Civic

It was an eventful, often rough, year for Chennai especially as the city faced severe water crisis in the summer. While the city grappled with this crisis, there was also cause for some cheer as the city saw the inauguration of the AG DMS-Washermanpet stretch of the metro, the opening up of the pedestrian plaza in T Nagar and several strides made in solid waste management. As we step into the new year with hope and anticipation, here are some initiatives and projects that could be expected to take off this year. Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) The Bus Rapid…

Spanish firm to keep Chennai clean Chennai Corporation has issued work orders to a Spanish firm for conservancy operations in seven zones. The firm will be paid based on performance indicators and not based on the tonnage of waste, which has been introduced for the first time in the country. The firm will take over collection and transportation of waste including doorstep collection, street sweeping and handling of domestic and hazardous waste for a period of eight years. The key performance indicators framed by the Corporation include primary collection, street sweeping and collection, secondary collection and transportation and complaint redressal.…

3,559 trees may be felled for roads, Metro To enable five civil projects, 3,559 trees in the city are slated to be felled. More than 90 percent of the trees would be felled for road construction or widening in south Bengaluru. On Friday, an expert committee formed by the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) started examining the tree-felling proposals submitted by three government agencies. This committee had been formed based on a High Court order. The proposals include cutting down 1,822 trees for road works between NICE Road and Magadi Road for a larger two-lane project by Karnataka State Highways…

Translated by Omshivaprakash H L and Mukund Gowda ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ, 1993 ರ ಜೂನ್ 1 ರಂದು ನಗರ ಆಡಳಿತದಲ್ಲಿ “ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅಧಿಕಾರ” ನೀಡಲು 74 ನೇ ಸಾಂವಿಧಾನಿಕ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ ಅಥವಾ ನಾಗರಪಾಲಿಕಾ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಯನ್ನು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತರಲಾಯಿತು. 74 ನೇ ಸಿಎ ಅಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ವಿಕೇಂದ್ರೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಮಹತ್ವ ನೀಡಿ, ನಾಗರಿಕರ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುವಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಹೊಣೆಗಾರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಸಲು  ಮೂರು ಲಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಜನಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಪುರಸಭೆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವಾರ್ಡ್ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ರಚಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿತ್ತು. ವಾರ್ಡ್ ಸಮಿತಿಯ ಸದಸ್ಯರು ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೈಗೊಂಡ ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಿಸುವುದು, ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಯೋಜನೆಯನ್ನು ರಚಿಸುವುದು, ವಿವಿಧ ಕಾಮಗಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಜೆಟ್ ಹಂಚಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸುವುದು ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅನೇಕ ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಭೆಗಳು ಅನಿರ್ಧಿಷ್ಟವಾಗಿದೆ, ‍ಸಮಿತಿಯ ಸದಸ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ಅವಕಾಶ‌ ನೀಡದೇ, ಕೌನ್ಸಿಲರ್‌ಗಳು ಏಕಪಕ್ಷೀಯ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳನ್ನು  ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇನ್ನು ಹಲವು ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಭೆಗಳು ಕೇವಲ ಕುಂದುಕೊರತೆ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ವೇದಿಕೆಗಳಾಗಿ ಮಾರ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ.‌ ಅದಾಗ್ಯೂ  ಈ ಕುಂದುಕೊರತೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಂದಾಯಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಅಥವಾ ಪರಿಹರಿಸಲಾಗಿಲ್ಲ.…

Plea to regulate parking charges at malls The State Information Commission(SIC) has directed Chennai Corporation to look at parking charges at malls. The directive was issued following a plea filed by a social activist. Earlier in November 2017, the activist, Kalyanasundaram sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the Public Information Officer of the Chennai Corporation and wanted to know the laws under which management of malls collect parking charges. He also sought information on facilities provided to motorists parking their vehicles at the malls. GCC had replied that this information did not come under the purview…

Anti-CAA protests In spite of Section 144 of the CrPC being imposed on the city, thousands of students, activists and citizens protested against the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), 2019, and the NRC (National Register of Citizens) on Thursday, December 19th. Police detained about 1000 people from various parts of the city on Thursday. Of them, 255 were arrested in eight cases and later freed on bail. Additional Police Commissioner (West) Umesh Kumar said they had been arrested under IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint). Eminent historian Ramachandra Guha was…

On December 18th, Bengaluru, which had seen near-daily protests for the previous few days, was gearing up for two simultaneous protests at 11 am the next day - one at Mysore Bank Circle and the other at Town Hall. This followed a nationwide call to hit the streets on December 19th, to protest against the recently-passed Citizenship Amendment Act (which would fast-track citizenship for non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and against the nationwide NRC promised by Home Minister Amit Shah.  Bhaskar Rao, the Bangalore Police Commissioner announced that Section 144 was going to be imposed from December 19th 6…

Karnataka government has imposed curbs in Bengaluru and some other parts of the state, under Section 144 of the CrPC. The government move came amidst widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Registry of Citizens (NRC). Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said yesterday that those who violate Section 144 would be booked. But what do our laws say about protests? If you want to hold a protest, what rights do you have and what permissions do you need to take? Do citizens have the right to protest? The word ‘protest’ is not explicitly mentioned in the…

75,000 illegal properties may be regularised State government may regularise about 75,000 unauthorised properties in BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) layouts. Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said that the illegal properties are located in 5000 acres of BDA land spread around the city. They are paying neither taxes nor development fees. The government is planning to levy penalties based on guidance values, so as to regularise them. A cabinet sub-committee has been formed, which will suggest some amendments to the BDA Act, 1976, for regularisation. The buildings can be regularised if Section 38(c) of the BDA Act is amended. The sub-committee…

Chennai gets first online portal to exchange reusable products Chennai became the first city in the country to have waste trading online, with the city corporation launching a website where Chennaites can buy and sell reusable and recycled products. A first-of-its-kind website in India, www.madraswasteexchange.com has a variety of products made from dry and wet waste such as school bags, slippers, vermicompost, manure, coconut powder, lemon dishwash among other products. Residents can collect the products from the 210 Resource Recovery Points (RRPs) across the city. The website is part of the Smart City Mission and currently, the civic body only…