RWA

In January this year, the High Court of Karnataka had ordered that commercial activities should not be allowed in residential areas in Bengaluru. But even after this, BBMP continued to give sanctions in violation of the verdict. Many shops had come up without any BBMP sanctions at all also. Citizen Matters had reported on these violations earlier. Pic: Sudha Narasimhachar However, in a hearing on November 22nd, the court ordered BBMP to submit the list of all such sanctions that it gave in residential areas after the January order. Surprisingly, BBMP informed court that it had cancelled all such sanctions…

The 4th Edition of Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) was announced today. An initiative of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF),   the Namma Bengaluru Awards are meant to celebrate exceptional individuals and organizations – nominated by citizens for making Bengaluru a more sophisticated, humane and dignified city, truly one of the top world cities!As the 4th Namma Bengaluru Awards are announced today, a panelist who helps identify and pick the winners each year spoke of why the awards matter. A retired IAS officer, K Jairaj, said “Being on this panel is exciting because we discover those in the shadows; ordinary people who do extraordinary things. They toil…

On August 10th, 2012, an elderly couple’s decomposed bodies were found in JP Nagar 1st phase, they were murdered three days earlier. 60-year-old Lakshmidevamma was bludgeoned to death at her house on July 4th in Prakash Nagar. In both cases, they were alone, at the time of the crime. Elderly People need security. Pic: Abhishek Angad National Crime Records Bureau’s data or the local police, do not have any specific reports on crimes against elderly. Physical abuse, robbery, stealing, harassment and sometimes murder come under this category. However, according to a study conducted by NGO Helpage India, in the year…

The High Court has ruled in favour of the citizens in the Agara-sirisi corridor project. The order essentially says ‘hear them out,' to the State and BDA. For the moment, the order comes as relief to thousands of Koramangala residents who have fought a prolonged battle for almost a year and a little too late for the numerous trees that were surreptitiously cut, even before the project formally took off.The Rs 119 crores project at four junctions - Jakkasandra (flyover), Koramangala 80 feet road (underpass), Krupanidhi College (underpass) and St John's hospital-Koramangala 100 feet road junction (flyover and underpass), kicked…

On June 24th, the Bannerghatta Road Neighbourhood Association (BANA) organised "Connect", a knowledge sharing seminar at Purva Panorama Apartments at Bannerghata Road.  BANA is a federation formed by a group of RWAs of apartments and layouts in and around on Bannerghatta Road. The forum will be used to resolve common issues and create a strong local community. The founding members include resident associations of L&T South City, Purva Panorama, South Avenue Layout, Pride Regalia, Ajmera Green Acres, Vithola Apartments, Nandi Park, Mantri Woodlands, Esteem Enclave etc. BANA office bearers at the meeting. Prem Sarkar, Shankar Bharadwaj, Kedar Nayak, Vivek Baliga.…

To the casual observer, it may appear that Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the city often work in silos; they are not often effective and find it tough to tackle larger issues. This may even be true. However, over the past decade, Bangalore has been seeing more residents’ activism. Together, they tell a story of change. For instance, more RWAs are now teaming up to form federations. The newest kid on the block is Bannerghatta Road Neighbourhoods Association or BANA. Emerging networks In the newer gated communities and apartments, the owners associations are networked well and reach out to their…

MLA Satish Reddy (Bommanahalli Constituency) presided over a meeting of all office bearers of Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) and the Federation of HSR Layout on June 4, Monday, to discuss infrastructural and other issues. Concerned Engineers responded to questions from the RWAs, closely monitored by the MLA. Perhaps for the first time, we were happy to see the elected representatives, all the concerned engineers and staff of BBMP, BDA and officials from Police Department, present under one roof in such a review meeting alongside representatives of RWAs. The meeting lasted over two hours and was conducted with utmost seriousness. The…

When an apartment is built and it is eventually occupied, a few questions do the rounds within the new community. There are always common issues to be coordinated with the builder regarding teething troubles, maintenance, handover and several such issues. Normally, a group of owners comes together to coordinate on behalf of the community. For a period, I was one of them in our large apartment located near Marathahalli in Bengaluru. Among the various challenges we faced, one of the toughest questions to answer was on registering the owner’s association. Today, if a community is lucky, the builder registers the…

Members of Federation of Residents Welfare Association of Ward 148 (Ejipura) known as FORWARD 68 brought civic officials for a one-on-one session in its quarterly review meeting on 19th May.The meeting was held in Ashwini Layout, primarily to discuss the resident's grievances. Members of RWAs from Ashwini Layout, Venugopalaswamy Layout, ST Bed Koramangala, Ejipura New Extension Residents' Association (ENERA) and Chandra Reddy Layout voiced their problems with BBMP, BWSSB and BESCOM officials. Member of Forward-68 attending the meeting. Pic: Abhishek Angad Anil Kumar , Secretary , FORWARD 68 drove the meeting and allowed concerned residents in turns to inquire about their…

Elita Promenade residents in JP Nagar, 7th Phase, have filed a lawsuit against their developers for allegedly keeping them in dark over various issues related to the apartment complex. The case was filed in November 2011. Elita Promenade, near Sarakki lake, is a multi-floor apartment complex constructed in joint venture between Singapore-based Keppel Land and Puravankara Developers, Bengaluru. Three issues seems to lie at the centre of the conflict - sewage problem, lack of clarity on land ownership in the layout and sale of one part of common land to KPTCL without notice. Pic: Abhishek Angad A temporary boundary fence…