OPINION

From Jayanagar in south Bengaluru to Sanjaynagar in the north, workers are now busy removing footpath slabs and dredging up mud and muck from roadside drains – which is good, except that  the mounds of muck are then left  along the edges of the drains, only to be washed right back into the ditch as soon as it rains.Tens of thousands of citizens watch this tamasha, but feel helpless about pulling up those responsible for such mindless waste of tax payers’ money. The BBMP declares that it is the local subcontractor who has to be contacted, the local subcontractor is…

“Where were you all, madam, at that time?” asked a BBMP official dealing with the city’s infrastructure development, last week. This was not  some rhetorical cross-examination of an accused during a crime investigation (though, as you will presently see, there is an element of crime involved) but something more basic that many of us can be asked or should ask ourselves more often.Residents of a Scientists’ Colony is south Bengaluru  suddenly woke up one recent morning to find that some of their houses, inside the colony had been marked for “road widening”. The road running through the colony was perfectly…

There are public spaces and there are public spaces. While city’s bus stops, railway stations, and the streets make up one side of public space; malls, movies and restaurants make up the other side. And the two sides have very different set of rules and these rules as usual affect women the most. Sartorial choice might seem to be a very trivial issue in larger scheme of things but the right to choose what one wants to wear rather than be told what to wear is hardly something to ignore. This in a city that boasts of being cosmopolitan.Offices have…

A brief newspaper item carried last month talked about city schools enforcing the importance of eating healthy - that parents had been told to send nutritive packed lunches and educational authorities were giving the thumbs down to food high in sugar, salt and oil content.The report went on to say how parents are struggling to meet these expectations in the face of their young ones demanding novelty each day. As a mother lamented that her three year old did not like salads and she had no time to pack chapattis or dosas every day, the thought came up: what were…

There have been recent discussions related to Gandhi Bazaar on converting the Gandhi Bazaar Road to a pedestrian only zone. This note looks at what needs to be considered before making changes to a bazaar road. The first thing to look at is who uses the road. The user groups in a street bazaar may consist of the 'shoppers' who come for a specific purpose; the 'strollers' who come to be in the lively space; the 'shop-owners', who depend on the activity for their economic sustenance and the 'hawkers' who are the informal counterparts. When does the need arise to…

Last month -- The  Lokayukta resigned. The government deregulated oil prices and bus fares went up immediately, and I tripped and fell at the post office and fractured a bone. These seemingly unconnected events have a common denominator, as you will see.Let’s go from the bottom up -- my fall. I headed for the post office across the road, and was near its entrance when a jagged footpath tile caught my sandals and I crashed on the floor some distance away, flat on my face.Onlookers came running, to help get on my feet and gather my scattered belongings (bag, purse…

Earlier this month (June 5th-7th), a group of NGOs and activists gathered at New York to add inputs on what citizens want, in terms of “progress” and “development”. These inputs will be fed into the UN summit to be held in September 2010 (normally, in such international summits, only VIP voices are heard, not those of  activists-on-the-ground).In fact, this global consultation was strictly for activists’ groups and whoever wanted to add inputs was welcome, there were no small or big voices. Those organisations that could not make it to New York could still send their inputs and suggestions, through a…

The first trains on the Metro are about to run in the next six to nine months, so this is a good time to ensure that a few other steps are taken to make the new infrastructure more effective. This is particularly because the world over, Metro systems are usually not financially viable, and this has to be overcome by some tie-in arrangement in the real estate market, through capital grants from government and through other control measures that benefit the transit system.Bangalore Metro is no different. Over the course of a decade and more, the state has been willing…

"In Mexico an air conditioner is called a politician because it makes a lot of noise but doesn't work very well." - Len Deighton (English writer, b. 1929) Lack of participation and involvement, personality clashes, petty politics taking precedence over real issues and an inability to come together to address pressing problems effectively. Sounds like the Indian Parliament or State Legislative Assembly? Guess again. This could be a lot closer to you than you think. Apartment Owners Associations are statutory bodies comprising all the owners of apartments in a particular building / complex, and tasked with running the day to…

Take today’s news (June 3, 2010). Two reports are highlighted, one about Bangalore’s horrendous road fatalities (second highest in the country after Delhi, with over 860 deaths annually, and over 6,100 injured) and the other about a wall collapse that killed a 17-year-old girl. The compound wall had been built by the BBMP just three months ago. The girl had taken shelter next to it as it was raining, and the wall collapsed, crushing her underneath. Bad enough. But what is outrageous is the lack of accountability – the BBMP had parcelled out the work of erecting a short stretch…