Citizens for Bengaluru

Opportunity cost' is defined as "cost of a missed opportunity". We may never know the opportunity cost of missing out on suburban train in Bengaluru. The amazing video about Mumbai local aka suburban train is now going viral. People heard about Mumbai local and many experienced it, but the video shows what a powerful system they have built over decades. I remember watching those old Hindi movies where the actors are seen cutting vegetables on their briefcases while commuting! Our campaign #ModaluTrainBeku #ElevatedCorridorBeda this past weekend and that viral video resulted in renewed interest in suburban trains - what Citizens…

“Why don't you leave the government alone? Let them do what they want. Why interfere?" Engaging with public sentiment on the proposed elevated corridors in Bangalore recently, some people asked such questions. Let *them* do what *they* want? Why *interfere?* *Leave them alone?* This reveals an elementary misunderstanding with who we are and what India is. The elected are supposed to execute what *we* want, not what they want. 1. How do they know what we want? Due process. India and it's states have established processes for input & feedback gathering from the public for planning, decision making on large…

Congratulations to Namma Metro on completing one year of service on Phase I. Phase I has been a boon to (South-West) Bengaluru and with the addition of two new coaches to every train, it will lead to even more passengers using metro. Our gratitude to all the staff of Namma Metro for working hard to make this milestone happen. We all know that the root cause of traffic problems in Bengaluru is the massive growth and lack of corresponding investment in public transport - other big cities had multiple modes of mass public transport - local trains in Mumbai, Chennai…

The Beku Beda Santhe held in Freedom Park on October 15th, organised by the Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) and numerous RWAs and groups representing  civic, social, children’s and underprivileged interests.  More than 1500 citizens participated and cast their votes, for what they wanted and what they did not want of the city administration.  The objective was to set the agenda for our city through a bottom up and inclusive, open public forum. Subsequent to the Santhe, CfB volunteers worked on categorizing and consolidating the thousands of demands into a short list ‘Beku Beda Santhe Citizens Manifesto for Bengaluru’. This is not a…

We saw a jostling, zealous crowd #ForTheSakeofBengaluru on Oct 15th, Sunday at Freedom Park. A numerous and highly diverse people cast their demands on the Beku Beda wall, and ballot boxes and brought demands as lists from schools, colleges, RWA, civic and social organizations. These demands must shape Bengaluru. The city must become "of the people", not of political whim! Accordingly, we will have a #BekuBedaSanthe demand consolidation event on the very special Rajyotsava day. Volunteers are invited on Wednesday Nov 1st to Loyola Hall, St Joseph’s College, Langford Road from 3 PM-5 PM. The idea is to determine what…

A large number of civic and social organizations of Bengaluru are coming together to organize a unique ‘Beku Beda Santhe’ on October 15th, 2017 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Human Chain for the #steelflyoverbeda. That campaign saw a  saw massive outpouring of citizens, democratically expressing their demand. The #SteelFlyoverBeda movement inspired citizens to come together and exercise their right to actively participate in governance. The “Beku Beda Santhe” will serve as a platform for citizens from across Bengaluru to express what they want for their area and city (ಬೆೇಕು) and what they do not want for their area…

Citizens for Bengaluru is extremely disappointed and shocked at the final list of ward committees that have been announced. After the outrage of the initial list, we expected more citizen-centric and inclusive committees but that has been rendered false. There is now incontrovertible proof that ward committees have been largely composed through nepotism and the family-chela network. Even a casual perusal of the lists shows clearly that husbands of various female corporators, and party workers have been selected instead of active citizens. Please see attached images with just a few of our observations. While CfB led a mass RTI filing…

“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.” - Plato Many of us believed in the court orders that asked BBMP Commissioner to form the ward committees and avoid undue influence of corporators.  Nearly 600 applications have been submitted by ordinary citizens  - about 190 of them coming through our efforts of soliciting nominations for active citizens and then impressing upon them to submit an application. There wasn't any application format or process that anyone knew of , but we were repeatedly assured by the commissioner himself that we should encourage more…

With the greatest respect to the Minister of Sericulture and Animal Husbandry, GH Krumbiegel was my great grandfather, I am only an interloper in Bengaluru I do however have his passion for trees and my profession is also architecture it's very important for me to try and protect his legacy for future generation of Bengaluru and indeed my grandchildren Things have to change for any country to progress as I understand the citizens are not against the new hospital site; top architects have already come forward willing to work pro bono with the existing plans (so no new permission will be needed…

Did you notice that someone fixed that black spot on your way to work and it now looks nice with a little bench and simple art that makes the place walkable and pleasant on the eyes? Did you come across pictures on social media of people sweating it out and cleaning lakes on a Sunday morning? Do you know someone that teaches and helps out in the local government school? Did you notice there was a massive protest to save trees on Jayamahal road and a thousand people got on the streets? Did you know local residents were filing RTIs,…