OPINION

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.…

The garbage mafia did it again - they held Bengaluru to ransom, by stopping waste collection last week. The government of Karnataka had to invoke Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) for them to stop protesting and get to work. But waste collection is yet to resume in many parts of the city, with piles of mixed waste lying on roadside. What causes this situation? Even after having court-monitored processes to set the system in place, why are we still suffering? Where does the rot lie? The answer: it lies in the system itself. The current waste management system is designed…

It seems an unlikely possibility at this time for Bengaluru to have a powerful and accountable Mayor who actually has a say in the way our city is run. This democratic innovation in local governance which has paid rich dividends around the world however hasn't caught the imagination of the public at large in our city. Blame it on political calculation or public aversion to voting in one more election (should we go down the path of having a directly elected Mayor), a change in this direction would herald a major change in the way power is decentralized in the…

BBMP’s outsourced garbage contract system failed continuously to deliver and rampant corruption and malpractices the order of the day. Yet the Council has again proposed that the tenders be called for again, supporting the comeback of contractors! As explained in Part 1, the stranglehold of the BBMP Council on the implementation of effective waste management, therefore, still continues, leading to a virtual paralysis in the SWM delivery and implementation. No new SWM proposals have been passed by the Council in the last five months and status quo is being maintained. This is a testimony to the lack of willpower to…

For three years, every attempt to bring in performance-based garbage contracts in Bengaluru have been stymied and the inefficient and corrupt outsourcing work order based contract system continues. Several attempts were made since 2014 to issue performance contracts. But the contractors abstained from bidding, and brought in stays from the court. The Council chose to go with an ad-hoc solution, through the informal arrangements with contractors, called ‘Departmental work order’. The outsourced contract system has failed continuously to deliver the required level of waste management services, while rampant corruption and malpractices galore in managing Pourakarmikas. Finally, the Cabinet took a…

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to the Union Ministry of Urban Development about having only Kannada and English signages in Namma Metro, based on the state’s two language policy. .@CMofKarnataka has written a letter to Union Minister @nstomar saying BMRCL would be asked to redesign Name Boards etc without Hindi Script pic.twitter.com/HSD5ujtQ8k — GoK Updates (@GOKUpdates) July 28, 2017 So after a sustained #nammametrohindibeda campaign online that lasted over a month, it looks like Hindi signages will have to go. BMRCL has asked the state government’s permission to change the boards. The Kannada Development Authority (KDA) wrested with the responsibility of…

The recent issues hitting headlines in Karnataka have already signaled the arrival of election season, with elections due in April-May 2018. Lingayats are demanding they be recognised as followers of a separate religion. Many activist organisations are demanding that the yellow-red Kannada flag be recognised as a flag for the state. The Congress government at the state has constituted committees to look at both the possibilities. In effect, every political party is trying to make the most of the sentiments of the public, to grab their emotions and convert it into votes. It appears that the election campaign has already…

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.…