Governance

With less than two months for the BBMP council term to end and election season to commence, the one-man committee formed by the government to probe financial irregularities in the BBMP has submitted its report. The report has the potential to become a weapon for the State government to dissolve the BBMP council and postpone the election. On February 19th 2015, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a one-man committee headed by IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Kataria to probe into various irregularities in the BBMP. The committee which investigated into the matter has now submitted its report to the government. Speaking…

Most of the buildings in Bangalore have bye-law violations - some minor, others major. Pic: Shree D N Two days after the State government announcing the implementation of Akrama Sakrama scheme, there are all indications the issue will yet again face legal hurdles. Mangaluru-based Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development has already filed a fresh petition in the High Court of Karnataka questioning the implementation of Akrama Sakrama. Bengaluru-based Citizens Action Forum too has decided to file a separate petition. Vidya Dinker, Convener of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, who is the main petitioner in the case dismissed on February 3rd,…

The three-member committee formed by the State government to look into the Restructuring of BBMP will hold a series of meetings with Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) and Non-government Organisations, community-based organisations, apartment owners’ associations and other citiens, to give their suggestions and inputs on the ongoing restructuring exercise. The government has formed the three member committee headed by former chief secretary B S Patil, with Siddaiah and V Ravichandar as its members. The committee has been entrusted with the task of studying the impact of restructuring BBMP and chalk out the ways in which the city can be governed more…

Even as the State government is gearing up to implement the Akrama Sakrama scheme that allows the regularisation of the building byelaw and certain land use violation in urban areas including Bengaluru, the new rules have raised several concerns. While a section of the civic society opposes the concept of regularisation as a whole, a few others find lacunae in the new rules which they say might prove disastrous if the scheme is implemented. In fact, there are serious doubts over the new rules of being big developer-friendly, rather than being people-friendly. There is not much difference between the 2007…

On February 27th 2015, yet another malnourished child from DJ Halli passed away due to pneumonia compounded by malnutrition and cerebral palsy. Nawaz died at the age of 4 years and 4 months, weighing only 9.8 kg. His pneumonia was fatal because he didn’t receive treatment at the local primary health centre (PHC). Known as the Maidan Hospital’ at DJ Halli, this primary health centre and maternity home is infamous locally for turning away pregnant mothers who are on the verge of delivery, if they do not pay extra money. People typically don’t even attempt to use the centre for…

The state government has told the High Court that they will amend the Bengaluru Development Authority's Revised Master Plan-2015 Zonal Regulations to conform to the BDA's affidavit submitted recently to the court. The government’s counsel agreed before the Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy to make necessary changes within 10 days. Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) had filed a writ petition in the High Court questioning the changes made by the state government in the Zonal Regulations which were not in line with BDA's affidavit. BDA had said: Not me In the earlier…

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) submitted an affidavit to High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday February 18th 2015, in which they held the State government responsible of making changes to the Revised Master Plan (RMP)-2015 recently in which the conditions for commercial use of land were relaxed. The BDA had come under fire from civic groups for making changes in the Zoning Regulations of Bangalore’s Revised Master Plan - 2015 in contrary to the affidavit submitted to the High Court of Karnataka last year. The background It was exactly a year ago that the High Court had given an order…

The BBMP elections are fast-approaching. If you thought BBMP election is not as important as the state or parliamentary elections, you are wrong. It is the local municipal administration, in Bengaluru’s case, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), that is responsible for the mess that you experience because of potholed roads, uncleared garbage or the streets with no light. Being the election that decides who rules the city, this is the most important election of all which can change the way you live in the city. Irrespective of whether BBMP is divided into multipe municipalities or not, indications are that…

With only two months left for the BBMP council’s term to end and the election likely to be held this year - in 2015, there are all indications of the BBMP polls witnessing an interesting fight between conventional and the new political parties. Though almost all the political parties say it is a bit too early to predict the structure of electoral battlefield, specially when the State government is allegedly trying to delay the polls, they admit that the BBMP election this season is going to be different from past. The victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi election…

The State government is likely to face the wrath of the judiciary, having made visible changes in violation of the Karnataka High Court order while amending zonal regulations in Revised Master Plan, 2015. The Citizen Action Forum (CAF) which has been fighting against commercialisation in residential areas, has filed a contempt petition in the High Court against the government for not abiding by the affidavit submitted by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) promising to curb commercialisation in residential areas. The case is likely to come for hearing in the court next week. Land use classification by the BDA is often…