Governance

Proposed amendment to Tree Act cancelled: The proposed amendment to the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act of 1976 has been cancelled, as the state government withdrew the bill last Wednesday. It was a victory for the earnest citizens who had been on a non-stop campaign against the plan. The government had been slammed for proposing a plan that would make it legal for authorities to cut down trees. Hence, on Wednesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra, clarified to the House that the government was going to take back the proposed amendment. He admitted that the amendment might have…

Rarely perhaps does one see the police distributing chocolates and people bursting crackers upon the award of capital punishment by a judge. But such was the scene following the initial applause at the Chengalpet Court where the killer of seven-year-old Hasini was sentenced to death. While the judiciary and the police congratulate each other for delivering justice to the girl within a year of the brutal rape and murder that shocked Chennai, there are at least 328 such Hasinis in the Chengalpet Court alone, waiting for their turns to be heard. Dozens of more such miserable victims await justice in…

Bengaluru Political Action Committee (B.PAC) submitted strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff by 0.85 Pa for FY-19 based on extensive data analysis. Submissions were made during Public Hearing held at Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) office. Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee, B.PAC and T.V. Mohandas Pai, Vice President, B.PAC made the submissions before the commission on February 19, during the public hearing conducted by KERC. Highlights of B.PAC’s submissions: Distribution Loss: KERC has approved distribution loss of 12.75% for FY 18 (up to Nov 2017). BESCOM distribution loss is presented at 11.86%. Further analysis of data of…

On Saturday, February 18th, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, Member of Parliament, spoke on ‘The Regulation of Risk’ at the Beyond Carlton Annual Memorial Lecture. The Carlton Towers Fire on February 23 2010 claimed nine lives and injured over 60 people. Family members of those affected by this accident got together to form Beyond Carlton which focuses on advocacy, accountability and creating awareness about the hazards of fire accidents in India. For the past few years, Beyond Carlton has been conducting an annual Memorial Lecture in February. Speakers in the past have included the likes of Swati Ramanathan, Co-founder Janaagraha;  R.A.Venkitachalam, Managing…

Two more labourers, Ramu (age 25 ) and Ravi (age 28 ), from Raichur died in a septic tank at the Yum Lok restaurant in AECS layout in Bengaluru. These deaths are a result of failure of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KPSCB) and the BBMP to strictly implement guidelines around the construction and maintenance of commercial establishments. Section 7 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, expressly prohibits employment of persons for hazardous cleaning of a sewers or septic tanks and any contravention of this section is cognizable and a non-bailable offence…

Dear Parties contesting in the Karnataka State Elections, Have you considered including Fire Safety in your election manifesto for the forthcoming election? If not, we urge you to do so. And here is why. There have been a spate of fire accidents in our country these past couple of months - be it at a liquor shop in Bengaluru or a hotel in Mumbai, or some other building in another city, town or village. In fact, as per NCRB 2015 data pertaining to Karnataka:  1244 died in fire accidents in 1 year  Of these, 781 were women and…

It was the year 1957 that Bangalore elected three women to the erstwhile Mysore Legislative Assembly. It remains the most number of women that the city has elected. Ours is a city that prides itself to be bustling cosmopolitan, representing modern times and yet how do we explain why there are not too many women who represented this city’s people politically? It is truly awesome and terrifying being a woman in these times. The last few months have been rather difficult for the collective patriarchy that has defined our world order so far. This month, the United Kingdom celebrates hundred…

The Revised Master Plan 2031 of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) which reflects the BDA’s vision of the growth of Bangalore over the next 15 years was open for public comments recently. At the outset, when one examines the overall ELU (Existing Land Use) and PLU (Proposed Land Use), there doesn’t seem to be any errors. The errors become evident when one examines the LU (Land Use) classification for each of the 42 PDs (Proposed District). First, the ELU areas of PDs does not add up to the total ELU mentioned for Industry, Unclassified, Transport, Vacant and Agriculture Land Uses. The…

Bandh gets good response: The statewide bandh on January 25 was fairly successful and mostly peaceful, as it got a good response from diverse organisations. In the attempt to reach a resolution for the Mahadayi row between Karnataka and Goa, the bandh got BMTC and KSRTC buses to stay off roads, with shops remaining shut. However, Metro services remained unaffected, while taxis and autos too were plying on the roads. Though it was fairly peaceful, the protest also witnessed some stray stone-pelters. There were more than 15,000 police personnel, along with 50 platoons of KSRP and CAR police persons who…

At a recent All India conference for senior police officials in the capital city, best performing police stations across the country were recognised and honoured. K4 Police station, Annanagar, Chennai bagged the 5th position in the country for its speedy disposal of cases, zero incidence of murder and the way visitors are handled. Citizen Matters spoke to officials at K4 to understand the distinct functioning of the police station. வண்டிகள் நேர்த்தியாக நிறுத்தி வைக்கப்பட்ட பார்கிங் ஏரியா, வரவேற்பாளர் அறை, பார்வையாளர்கள் காத்திருக்கும் பகுதி, குடிநீர் என ஒரு ஹோட்டல் போன்ற அமைப்பு கொண்டிருக்கிறது கே4 காவல் நிலையம். ஆனால் சிறந்த காவல் நிலையமாக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டதற்கு இதுவல்ல காரணம். ஜனவரி ஏழாம் தேதி…