OPINION

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…

I have my vote in Mahadevapura constituency in Bengaluru. And like the average Indian who has spent a lifetime collecting, photocopying, attesting (self-attesting now), laminating, scanning, uploading, re-uploading and then still being told “sir, one document is missing”, I approached the ongoing SIR exercise with the enthusiasm of a goat being walked past a butcher shop. Government procedures scare me. Not because I am trying to hide anything. Not because I am not sincere. Not because I don’t keep my papers properly. They scare me because no matter how much I try, there is always something wrong. One document will…

Once a “city of lakes,” Thane’s population has roughly increased sevenfold since 1971. The city's estimated population has crossed 27 lakh, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the country. As its population surges, new construction rises at a feverish pace, and infrastructure projects are announced with clockwork regularity. By all outward appearances, Thane is a city on the move. But the question to ask is: Is it moving in a better direction? Sadly, it is not. I am a fourth-generation resident of this city. I grew up here and watched the city transform and lose something…

Summer in India has been merciless this year, with many states recording temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius and rising reports of fatalities. Despite these harsh conditions, urban support continues for development projects that clear trees, wetlands, mangroves, and forests near cities. A recent Article 14 report provides data on thousands of trees that will soon be sacrificed nationally for infrastructure projects. Those opposing such unscientific large-scale tree felling are often labelled 'tree-huggers', 'anti-development' and 'anti-nationals'. While capitalism accelerates environmental degradation and the world faces a growing climate crisis, societal divisions deepen.  Yet, we give trees too little credit: Beings necessary…

Late each winter, Bengaluru briefly transforms into an Indian Kyoto, as roads blush pink, office parks turn photogenic, and social media buzzes with claims of a local “cherry blossom” season. But the star of this spectacle is not cherry at all. It is Tabebuia rosea, the pink trumpet tree, a neotropical ornamental whose native range runs from Mexico to Ecuador. What seems like a harmless aesthetic win is, ecologically, far more complex. The history Bengaluru’s pink canopy is not new. Much of it can be traced back to the 1980s under forester S G Neginhal, who drove a major greening…

Step out on any morning in an Indian city, and you will find women contributing significantly to the vibrancy of urban life: walking children to school, waiting at bus stops, navigating crowded markets, heading to work, stitching together livelihoods and families across multiple trips and responsibilities. Urban India is home to about 181.6 million women, nearly 48% of its population. Yet, women hardly have a voice in how cities are planned, designed, and governed.  Globally, there is growing recognition that women-centric urban planning and governance work better for everyone. A 2021 study by UN-Habitat found, for instance, that gender-inclusive planning…

In a country like ours, where mass gatherings of various kinds are an integral part of life, we keep hearing of stampedes invariably leading to casualties, every now and then. Last year saw two such events, which made national headlines and shook the nation, one a sports victory parade gone sour in Bengaluru and the other, a stampede at a political road show in Karur, Tamil Nadu. The year before, Chennai witnessed huge crowds at an IAF show on the Marina Beach, which led to five deaths and more than a hundred hospitalisations due to heat-related issues and chaos arising…

For over two decades, residents along Chennai's Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) have been fed a steady diet of promises about piped water supply. From desalination plants to reservoirs, successive governments have announced grand projects that would finally quench the IT corridor's thirst. Yet, as of January 2026, OMR residents are still struggling with inadequate piped water and are forced to rely on expensive private tankers or depleted groundwater that grows more brackish each year. The original promise It began with hope. In July 2004, the then Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, announced central government support for a desalination plant near Chennai.…

The neighbourhood of JP Nagar 7th phase in the southern part of Bengaluru is home to three lakes — Sarakki, Puttenahalli, and Chunchaghatta, alongside a sprawl of well-planned high-rise apartments, upscale restaurants, reputed schools, and proximity to the city’s cultural hub. It’s everything a modern urban citizen could ask for. In reality, it’s an area teetering on the edge, willing to ruin itself in a bid to cash in on its opportunity. Convenience at a cost A map showing the RBI Layout Main Road and the surrounding localities. Pic courtesy: Google Maps. Before taking a peek into the area, let’s…

Maximum City, Glamour City, City of Dreams, City of Struggles — Mumbai wears many names and identities. One of the world's most populous cities, it houses a staggering 2.17 crore people in just 603 square kilometres. Its carrying capacity in terms of accommodating a workforce was exceeded a decade ago, yet the daily inflow continues. Sky-high, artificially inflated real estate prices have pushed many to the distant suburbs, making the daily commute for work or study an arduous struggle. And yet the mobility solutions that the city administration and other powers that be come up with are not only inadequate,…