Civic

A judicial verdict on an altercation between two citizens four years ago is really not a headline material or even a case study for legal students. Four years; five hearings and finally a judgment that levied a fine of Rs 1,500 hardly sounds like a thriller. But the matter of Sneha Nandihal versus Gopi actually serves as an important lesson for all those working in the space of citizen civic activism and more importantly doing it as a woman. Sneha, who is the president of the B M Kaval Resident Welfare Association in Indiranagar, is no stranger to aggressive characters…

An open letter to Ananth Kumar, MP, Bengaluru South Dear Sir, Subject – Suburban Rail Service for Bengaluru I really do not know how to react to the recent press briefing (January 18, 2018) from Railway Minister Shri. Piyush Goyal with yet another announcement on ‘Suburban Rail Service’ for Bengaluru. I am appalled at your endorsement of such announcement with lofty ideas like ‘elevated tracks’, increased FAR etc. Is this announcement any better or unique from previous ones that have been made from time to time? Do you really believe that by this announcement Bengaluru City will be blessed with…

Mumbai’s vehicular explosion Mumbai has seen an explosive growth in its vehicle population, jumping by 56% in just 5 years, with 32 lakh registered vehicles on its streets. These include all vehicles -- private cars, buses, two-wheelers, app cabs, school transport and trucks. Close to 700 vehicles hit city roads daily (till Oct-Nov 2017). Experts now fear that the gap between every extra 10 lakh vehicles on road is narrowing. Soon, it could take a mere two to three years to add another million vehicles in Mumbai and this could sound alarm bells for the city—where the road length has…

Despite five years of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court and hundreds of court orders, Bengaluru is way behind several other cities in the country in managing its garbage and is living up to the epithet it has earned: ‘garbage city’.   Except for a few wards where some good work may be happening, one hardly sees any change on the ground in most areas. In the meantime, several other cities have moved far ahead of Bengaluru in managing their waste. No wonder Bengaluru fell to a position below 200th in the Swachh Bharat Survekshan last…

Chennai bus strike It was a week of helplessness and frustration for regular commuters in Chennai as a section of transport workers’ unions went on indefinite strike, demanding a revision in wages and settlement of other benefits that they are entitled to. The workers refused to resume work even after an order from the Madras High Court, and several rounds of talks with the State Transport Department failed. Transport workers are demanding salaries on par with drivers in other state government corporations. The unions want a 2.57 per cent hike but the government is willing to increase salaries only by…

In August 2017, the Electricity Board (EB) office in Kasturba Nagar was moved to Thiruvanmiyur. This has proved to be extremely inconvenient for residents in Adyar, especially for senior citizens and older people. Most of them are not tech-savvy enough to pay the dues online, and travelling to Thiruvanmiyur is a big challenge for them. Distance and  commute are, however, not the only factors. FEDARA (Federation of Adyar Residents Associations, an umbrella organisation representing 30 Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the Adyar, Indira Nagar and Kasturba nagar area) has been consistently highlighting several other issues, which have been bothering residents.  For…

What do a 91 year 'young' activist, and a 40-something marine biologist have in common? A love for this city they call home, and a desire to help its citizens overcome their sense of helplessness in finding solutions to everyday civic problems.. Garbage not cleared? Road being relaid without milling? Storm water drains not cleaned before the monsoon? Electricity cables hanging dangerously in the open? In each of these situations, the solution is at hand. Help is often only a phone call away. But if we ask the average citizen on the road, the most common response will be  -…

Media focus on the fire that broke out and killed four in Mumbai’s residential Mamoon Manzil complex has been less compared to that on the fire tragedy in the same city in the end of December. The cause of the fire in this building is yet to be ascertained but no one would be surprised if it was pinned down to faulty management and violation of rules. Barely a week ago, the Kamala Mills tragedy got the Bruhan Mumbai Corporation (BMC) on its toes, throwing them into panic-stricken knee-jerk reaction: suspending five officials, galvanising authorities, managers, health and medical experts…

Mobility was arguably Bengaluru’s single largest problem in 2017. Even as people grappled with depleting resources of water and land, it was the nightmare of getting from one place to another that took precedence over all else in our psyche. In a city of about 1.1 crore people, Bengaluru officially has close to 70 lakh registered vehicles. This is the second largest vehicle population in the country, coming behind Delhi which leads the way with a little more than a crore vehicles on its street. Mumbai with a population of 20 million has just over 35 lakh vehicles. In Bengaluru…

A lot is happening in India, and a lot of it is happening in our cities. Often much more than we can assimilate while navigating the routinely busy course of our lives. Starting this week, Citizen Matters will present a weekly compilation of news headlines and features that our team feels will be consequential for the Indian urban space as a whole, and interesting to any observer of how our cities are evolving. Here’s a quick round-up of what caught our eyes over the last week. Kamala Mills Fire Even as urbanisation continues at a frenetic pace in the country,…