Civic

Doddanagamangala, a village approximately two kms from Electronic City junction has been struggling against all odds. It has no roads, no water, no KEB connection and no sanitation. About 30 families live in single room sheds with asbestos sheet roof above their heads to protect them from sun and rain, with water supplied in tractors once a week.About 200 people, a majority of them from economically weaker sections of the society, had purchased land from local farmers when land was available at an affordable price since the area did not have any amenities. Settlements in the area took place between…

Jayanagar 5th Block is one of the oldest and planned locality in Jayanagar. The birth place of Infosys was at 5th Block. Many eminent personalities who lived/living include- Sri Narayana Murthy, Sri Sri Ravishankarji, noted poets Pu thi Narasimachar, Gopalakrishna Adiga, Shashi Deshpande, noted film personality Vishnuvardhan and noted physicist Padmasri Dr Ramanath Cowsik.The Resident Welfare Association is a 27 year old registered association and has been carrying out many developmental activites.As a part of the citizen charter (see Candidates converse with voters, the association had organised an interaction meeting with Jayanagar MLA, B N Vijay Kumar and officials of…

Some years ago, all of us had to bear with the roads, and sidewalks too, getting dug up for various reasons; one of them was OFC. "OFC"! said the little concrete signposts said, that came up later on the spot. OFC stood for Optic Fibre Cable; this was going to be the cable that would make Bangalore the city of the future, with internet connectivity everywhere.Then there were reports in the newspaper that there were only the pipes laid down; the actual optic fibre cable itself was missing. "Ah!" we breathed; it was nothing new to Bangalore to have something…

I was walking along the "80 ft Ring Road" (I still don't know the name of this road, that goes from the Silk Board along Ragigudda up to Kanakapura Road!), when I saw how this tree had been revered, and a small shrine built to it: Trees (Pic: Deepa Mohan)It was good to see that some trees are still held in such reverence; but in these days of road-widening and tree-felling, I could not help wishing that the BBMP adopted the same attitude towards the beautiful living beings that give us shade, oxygen, shelter, beauty, and a home to several…

Rainbow Drive, an apartment complex of 200 houses seems to be all that the name suggests -- tree-lined pathways, moist breezes, and verdant gardens. But no one would believe that this is situated on Sarjapur Road, the ‘waterless colony' as this region of south-eastern Bangalore is being called in private circles. Rainbow Drive was beginning to go the way of all ‘dry' colonies just four months ago. It does not have a water supply connection from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and has been dependent on its rapidly depleting borewells. According to a resident, Jayawanth Bhardwaj, formerly…

The problems of JP Nagar do not end with the underpass mess on the 24th Main, 15th Cross, in fact the residents are facing inconvenience even because of another major construction in that area. This time it is the construction of the drain line that is the cause of concern for the residents. Compound walls broken down and used as pass ways (Pic: Supriya Khandekar) "There is a fight for getting daily necessities, reaching the grocery shop or the bus stand is a big task. The vegetable vendors also do not come regularly," says Sujatha M, who also lives on…

For the first time in the history of state legislature, the ruling BJP has got maximum number of seats in Bangalore city. One of the main reasons the elite electorate of Bangalore elected them because of their promise to scrap the CVS tax structure, make amendents to Akrama/sakrama and master plan of Bangalore and make them people friendly. There are already PILS have been filed against AKRAMA and Master PlanIt is unfortunate inspite of Cabinet decision to collect taxes for this year under SAS scheme, the BBMP has not made arrangements to collect the same, one wonder if BBMP is…

Recently, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the Revised Master Plan - 2015 (RMP), or the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) was admitted in the Karnataka High Court. The PIL was filed by the Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), the Sadashivnagar Residents' Welfare Association (SRWA) and 12 distinguished citizens against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), for disregarding public sentiments and expert opinion and going ahead with the RMP in its present form. Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Ravi Malimath admitted the writ petition (Case: 3676, 2008) on 3 March. The petitioners have charged that the…

As is well known by now, the city's road widening project is also causing a massive cutting down of trees. There is now the risk that it might reduce the greenery of the garden city just to its gardens. A PIL was filed with the High Court by the Environment Support Group (ESG) asking the court, amongst other things, to put a stay the project. As a response to the PIL, the High Court on 28 June appointed a panel of experts to a review committee to oversee developmental projects like the Metro, underpasses, road widening, and so forth. According…

In one of the many public appearances that Ramalinga Reddy, MLA, (Congress-BTM Layout constituency) is making these days, he visited the ST Bed area on 21 June, Saturday. The residents of ST Bed area organised a meeting comprising of all the officers from the different government departments including the BBMP, BWSSB, BDA, Police, etc. The stage was decked with around a dozen people including the Reddy. Around a 100 people attended this meeting. Citizens listing to officers at the meeting. Pic: Author. Before the meeting Reddy had already been visiting the area, since his victory in the elections. He recently…