Civic

The northeast monsoon is here and residents of southern Chitlapakkam have already become victims of yet another flood. Chitlapakkam has seen it all—drought and floods, but this time, the floods have hit residents earlier than they expected. The northeast monsoon has just set in, and residents are left in the lurch, amidst miserable memories of the 2015 floods. As I enquire about the route to Babu Street, a shopkeeper jokingly says, “Walk straight and take a left, you will see water all over the street. That’s the one!” Babu Street, Abraham Lincoln Street, Pamban Swamigal Street, Chokkanadhar Street, Maraimalai Adigal…

Citizens for Bengaluru organised the Beku Beda Santhe on 15 October to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Human Chain that kick started the Steel Flyover Beda movement in 2016. The idea of the Santhe was to give the citizens a platform to voice their priorities for the city. The event had multiple platforms - a main stage which had eminent citizens share space with active citizens to voice their demands; mini stages; a children’s art corner. The main attraction was a 50-feet wall made of recyclable cardboard cartons for people to pin their beku and beda demands. The…

At a four-road intersection near Besant Women's College in Mangalore, a 49-year-old man sporting an orange reflector jacket over a neatly pressed Khaki shirt, trouser and black shoes, flags down an errant SUV from Kalakunj road. This gives the on-duty traffic constable enough time for not only clearing the traffic from MG Road (PVS circle to Ladyhill circle), but also to allow some school children to cross the road to safety - another job well done. But the duo cannot yet heave a sigh of relief, for over the next three hours between 5 and 8 pm, Ramesh Gowda and…

At the stroke of midnight, when the whole world is asleep, one garbage “terrorist” in HSR Layout of South Bengaluru is rudely shaken to wake up to his responsibilities by a green volunteer. Striding up to a man who is emptying garbage into a parking lot in HSR Layout, Dr. Shanthi Tummala thunders that overturning his dustbins on a vacant site even at midnight is against the norms. “Don’t you know that you are violating the rules?” she asks. He knows, so it isn’t news to him. Yet he is doing it. Dr Shanthi forces him to pick up his…

The #SteelFlyoverBeda movement inspired citizens to come together and exercise their right to actively participate in governance.  #BekuBedaSanthe is being organized on Oct 15th 2017 by a large number of organizations, civic and social as a mark of one year anniversary. #BekuBedaSanthe  will serve as a platform for citizens across Bengaluru to express what they want for their area and city (ಬೇಕು) and what they do not want for their area and city (ಬೇಡ.) The Santhe is unique due to the broad and diverse set of  RWAs, NGOs, slum rights groups, unorganized sector representatives, civic groups, think tanks  and many others  joining…

Talk to a few ordinary citizens, and most of them will tell you that dealing with any government agency is a nightmare. Getting a gas connection from public sector providers is however usually not very difficult, but provided you also get a gas stove from them. However, if you choose that you do not need a gas stove, then the agencies try to make you run from pillar to post.  When one makes that choice, it is not unusual to hear that he has not received his connection registration number even after a month and five visits to the agency!…

On October 8, NGO Arappor Iyakkam spearheaded the launch of “Kollayane Veliyeru”, a large anti-corruption campaign movement aiming to bring together all those who are against corruption. I arrived at the event a bit late, at around 6:30 or 6:45 pm on that day. Ordinarily, North Mada Street is extremely chaotic and crowded, but surprisingly, it was relatively peaceful and calm that day. Arappor had one end of the street cordoned off and traffic was being actively diverted by their volunteers, clad in shirts and caps bearing anti-corruption slogans. I put my name down on the sign-up sheet and collected…

About a year ago, the government of Karnataka approved a steel flyover road that would run from Basaveshwara Circle till the Kempapura junction after the Hebbal interchange, to ease the traffic congestion leading to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) which was estimated to cost a whopping Rs 2,100 crore. Little did they know this project would become a lynchpin that would energise citizen activism like never before. Thousands of people came out on an early Sunday morning to form a human chain and tell their government that it was a terrible idea. The offset of a collective awareness that Bengalureans…

Over the last few decades, we are witnessing how in the name of development our communities are being destroyed and our neighbourhoods transformed. This stems from the negligence and continued apathy of public officials and crippling of government institutions. Cities exist for its citizens, and all modern cities work on that fundamental principle. It is thus imperative that we, citizens of Bengaluru, have to take up on ourselves; to fight against massive corruption and institutional failure, misuse of public assets, deeply entrenched vested interests and the nexus of builders with public officials. Swarajya in association with Namma Bengaluru Foundation and…

“I cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples” - Mother Teresa We “Swachh Elita Swachh Bharat” volunteers are working for good environment from 2014. We have completed our 1000 days in month of August 2017. Elita Promenade Apartment is prime complex in J P Nagar 7th Phase, South Bengaluru with 1573 apartments. All the residents’ and Owners Association's participation and co-operation made the programme a great success. Our main initiatives are “Two Bin+One Bag – waste segregation with colour code bins” , “PLASTIC FREE ELITA” and “SWASTHA elita (Healthy elita)”.…