act), 1987. The project is branded as India's first and largest AI City, featuring an AI-integrated township. The project will be implemented by the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA) under the same act. Three villages, Kempainapalya, Vaderahalli, and Mandalahalli are notified in the Gazette under Section 19(1) of the KUDA Act for the implementation of a development scheme, deemed as public purpose. The development scheme is spread over a total of 7,481…

Recently, on my way home from my office in Bengaluru, I noticed that the street vendor who usually sat across from my office building had disappeared. It wasn't until I began following news reports that I realised her absence was part of something much larger. Following the Supreme Court's judgement on walkability in June 2026, city governments launched eviction drives against the most vulnerable users of streets and footpaths in India. Within weeks, street vendors across Mysore, Bengaluru, and Kolkata were evicted from footpaths without notice. News reports described altercations between evicted street vendors and civic officials as the eviction…

When Chief Minister M K Stalin flagged off Chennai's first batch of low-floor electric buses in June 2025, the programme was presented as a major step towards cleaner and more modern public transport. The first phase alone involves acquring 625 electric buses at a reported cost of ₹697 crore. The fleet includes 400 non-air-conditioned and 225 air-conditioned buses and is being operated from five depots: Vyasarpadi, Perumbakkam, Central, Tondiarpet-I and Poonamallee. The investment is substantial. Chennai has not inducted a fleet of this size in years. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and equipped with passenger information systems, CCTV cameras…

The proposed Karnataka Apartment Management Bill, 2026 is an important step towards simplifying apartment governance in the state. By replacing the overlapping provisions of the Karnataka Ownership Flats Act (KOFA) and the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA) with a single legislation, the government has an opportunity to create a more transparent and efficient legal framework for apartment communities. Many of the proposed provisions are likely to benefit homebuyers, apartment associations and developers alike, by reducing legal ambiguity and providing a common framework for the management of residential communities. However, one provision deserves urgent reconsideration before the Bill becomes law. Formation…

In an earlier article, we explored how rural areas surrounding Bengaluru are affected due to the city's expansion. Here, we look at how Bidadi's transformation from a quiet agricultural area to an industrial hub affects the people who call it home. Nestled along the historic Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor in present-day Ramanagara district lies Bidadi, a town whose very name carries echoes of its past. Derived from the Kannada word “Bidara,” meaning a resting place, oral histories recount how the Maharaja of Mysuru once paused here during long journeys between the two cities. In those early years, Bidadi was defined not by…

From the medieval bazaars of Baghdad to the intellectual debates of Paris, to the warmth found in Delhi’s winters, poets, artists, writers, and aficionados have long captured what it means to be in a city, amid thousands of people, synchronising their lives to a rhythm entirely different from their rural counterparts. Life in the city is distinct. It is hard, exciting, liberating, and fast. Regimes are born in cities. Revolutions are ignited in them. India’s history, too, has played out against the backdrop of her many urban centres: Prayagraj, Gangaikondacholapuram, Pataliputra, Hampi, Shahjahanabad, Surat, Meerut, Kolkata, New Delhi, Navi Mumbai,…

Rabindra Sarobar, affectionately known as the "Lungs of South Kolkata," is at a critical turning point. As a designated site under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA), Kolkata's living ecosystem requires dedicated protection. Authorities are not supposed to use the lake as a commercial revenue generator for municipal expenses. However, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), as the custodian of the lake, has failed to safeguard this beautiful green oasis in the heart of the city. Many Public Interest Litigation (PIL) matters remain pending before the Kolkata High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Yet, KMDA…