OPINION

Clause 60 of The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act of 1976 (KMCA) lists down the power and functions of the Mayor. The powers include: presiding over BBMP council meetings; conducting inspections and directing BBMP Commissioner to implement any resolution passed by the Corporation or the Standing Committees and produce records. Other sections of the Act also delegate more powers to the Mayor like barring a councillor from voting and casting a vote in case of tie while passing a resolution. However, the interesting aspect to note here is that the Mayor does not enjoy any executive powers and is mostly a…

I’m not sure why there is such a brouhaha about the Mayoral election. Being Bengaluru’s mayor is a prestige, no doubt. Beyond that I have only my sympathies to the person holding that role. (S)he is like a person commanding a cemetery. There are lots of people below, with hardly anyone to listen to the command. The problem is the structure of the municipality under Karnataka Municipal Council (KMC) Act, not the individual. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has a huge budget. The Commissioner is the administrative head and the most powerful person in the BBMP. He can stall or…

Mayor is the first citizen of a city.  Members of the Council with elected body of corporators from various wards of the city, MLAs, MLCs, local MPs, and nominated members elect a Mayor. Bengaluru city has 198 wards and had a population of around 8 million in 2016. This has resulted in significant pressure on the city’s infrastructure, water resources, water supply, in meeting the basic needs of its citizens. Mayor should know his powers, responsibilities and play an important role to keep his citizens happy. Mayor’s term is short, and he must get into the act from the word…

The problems Bengaluru faces have never been more evident. Traffic has reached a record high, more than half our roads can’t even be classified as roads, our garbage disposal system is in a state of absolute disarray, our groundwater is vanishing at an alarming rate while the part that remains is being constantly polluted, our lakes are struggling to not be engulfed by toxic foam. Most importantly, not only our ecosystem is dying in isolation but also the citizen of Bengaluru is perishing along with it. For example, with far over 65 lakh vehicles in the city, Bengalureans breathe air…

‘Bendakaaluru’ is a land of dreams for every individual with every opportunity and facilities available at the doorstep. It was a dream child which depicted the vision for the city by one of the great architect of all times Kempegowda. Bengaluru as it is called today, came to be recognised with various titles ranging from the Garden City to Silicon City to Garbage City. Every title adorned by this city clearly shows both the level of development and degradation in terms of infrastructure, technology, ecological degradation, land use pattern, etc. Bengaluru attracts thousands of people with dreams of better life…

The ballots are in and tallied for the mayor post (quixotic); and here I am, the Mayor of Bengaluru. Everyone want things to happen as per their vision, but communities aren’t always up for change. I have a vision of making my Bengaluru “Gild the Lily”. To start with, if I were the Mayor; I assure, I would not be a “Little more than a figurehead”, but strive hard for the betterment of my place and people. Aren’t the floods enough to stagnate the roads, that even the toxic foam from industries which is disposed into lakes are now onto…

Vijay Kundaji didn't really figure in my list of friends, though we met at regular intervals during Citizens for Bengaluru meetings. He seemed reticent and a man of few words who liked a comfortable corner—very unlike me. But when we began work on the Beku Beda Santhe, I realised his shy nature was a sham. He turned into a one-man army, whose stoic confidence was what kept most of us calm during the run up to the event. Murphy's Law would not meet a more determined adversary. Our shared moments over absolute disasters and accomplishment also saw us become friends.…

It’s that time of the year, when crackers compete with lights. It is also the time when eye hospitals are on alert to attend to emergency cases. This is when Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) starts measuring air pollution in Bengaluru diligently and collects data to compile reports on air quality. This is also when activists, media and government agencies start coming up with fire safety guidelines. And this also is when activists who advocate eco-friendly celebrations are countered with whataboutery on crackers:“What about animal slaughter done by other religion?” “What about industrial pollution?” “Don’t you pollute air by…

BMTC is the lifeline of Bengaluru. Its buses deliver 5 million (50 lakh) passenger trips everyday. This figure of passengers carried is close to half the population of the city. Without BMTC, we would all be dead, in a manner of speaking, as the city's already beyond-clogged roads would need to carry this huge number of people in vastly more motor vehicles. In comparison Namma Metro does not yet carry even one-tenth that number of people a day along its currently functional 2 lines. And reports are that their service is already 'at capacity' until much-needed coaches are added and…

It is not possible to make the city pothole-free in 10 days. So it is unclear what the government hopes for, by ordering BBMP to do this. It may as well order the rains to stop! Keeping a city pothole-free is not difficult. But that requires doing a few things right to BEGIN with. The responses after things go wrong won't help. The only thing we can hope for in 10 days is to see whether the government and the BBMP begin to do things differently in the way construction and maintenance contracts are set up for roads and footpaths.…