Governance

What would I do if I become the Mayor of Bengaluru? That’s a very tricky question because it is always easy to sit on the opposite side and keep giving free advices and suggestions. Sitting on the hot seat means significant change. Anyway, for an old Bengaluruan, who has enjoyed the English climate of Bengaluru, the slow pace of life, the clean and beautiful avenues like Margosa Road, Sampige Road, Coconut Avenue, the lovely huge circles with beautiful gardens and the neat roads with minimum traffic, today’s Bengaluru is a shocker! Crime rate was low. People were friendlier. Every home…

We’d start from our quarters near Silk Board at around 8 am on my father’s Bajaj scooter. In 10 minutes, we’d take a turn near the erstwhile Elgin Mill and head towards Shanti Nagar to eventually reach Richmond Road near Pallavi Talkies. The route was dotted by Gulmohar, or Mayflower as we know them, fallen on the road, after last night’s showers. The fallen flowers and a wet-looking road were the only signs of overnight rain in those days. We’d hit the first busy signal at Hudson Circle (now known as Corporation Circle). At about 8.15 am, a car or…

Mayor is the first citizen of a city.  Members of the Council with elected body of corporators from various wards of the city, MLAs, MLCs, local MPs, and nominated members elect a Mayor. Bengaluru city has 198 wards and had a population of around 8 million in 2016. This has resulted in significant pressure on the city’s infrastructure, water resources, water supply, in meeting the basic needs of its citizens. Mayor should know his powers, responsibilities and play an important role to keep his citizens happy. Mayor’s term is short, and he must get into the act from the word…

The problems Bengaluru faces have never been more evident. Traffic has reached a record high, more than half our roads can’t even be classified as roads, our garbage disposal system is in a state of absolute disarray, our groundwater is vanishing at an alarming rate while the part that remains is being constantly polluted, our lakes are struggling to not be engulfed by toxic foam. Most importantly, not only our ecosystem is dying in isolation but also the citizen of Bengaluru is perishing along with it. For example, with far over 65 lakh vehicles in the city, Bengalureans breathe air…

‘Bendakaaluru’ is a land of dreams for every individual with every opportunity and facilities available at the doorstep. It was a dream child which depicted the vision for the city by one of the great architect of all times Kempegowda. Bengaluru as it is called today, came to be recognised with various titles ranging from the Garden City to Silicon City to Garbage City. Every title adorned by this city clearly shows both the level of development and degradation in terms of infrastructure, technology, ecological degradation, land use pattern, etc. Bengaluru attracts thousands of people with dreams of better life…

The ballots are in and tallied for the mayor post (quixotic); and here I am, the Mayor of Bengaluru. Everyone want things to happen as per their vision, but communities aren’t always up for change. I have a vision of making my Bengaluru “Gild the Lily”. To start with, if I were the Mayor; I assure, I would not be a “Little more than a figurehead”, but strive hard for the betterment of my place and people. Aren’t the floods enough to stagnate the roads, that even the toxic foam from industries which is disposed into lakes are now onto…

The jokes on Facebook and Whatsapp have been relentless -- some even gross, indicating the blockage of various bodily functions because they have not been linked to Aadhaar! Notwithstanding those, or the more serious concerns and critiques raised by scores of individuals, the government remains steadfast in its mission of mandating UID-linked verification of citizens for every scheme or facility that they avail. While several petitions against the statutory linking of Aadhaar with various essential services and schemes is now awaiting a ruling from the highest court of the country, mobile phone inboxes of consumers continue to be flooded with…

Karnataka Election Commission has published the draft voter rolls in the website. Check out the Kannada version here. As of now there is no English version. So you need to know Kannada, and know your booth number or name of the booth to check your name on the list. To enroll on voter roll yourself without a third party’s help, click here and follow the instructions. A guide from Whitefield Rising on how to register yourself on voter list is here. To summarise it as applicable to any area in Bengaluru: To check if your earlier submission was successful, go…

What happens when a temple decides to go zero waste?? A lot of things can happen! The management realised that it’s more easy to manage garbage when you have nothing to throw.. Yes—that’s what happened at Kalyana Mahaganapathi temple in Kalyannagar, in North Bengaluru. The temple had many garbage-related woes. Prasadam was served in cups and plates which were disposable. This would pile up and they were at the mercy of waste collectors who would charge them a 1,000 rupees to collect waste every time! Tonnes of flowers and dried leaves would pile up and sometimes be criminally burnt! All…

Traffic congestion, waste management, economic inequality -- issues such as these have been bogging down Indian cities. But attempting piecemeal, inefficient solutions means that problems have only worsened. The ‘Smart Cities Mission’ (SCM) launched by Narendra Modi's government in 2015 aimed at tackling urban issues. The concept was to make cities smart - to do more with less, to use existing resources efficiently and to build on them. As per the SCM, cities should provide citizens essential infrastructure, decent quality of life, sustainable environment, and also apply smart solutions. Given the lofty objective, it is interesting to observe how the…