OPINION

Recently there has been quite a flurry of opinions, accusations and threats around the issue of regulation of private medical establishments in Karnataka. Although the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act has been around since 2007, concerns over the last few years, around patient rights, have brought in the need for Amendments to the Act. Following a prolonged period of discussion under the Justice Vikramjit Sen Committee, the health minister put forward the Amendments to the KPME in the Karnataka Assembly on 20th June 2017. The response to this has been contradictory and volatile. A majority of private hospital doctors…

A few years ago, it was the purview of the neighbourhood RWA member (usually a retired old man) to raise civic complaints, from water pipe leaking to potholes. He would trudge down to the nearest ward office, and talk to the engineer responsible. He’d follow up and write letters to the MLA to escalate. But now, average citizens are more conscious and quick to reach out to BBMP to raise issues. If you are stuck with a dead animal in front of your house, you’d call the helpline or use the BBMP Sahaaya app to get it removed. A citizen…

Coffee: Rs.12, bus fare to the coffee store < 1km away: Rs.5 each way. On a hot day like today, count on us and you won't miss your coffee. — BMTC (@BMTC_Bangalore) May 26, 2017 Finally Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is doing everything it can, to show citizens in Bengaluru that they really care about the city transport. New buses, free wifi in non-AC buses, reduced fare and double-decker buses are only a few of the measures. The recently concluded GovJam event is an example of BMTC’s proactive approach to the citizen participation model that’s becoming popular in Bengaluru.…

The Karnataka government passed an order on May 2, 2017 capping prices of movie tickets at Rs 200, based on the proposal made in the 2017 budget. A lot of Bengalureans whine about the exorbitant prices of movie tickets in multiplexes, and were happy with this move. Prices of movies tickets were quite high in Bengaluru, sometimes reaching 700-800 rupees for a blockbuster release on a weekend. Though, more commonly, one would have to pay Rs 300-400 for a movie ticket in a multiplex. Many people found this unaffordable as they could not make as many visits to the multiplex…

The ongoing case at the National Green Tribunal (and the frequent fires!) has helped keep the Bellandur lake in the news. The hearings on the petition filed by D Kupendra Reddy and another suo moto case when the fires happened some months ago, have resulted in a number of directions to the respondents including the state, and agencies like KSPCB and KLCDA. In its latest order on April 19, 2017, the NGT said: “All local authorities shall ensure that no untreated sewage water is permitted to enter into Bellandur Lake” - sounds familiar? Here is the chronological summary of developments…

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to constitute Ward Committees in Bengaluru within a month! Several earlier orders that asked the civic body to constitute the ward committees had not been conformed with. Ward committees are mandated as per Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, 1992. The direction came as part of a petition filed by Leo Saldanha and others, that said the BBMP is in violation of repeated directions from Karnataka High Court. Leo Saldanha, sharing this news over email, points out, "What would really help now is for public-spirited persons to step up and…

The Kengeri Satellite Town adjacent to Mysore Road is now a busy township. Kommaghatta road is one of the major roads in this area. It connects this region with Tavarakere in Magadi Road. If you go along this road, or on any of the adjoining roads, past NICE road, you will see the latest site development project of BDA called Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda Layout. Look a little deeper, and you will see that it is an environmental disaster in the making. Pic: B V Rajarama Bhat This has been a green belt providing valuable oxygen supply to the city and it is…

Send it back to where it came from... after it has been thoroughly segregated and composted, of course. We’re talking about sending the biomass part of the waste a city generates back to the soil. This would ensure the recycling of nutrients, creating closed economies as is the need of the hour, and virtually trigger off a positive domino effect. It remains a fact that we are a country with a rich history of recycling, the returning of nutrients in the way that the Karnataka State Agriculture Department is proposing plays to that history. The department has proposed that the…

Anyone who has been following the campaign for suburban rails in Bengaluru would know that Government of Karnataka’s (GOK) proposal for implementing a suburban rail system in Bengaluru is pending since 2013. Meanwhile, recently, Indian Railways has circulated a draft policy on Suburban Rail System to all the state governments. In last three years, we have seen three railway ministers, out of which two were from Karnataka - Mallikarjun Kharge and D V Sadananda Gowda. Including the present railway minister,  Suresh Prabhu, all had agreed that suburban rail is an important project for solving some of the Bengaluru traffic issues.…

TenderSURE roads in Bengaluru have been the topic of debate for a few years now. While the designs shown in presentations are only schematic and not open to public scruitiny, the execution of the project on many roads has drawn criticism from public. Jahnavi Pai, an environment enthusiast, has done a study on the environment-friendly quotient of a TenderSURE design. According to her, The space for roots is not enough to help the tree grow, according to the drawings of TenderSURE design available in public domain. This could be a major drawback as far as trees are concerned. The rainwater…