INTERVIEWS

Sampath Raj, the 51st Mayor of Bangalore, finishes his term as the first citizen of the city in September. As the race for his successor heats up, we caught up with the man for a chat on his experience as the Mayor of Bangalore, on city administration, and other pressing issues. Much like that of a seasoned politician, his interview turned out to be more interesting for what he hinted at, rather than what he said. A mayor is considered a figure head and is not really considered very powerful. Is that what your experience has been in office? The…

In the wake of the landmark judgment decriminalising homosexual acts among consenting adults, Citizen Matters Bengaluru spoke to Sanjay Bavikatte and Arvind Narrain, organisers of Bangalore's (and India's) first Gay Rights Symposium in an academic institution in 1998, about the long road to 2018. Tell us a bit about your individual involvement in the movement. How did it all start? Arvind: We were at National Law School – Sanjay and I – friends from Class 5 onwards. We would hang out together and attend discussions on human rights among other topics. It was a great place to be. I remember…

Submission of self declaration forms for revised property tax has been in the news for more than a month now. Despite multiple reports and clarifications by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials, there is still palpable uncertainty among citizens about the whole procedure. In an earlier article on the topic, Citizen Matters Chennai had explained the nitty gritty of self declaration and the procedure to submit these forms. Since then, the last date for submission of forms, has been revised to September 16th. As several questions continued to pour in from our readers, we met R Lalitha, IAS,  Deputy Commissioner,…

Samarth Mahajan does not match the common man’s imagination of an IIT-ian. While exceptions may not be all that rare, India still associates IIT with successful corporate careers, fat salaries and most recently, Sundar Pichai! One doesn’t really think of a 24-year-old graduate from IIT Kharagpur giving up a coveted FMCG job on a whim, getting up on unreserved compartments on trains and taking a 17-day journey across the length and breadth of the country, capturing through his camera the voices and lives of a vast majority of people from its cities, towns and villages. Samarth’s documentary The Unreserved, winner…

Narrow, crumbling roads, buildings on either side, cars and pedestrians navigating the maze. I glance at the navigation app on my phone. Less than 100 metres now. But it’s still nowhere in sight. Asking people doesn't help. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, a sharp turn. The GPS says I’ve arrived: I'm inside the congested urban village of Panchsheel Vihar, in front of Ramditti J R Narang Deepalaya Learning Centre. The Narang Trust formed by the family-owned Narang Steel, has donated the use of their building to Deepalaya—an NGO—rent-free, for close to forty years. It is within this building that…

With Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s maiden budget reviving the pod taxi for five stretches in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 1445 crores, several eyebrows have been raised in questions over what makes the government favour it as a possible solution to the city’s traffic nightmare. Interestingly, the idea of pod taxis isn't as new as one would imagine. Indian cities have seen similar experiments before: The Chembur - Wadala - Maharaja Chowk monorail project, the airport feeder metro built by the Delhi Metro as a PPP project which was subsequently converted into the orange line. Both have had their…

Travelling within Bengaluru City has become a chronic nightmare for all its citizens. Even as people grapple with never-ending traffic jams, the government has come up with various ideas to solve the issue, including the much debated elevated flyover and the pod taxi project. But are decision makers losing sight of the broader context and framework within which the traffic situation must be viewed? Is there a deep enough understanding of the nuances that need to be considered for the gridlock to be broken and the efficiency of solutions multiplied? Talking to Citizen Matters, Professor Ashish Verma deconstructs the overall…

Stories can be told through sound, words and visuals.  Stories expressed through sound are mostly songs and spoken tales.  Novels, short-stories, ballards and poetry are stories expressed with words. Finally combining words, sound and visuals are stories that are told through films, television series, plays and musicals. In today’s context, we could even include videos and other forms of digital content.   "Writing has no barriers. All you need is passion", says Bhavna Singh, a debutante writer. Her book, Story Express, a chronicle of short stories for children, was launched recently. Bhavna Singh is an ardent believer in  inculcating values…

The Smart Cities Mission project was one of the most ambitious projects launched by the Union Government in 2015. Identifying 100 cities (currently 99) across the country for sustainable development at an estimated cost of Rs 98,000 crore, the project was among the first major efforts launched by the Modi Government with a focus on urban development. Among the cities identified, based on their Mission proposals, seven were in Karnataka – Mangalore, Belgaum, Shimoga, Tumkur, Davangere, Bangalore and the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad in the northern part of the state. As the Ministry as well as the cities chosen acknowledge,…

In a city where real estate has been soaring and there is a strong timber lobby, Dipika Bajpai has a tough job. The Deputy Conservator of Forests of Bengaluru has the responsibility to protect the forest blocks of the city and to work on the afforestation project to keep the city green. In a telephonic interview with Citizen Matters, the officer spoke about the lack of a green policy, its repercussions and the challenges of protecting land in a city where space it at a premium. Can you summarise the status of urban forests in Bangalore, their preservation and the…