Peripheral Ring Road Project

On September 23, the Deputy Comissioner, Bengaluru Urban district, is hosting a virtual public consultation to discuss the environmental impacts of the proposed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). The project has been in the news for a number of issues - continued public opposition over non-availability of the Detailed Project Report (DPR); the validity of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report; the number of trees which will be felled for it; the plethora of court cases brought in by a number of citizens set to lose their properties. That is quite a long list. Sure, the devil is in the details,…

The long-pending Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) has turned controversial for its environmental impacts and lack of transparency. The project would lose Bengaluru over 33,000 trees, including in the Thippagondanahalli Reservoir catchment and in reserve forest areas. On Wednesday, September 23, the Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore Urban District will hold a public consultation (webinar) on the project's environmental impacts. BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) is implementing the project, and its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is available online. Here are details of the public hearing and how you can attend it. Do the environmental impacts of the PRR justify the project? Will…

Riots, curfew in East Bengaluru Violence broke out in DJ Halli and adjoining areas in east Bengaluru on Tuesday night after an inflammatory post about Islam on Facebook. Three were killed and three others injured in police firing. Rioting by as many as 2,000 on the streets was brought under control. Section 144 and curfew was imposed in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kaval Byrasandra. The inflammatory Facebook post was put up by P Naveen, nephew of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. The police is interrogating Naveen. About 146 people, including a few local leaders of the SDPI (Social Democratic…

Over 33,000 trees to be felled for PRR The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) admits that the construction of the eight-lane PRR (Peripheral Ring Road) would require the felling of 33,838 trees. For about four years, BDA had argued that only 200 trees would be cut, based on an erroneous Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) rejected the report based on a submission by the Horticulture and Forest Department. Meanwhile, an EIA draft report estimates that 3,541 trees will be affected by the metro link between KR Puram and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The report says that…

Two recover from COVID-19, two more 'almost' recover Two COVID-19 patients quarantined in the state-run RGICD (Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases) have completely recovered. The 47-year-old wife of the first patient who'd returned from US on March 1, and a 26-year-old IT employee who returned from Greece, have been asymptomatic for a week. They were tested once every three days. The woman's husband and 13-year-old daughter have “almost recovered", according to the government. They will be home-quarantined for 14 days after discharge. Meanwhile, there is a demand to screen domestic passengers apart from international travellers, at airports. At Kempegowda…

Dy CM mulls over temporary ban on private vehicle registration In an interview with The Economic Times, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said he is keen on finding solutions to manage the city's booming vehicular population, especially by ensuring that registration of new vehicles is put on hold for the next two years. His proposal is to stop 2500 private vehicles from being added to the roster everyday, and conversely increase the dependence on public transport. In the meantime, he promised to complete the white topping project within two years to sustain the load of vehicles. Parameshwara, whose portfolio includes the Bangalore…

High Court considers scheduling hearings on BBMP's failures on Saturdays The Karnataka High Court's division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and SG Pandit criticised the BBMP's careless approach towards filling potholes.  The court criticised the BBMP than BBMP for failure to meet the target of filling potholes in 198 wards, and said the work would be handed over to other agencies capable of doing the job better. The 43 potholes brought to the judges notice during the last hearing were still present, said the counsel of the petitioners. The HC schedules are delayed due the proceedings on potholes and…