Civic

In some neighburhoods, citizens are vexed by an increasing number of bars and pubs, and the dramatic change in the surroundings as a result. There have been various instances of conflict between residents and these establishments, and also a demand that BBMP should address this properly. This is doable, but only if we correctly identify the problems. (a) The first challenge is that people who want to set up the establishments are themselves property owners in the area, which causes discord between the neighbours in terms of what they themselves want. (b) The second is that often those letting their…

Delhi to pay for parking in residential areas too In a bid to ease the stranglehold of traffic and discourage use of private vehicles, the Delhi government notified The ‘Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017’, which when implemented will require citizens to pay for parking in residential areas as well. The new rules have been approved by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and are likely to be implemented in March. The new parking rates for public and residential areas will be finalised by July.   The minimum parking rates across Delhi will be fixed by a ‘Base Parking Fee…

For RMP 2031, a group working on heritage, Heritage Beku, with over 80 members, set up by Priya Chetty Rajgopal, has worked over three weeks to come up with a suggestions / objections document that was sent to the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA). Besides response to the BDA's RMP suggestions on heritage, the document also has objections, institutionalising heritage, concerns of urban planners, suggestions from experts etc. Do read the document for details. [embeddoc url="https://citizenmatters.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/RMP-2031_heritage-suggestions.pdf" download="all"]

In the second week of January, amidst heavy security provided by the local police and the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), Forest Department officials -- along with the Dakshina Kannada district authorities and personnel from Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (MESCOM) -- began uprooting and chopped nearly 202 trees at Alake village in Padil in Mangalore city in Karnataka. The 10.09-acre area formerly under Karnataka State Forest Industries Corporation (KSFIC) at Padil - is located on National Highway 75. In 2014, the state government transferred 5.89 acres to the Revenue Department. The Alake area with survey No. 23/6A1B2, 23/4B, 23/12B,…

Two weeks after Sanjay Giri (19) died trying to cross Bellandur-ORR opposite Akme Harmony Apartments, and one week after the citizens around Bellandur’s mass protest, it seems like a ‘Sanjay Skywalk’, as residents are calling the proposed footbridge, will see the light of day. P C Mohan, Member of Parliament for Bangalore Central, called for a meeting on Saturday for a spot survey by Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd to give the green signal for a speedy skywalk construction, heeding to a demand by the residents. At the meeting all the stakeholders in the proposed skywalk were in attendance, including…

Bengaluru bleeds from a million unkind cuts. Any long term resident feels the steady erosion of their city, an unsightly metamorphosis that is not planned, owned or desired. Heritage is one such. We tend to close our eyes in pain at what’s gone in our city, and try to continue keeping them squeezed shut, at the possibility of the heritage that is further going, as we speak. Ugly plastic protective sheets hang where the remnants of our identity and city heritage used to be.  So what do we do? Is now too late already? Or shall we seize the moment,…

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…