Civic

Normalcy is likely to be hit in Bengaluru on Saturday September 26th, with various organisations calling for a state-wide bandh. The bandh has been called to protest against the delay in implementing the Kalasa–Banduri project in North Karnataka. Speaking to Citizen Matters, Kannada Okkuta President Vatal Nagaraj said, “We have declared a bandh from 6 am to 6 pm. What we are asking for is this: implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project, linking the Mahadayi river, development of Uttara Karnataka, and finally, that farmers loans be waived.” Nagaraj added that the bandh had the support of 1,080 associations across Karnataka, including…

Just concluded BBMP Elections saw ward no 198 - Hemmigepura stand second in voters turnout. This ward reported 59.4% voter turnout, to stand next to Siddapura where 62.14% voted were polled. This is because, various layout residents of Kanakapura road are together and having a good net work among themselves. They have prepared a vision document for their aspiring corporators and submitted when they met them during the election campaign. The Residents Welfare Associations together decided to ensure they followup with their residents and ensure they go out and vote. Infact many associations helped the residents to find out their name…

Bellandur Ward candidates have started campaigning and reaching out to residents. Meanwhile residents had a discussion on the Bellandur Forum egroups and Facebook page, on what our needs are and what we want the winning candidate of the Bellandur Ward to address in her term.  This is the Citizen Manifesto that we came up with.  Governance Form a Ward Committee within a month: select 3 representatives from Bellandur apartment/layout RWAs - call out for applications by issuing public notice. Communication Have a public meeting at a fixed day, say first Saturday of the month to hear grievances and review execution. Liason with other agencies including traffic…

Members of the Indiranagar 2nd Stage Residents Welfare Association met to discuss what they would like to see happening in Ward 80-Hoysala Nagar and Ward 89-Jogupalya. Here is their wishlist for their neighbourhood from corporators aspirants. Their demands are common those of citizens in many other wards in the city - better waste management, safe passage for pedestrians, better sanitation. Here's what they had to say.  Sewarage drains and moris The sewarage drains in the residential layout of Indiranagar 2nd Stage, 10th and the 10th A Main crosses from 1st to 10th have become clogged. The drain pipes are very old,…

Pic: A file pic from BBMP 2010 candidates debate. It is that time again when everyone wants to make an informed choice, ahead of BBMP elections. Resident Welfare Associations are busy trying to organise meetups with candidates. Citizen Matters has compiled a guide on how to do this, with a set of questions that can be asked with a candidate. The first step is to collect information about candidates. We need your help to gather information about them and share it with us, to benefit fellow Bengalureans. You could ask them to fill this form. Alternatively, you can also gather the points…

ADDRESSED TO ALL POLITICAL PARTIES FIELDING CANDIDATES AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES STANDING FOR BBMP ELECTIONS 2015 AN OPEN LETTER FROM CITIZENS’ ACTION FORUM- CAF’S Citizens' Charter of Demands for the BBMP Elections 2015 Manifestoes. We from Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF) have met with our partner RWAs and have compiled critical suggestions for the manifestos of all the political parties fielding candidates and independent candidates alike for the BBMP Elections 2015. At the outset, we would like to thank the BJP-Bangalore for taking a welcome step of inviting CAF for a discussion and seeking suggestions for their manifesto for the BBMP Elections…

How can corporate CSR funds support more city improvement projects? I was at an event yesterday where this was discussed by some of the CEOs of large companies in the city. The ongoing neighbourhood improvement partnership competition has already helped find the first 1 crore of CSR money for a few city improvement projects, and I'm hopeful that next year there will be five times as much money, so that 40+ community projects in the city can be showcased. That kind of scale would begin to help build a very different kind of city - with citizens actively responsible for…

It’s back! And it’s bigger and better! (And cleaner!) The 1st Bengaluru Underground Festival (held in August 2014) was a unique first-of-its-kind Underground Festival to reclaim Bangalore’s filthy subways. The good news is that the subways have stayed clean and usable for a year now (despite lots of cynicism from lots of people), and it’s time to celebrate again! What is it? Bangalore is following in the footsteps of New York, London, Paris and major world cities, by transforming its underground pedestrian underpasses, or subways, from the stinking, dingy dangerous places that they have always been, to vibrant public spaces…

A week has gone by since I last wrote and about six days have gone by since I last heard from BBMP. BBMP called me several times last Friday asking me if the work was done — and in spite of numerous assurances — no work has been done.  The BBMP Sahaaya complaint number is 10506777 and the last SMS communication I received, informing me that the complaint has been 'assigned' was on June 23rd. I also have a Malleshwaram Sahaaya complaint number - 2760084. However, in this case, the SMS only says that the complaint has been created.  It is…

Subways are typically built so that pedestrians can cross over from one side of the road to the other, without having to risk their lives by meandering their way through traffic. Subways in Namma Bengaluru are another matter altogether. Some of them are used as public toilets and reek of urine. They get waterlogged after a heavy downpour. And being dimly-lit, many people avoid then for their lack of safety. Well, the Bangalore Underground Project looked to changed that. Last year, Bangalore Rising and BBMP came together to clean six subways near Cubbon Park and KR Circle. And the effort did…