Civic

Amongst the many images and impressions at that I saw and experienced at the "Namma Raste, Namma Ooru" walk on Sunday, 9th November 2008, was the picture of this tiny tot; She didn't seem to be angry, or against anything; she made a peaceful statement that surely none of us can disagree with...and was calmly eating something that a tree gave her, too!Surely, if a little one like her can come out to express her opinion, the rest of us can take heed and protect the trees we have left!Update: What a coincidence! I shared this image with Hasiru Usiru...and…

In a boost to the Right To Information (RTI) movement in the country, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in February this year, upheld the levy of penalty by the Haryana State Information Commission, on the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) for delay in furnishing information to an RTI applicant. The Commission had levied a fine of Rs.19250, at the rate of Rs.250 per day for a 77-day delay caused by the SPIO in servicing the RTI application. Cartoon: Narasimha VedalaIt is only recently that RTI users in Bangalore stumbled upon this case, and clearly, they are pleased. They pointed…

A free reading room and information center, to be maintained by Jayanagar 5th Block Residents' Welfare Association was inaugurated on October 9th, by Jayanagar MLA, B N Vijaya Kumar.The program was attended by former corporators, C K Rama Murthy, B Somasheakar, S K Nataraj, and many residents of Jayanagar 5th block and other citizens. Jayanagar 5th Block Residents Welfare Association119. 7th Main.5th Block Jayanagar,Bangalore -41  Tel-265544155The proposed center will provide information on civic and utility services to residents and also would be equipped with books, newspapers and periodicals. The association would also conduct interactive meetings with officials/elected representatives and conduct…

I very often find that cables (probably TV cable, and perhaps optic fibre cable too) is taken across the tops of buildings, or even strung across roads, with no care or thought of safety or even aesthetics.To illustrate this, I took this snap of one area in Jayanagar, near the Post Office:Do the building owners not mind the huge safety hazard that this poses, and are they not bothered (at least) about how ugly that nest of wires looks?We are mealy-mouthed hypocrites who talk a lot about the beauty of Bangalore and then keep quiet while economic considerations take precedence…

Recently, on 1st July 2008, the High Court of Karnataka declared that personal information of the public authorities cannot be made available through the Right To Inforamtion Act, 2005. The order was a result of a writ petition filed by H E Rajashekarappa, Joint Director (Statistics) at Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department, at Ambedkar Veedhi, Bangalore. Rajashekarappa filed the case on 30th June 2006. On 17 March 2006, one Narasimha Murthy, retired statistical inspector filed an RTI application with the PIO at the Government Planning and Statistics Department, M S Building, asking for the total assets and liablities of…

Come rains and most roads of the city are flooded. Some roads see potholes and muddy water all over, some lose their asphalt cover and some others are deformed. You may be surprised to know that the BBMP appoints private consultants to repair flood damage on roads with its own engineers. But the roads remain in bad shape even after that.In 2006, the BBMP formed a Flood Damage Control cell to carry out such road works. A total of 26 roads in the city were shortlisted for repairs with a budget of Rs.19 crores. All these road works were awarded…

A key right-to-information question was resolved when the Karanataka High Court on 30 June 2008, declared that registered Co-operative Societies are not public authorities under the RTI Act, 2005. Citing the RTI Act, the High Court said that 'public authority' under this act is a body of self-government established by the appropriate (state legislature, central) government. A non-governmental organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate government is also a 'public authority'. Furthermore, the court noted that while the Co-operative Societies Act and the Karnataka LokAyuktha Act both defined office-bearers of co-operative societies to be 'public…

Did you know that of the innumerable road humps (or speed breakers) in the city, only 282 are authorised by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP)? All the others, according to the BBMP, are unauthorised and do not have any mention in their records. This fact was revealed when BBMP responded to a RTI application regarding the same recently. Most of us are troubled by the road humps we come across every day. It’s a common feeling that some of them are not required at all, while some of them appear to be hastily put up with no concern for…

The Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), a civic action group representing a number of residents' welfare associations in Bangalore, organised a one-day symposium as part of their on-going public dialogues with politicians on 30th August 2008 at Central College. They discussed ways to solve civic problems and debated on two of Bangalore's unsresolved issues: Sakrama and collection of property tax. The programme was structured as panel discussions. Mathew Thomas, general Secretary of CAF made an extensive presentation on ‘Kasturirangan Committee’ (aka Committee on Governance in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and BBMP, headed by Dr Kasturirangan, ex-chairman of ISRO) for a review…

Everyday, a number of roads get asphalted under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike's (BBMP) road works and a lot more wait to get constructed. It is often observed that soon after these roads are asphalted they degenerate, potholes appear and degradation results. Not many times do we ponder that there ought to be a procedure and specifications for laying roads. Well there is such procedures, and it is available with the BBMP and they are supposed to follow it. M V K Anil Kumar, an RTI activist, filed an application to find out just this. The thought came to his…