Civic

Students, women, farmers and Dalit groups gathered together on October 2nd, Gandhi Jayanti, to demand the withdrawal of a government order restricting protests to the confines of Freedom Park. The protestors intended to march from Gandhi Park at Maurya Circle to Vidhan Soudha but were detained by the police.   In 2022, the BJP-led Karnataka government passed an order barring protests anywhere in Bengaluru, except Freedom Park. Since its enforcement, the order has been used to arrest a wide range of protesting groups, including Citizens for Sankey, a group that opposed the proposed widening of Sankey Road, farmers from Devanahalli…

Mathew Idiculla, an independent legal and policy consultant based in Bengaluru and a visiting faculty at the School of Policy and Governance Azim Premji University, discussed the significance of public participation in urban planning and the views of urban planning experts in part 1 of this interview. In part two, he discusses the absence of an urban planning process and cites a few case studies to illustrate his point. CM: In 2015, you were a part of the BBMP restructuring committee. How was your experience being in the system? Mathew Idiculla: I accidentally became a part of the system. The…

Suggestions sought from survey of North Chennai The Rs 1000 crore Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam will see development of various key infrastructure in North Chennai. Neglected areas in the region will soon get model school, sports facilities, amenities such as walking paths and cycling tracks and sprucing up of existing public spaces such as parks and playfields.  The project will be carried out by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Tamil Nadu Urban Habitate Development Board (TNUHDB) and Department of Town and Country Planning. Read estate firm CBRE has been roped in to conduct surveys…

37599 idols immersed on the last day of immersion As Mumbaikars bid goodbye to Bappa, a total of 37,599 idols were immersed on Anant Chaturthi. Out of which 31,322 were household ones and 5840 were sarvajanik idols. Out of these, 734 sarvajanik and 10,121 household idols were immersed in artificial ponds. The most famous Lalbaugcha Raja was immersed on Friday morning around 8.30 am. The procession started at 11 am on Thursday. The civic body spread awareness about the artificial pond immersion of Ganpati Idols. The BMC provided the citizens with artificial ponds. Pic: BMC Twitter To maintain the ease…

September 29th bandh Normal life came to a halt during the one-day statewide bandh over the Cauvery water-sharing dispute on September 29th. Hundreds of pro-Kannada protesters and farmers were detained and more than 40 flights were cancelled. Many raised their voice against the government’s decision to release water to Tamil Nadu. The bandh was called by the Kannada Okkoota. Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code was imposed, prohibiting the assembly of four or more. Shops, eateries and theatres were shut down, even as schools and colleges declared a holiday as a precautionary measure. Kannada activists barged into a press conference…

Mathew Idiculla is an independent legal and policy consultant based in Bengaluru. He is a visiting faculty at the School of Policy and Governance, Azim Premji University. His main area of interest is the intersection of public law, politics, and public policy and his research and practice are focused on issues concerning cities, local governance, and federalism. At Azim Premji University, he teaches courses on Urban Governance in India and Urban Development: Law and Policy. In part one of Mathew's interview with Citizen Matters, he addresses the core concerns of urban planning in the city, in terms of lack of…

Chennai Corporation to relay 61 roads The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is set to relay a total of 61 roads across the city. The roads have been chosen based on complaints received on social media about their poor state. The civic body has put together a comprehensive report based on photos shared on the poor condition of the roads since June this year. The work is expected to be carried out in the coming weeks and completed before the onset of the northeast monsoon. Some of the roads identified are in areas such as Mugalivakkam, Porur, Madhavaram and Madipakkam. The…

Highest number of Ganpati pandals since 2018 Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are back to pre-pandemic fervour this year, with more than 2700 mandals getting a green signal to set up their pandals. The highest since 2018, the civic body has been busy preparing for the festival and is gearing up for immersions now. The BMC approved 72% of the total 3767 applications. The final number of pandals could be even higher, said Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS). The single-window system has been a success. Ramakant Biradar, deputy municipal commissioner, said, “Organisers are no longer required…

60 accident black spots The Bengaluru Traffic Police have identified 60 accident-prone locations or “accident black spots” in the city and have outlined some measures to enhance safety. The list will be submitted to the civic agencies. The black spots have been identified on the State Highway, National Highway, Ring Road, and other roads. Remedial measures include installation of accident zone signboards, construction of skywalks, placement of cat eyes and blinkers, CCTV cameras, rumbler strips, road markings, road humps, street lights, raised centre medians and speed limit signage boards. The report showed that over the past three years, the number…

In a previous story, I highlighted how various streets of North Chennai have turned into an obstacle course for motorists due to road works. But bad roads are not the only issue that one faces in these parts. Blatant encroachment of footpaths has been a problem that continues to remain unaddressed. Pedestrians are treated as second-class citizens across the city. More so in areas where there are mixed-used zones where there are many commercial establishments. Many such streets are present where these shops and eateries have taken over footpaths, leaving pedestrians to jostle for space on the already poorly laid…