Editors' Blog

The episode at Carlton Towers could have happened anywhere in the city. The fire of 23rd February claimed nine and many more were hurt. The question of plan permissions, collusion, bye-law and safety violations and more are all being discussed in the media.One of the points being made by authorities (especially the BBMP) now, is that they cannot be blamed if builders and owners violate plan sanctions after occupancy certificates are issued. Really? Let's take a closer look at how plenty of wrongdoing happens during the plan approval process itself, i.e. before buildings are constructed and occupied.  Some years ago,…

Citizens living within city limits often castigate BBMP and other local authorities for long delayed public works and amenities. The JP Nagar underpass is a classic case of BBMP's inability to fix what has gone wrong and reach the finish line.But it needs to go on record that India's transportation giant, Indian Railways, arguably with far greater resources and expertise at its disposal, has recently been responsible for a disastrous project in Northeast Bangalore.In response to a gridlocked railway level crossing at the Whitefield Railway Station in Kadugodi, the Railways responded in 2006 with an overbridge contract. The Railways runs…

As we begin the New Year with our 25th issue, it's time to celebrate as well as reflect. The journey thus far has been enjoyable and rewarding. We have received praise from Bangaloreans, as well as those elsewhere.  With recognition by Mint Business newspaper in 2008 and BBC in 2009, we have been accepted by citizens as well as other media as a credible source of pathbreaking local journalism.Nevertheless challenges remain. As we endeavour to inform, interest, and involve, we too encounter apathy and stonewalling.  Unhelpful government officials, unprofessional ministers and MLAs and even unethical community groups are part of…

"Who are these people, these former IAS officers and all, to compare London to Bangalore and propose these changes?"  he thundered on the phone. His tone and outburst were astounding, and for a moment it appeared that he had mistaken the Citizen Matters editor for someone else. "What is the paristhithi in Bangalore?" he then shot off, implying that Bengaluru was simply not London.The speaker was Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaykumar. Citizen Matters had asked him what he thought of ABIDE's proposal to have direct elections from neighbourhoods into ward committees, which was being vetted by his party colleagues in…

Finally, elections to the Bengaluru council are to be announced soon. Roughly half the city's 198 wards have been reserved (for BC, SC, ST and women). The state election commission is expected to announce the dates by next week.Soon, and with a 'municipal' intensity, the usual election campaigning will begin  -- party ticket quarrels, rebels turning independents, the race to nominations, disclosure affidavits and the blaring of loudspeakers in our streets as campaigning culminates.For local elections, turnout has historically been around 50 per cent, and it's usually the urban poor who have gone out to vote. The middle and upper…

Transport. Transport offers mobility. From mobility comes access. Access to work, socials, leisure, everything. Transport systems even shape our cities.For years now, transport in Bengaluru has been in a state of breakdown. Our roads are flooded disproportionately with cars and two-wheelers which compete for every inch of space with the buses that carry the majority.We've all become weary travellers. It is now not uncommon to put off a jaunt to meet someone or attend a function unless its critical or something we cannot wriggle out of. Social connections are being rewired to lessen impact.Adding to this is the latest pressing…

We live in times of massive traffic pileups on our roads and the stress that comes from simply watching long lines of vehicles stopped at intersections. With the ever increasing pressure on local authorities to relieve congestion, how did it come to pass that the BBMP-proposed link road connecting the Yeshwanthpur-Yelahanka artery to NH 7 (Bellary Road) resulted in a major litigation in the High Court?Over 4 kms of the proposed link road is to be laid through forestland inside the University of Agricultural Sciences’ GKVK campus in northern Bengaluru. The forestland itself was granted to the university by an…

B S Yeddyurappa is a chief minister who struck out and created history of sorts recently, something few state chief ministers have managed to do. Working with his counterpart in Tamilnadu, he oversaw the long-pending unveiling of the Tamil poet-saint’s Thiruvalluvar statue in Bengaluru.This is not as easy as it may seem. Getting past strained ethnic tensions is fraught with risks anywhere in the world. In 1991 when the statue was originally due for unveiling, protests built up and tensions coincided with riots triggered by the Cauvery dispute. Kannada-Tamil tensions in Bengaluru have always simmered below the otherwise normal-seeming buzz…

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon as another hectic week at Citizen Matters had wound down, we received a phone call from one Mr G (name held back) asking us whether we could distribute the Citizen Matters print magazine in the Vijaynagar area of the city. He spoke in fluent Kannada and English, and from his voice it seemed he was in his late forties. At first it was not clear why we must take him seriously, since the only thing he would give away about himself was a first name, and that he was an ‘IT consultant’.Let’s cut…

The thing about blame is that it usually comes full circle. As incidents of viral fever (Dengue, Chikugunya, etc.), in the city started increasing, we decided to investigate why there was such a widespread spurt this time, how it was being tracked, who was tracking it, what they were doing about it, if it could have been averted and how. We discovered a number of worrisome realities, and do not miss our report on pages 6 and 7. Here’s our view. First, the blame game. Doctors quietly charge the BBMP for failing in mosquito eradication this year in water logged…