Governance

  BWSSB has hiked the price of water, as well as reduced the number of slabs, with effect from November 2nd, 2014. The minimum water charge has gone up by almost 20% — from Rs 48 to Rs 57 a month and the monthly bill from Rs 83 to Rs 100 for domestic usage. Sanitary charge has been reduced from Rs 15 to Rs 14. For water usage above 8,000 litres, sanitary charge will be 25% of water supply charges. This was 15% earlier. Even with this hike, if you feel you are forced to pay more for water, you…

A petition on Change.org, that demands the increasing of non-AC buses on ITPL-Majestic route (335 AA or 335E) to at least 25, has garnered more than 400 supporters. This only highlights citizens’ demand for an increase in the number of non-AC buses on the ITPL-Majestic route that goes through Kundalahalli gate, near Whitefield, Bengaluru. The petition that has been initiated by Naveen Kumar Dahiya, a project engineer with an automobile company, states that the number of non-AC buses plying on this route is woefully inadequate. As there is a sizeable population that commutes daily via this route, it is necessary for…

Managing Director of BMTC, Dr Ekroop Caur travels on Bus Day. Pic: BMTC Providing efficient, reliable, safe and comfortable transport to the citizens of Bangalore city has been the sole motto of BMTC. In addition to this task, BMTC has initiated other important steps aimed at improved mobility and reduction in air pollution in the metropolis, through decongestion of traffic by marginalisation of personalised mode of transport, by observing Bus Day on the 4th of every month since February 2010. BMTC has so far successfully completed four years of Bus Day and is on the verge of completing the fifth…

Police commissioner's office on Infantry Road.If you are the decisionmaker in a firm that is looking to hire employees through private consultancies in Bengaluru, you need to be careful! And if you are looking for a job in Bengaluru, there are some consultancies you would not want to register with. Crime Control Bureau (CCB) Fraud and Malpractice Squad conducted raids recently on seven job consultancy firms, which provided fake experience certificates on experience, projects and trainings. CCB open to getting info from citizens CCB has also asked people to share information on trafficking and flesh trade, financial frauds via email…

Ramalinga Reddy, MLA at his home office in Lakkasandra. Pic: Ganga Madappa Ramalinga Reddy, MLA of BTM Layout, is a busy man. In addition to holding the Transport portfolio in the State Government, he is also the Bangalore In-charge Minister. Citizen Matters caught up with the six-time MLA over tea at his home office in Lakkasandra, even as the rains lashed the city. Read on to know what he has to say about the BBMP bifurcation, the waste management crisis and where he sees the city four years from now. What development works have been initiated in your constituency? Is…

On 21 October, when the newspapers carried reports about the move to convert Balabrooie (the government guest house next to Chitra Kala Parishad) into a club house for legislators, there was also another news item. A toddler was mauled by stray dogs. The grievously injured child was rushed by his migrant labourer parents to the BBMP hospital in the area, but there were no specialist doctors available. So the toddler had to be taken to KIMS hospital at Chamarajapet. Thereafter the child had to be shifted yet again, to a hospital at Malleswaram. Hospitals, especially government hospitals meant for those…

Pic: Facebook Community - Siddaramaiah: Save the Historic Balabrooie Guest House The Karnataka state government is reported to have decided on demolishing portions of Balabrooie Guest House, which currently houses the Justice Vaidyanathan Committee. It plans to build a clubhouse and quarters for legislators. Architect and heritage enthusiast Naresh Narasimhan points out how many illustrious people have stayed there over the years, from Mark Cubbon to Rabindranath Tagore to Jawaharlal Nehru. Bangalore Mirror reports that a group of artists and intellectuals, including SG Vasudev, B Suresh, Sreenivas Kappanna, and Jagadish and Arundhati Raja, plan to submit a memorandum to the…

A Public Interest Litigation has been initiated by Bangalore-based NGO Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) asking for criminal proceedings against the BBMP officials responsible for open drain in Bilekanahalli. Excerpts from the press note from Namma Bengaluru Foundation: In the aftermath of the death of Geetha Lakshmi, the eight-year-old, who fell into an open flooded drain; and Yeshwant, a 12-year old, who fell into an open unsecured flooded pit respectively, Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament have filed a public interest litigation in the High Court of Karnataka today. (October 9, 2014) The PIL filed in the Karnataka…

BBMP Council meeting held on September 29, 2014. Pic: BBMP The recent rains and the damage caused because of floods in the city was the topic of hot discussion in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council meeting, on Monday, September 2014. Peoples' representatives used the opportunity to put the blame on officials and to demand compensation for the 'victims.' Floods are a perennial problem in Bangalore in the centre of the city. The railway underpass near Anand Rao Circle that connects Gandhinagar, Freedom Park, Majestic, Race Course Road and other places. Jayamahal ward Corporator M K Gunashekar questioned the…

In the recent past, there have been quite a few instances where the courts have intervened with respect to civic projects. The recent one was when the Karnataka High Court directed civic agencies to widen the Hulimavu-Begur road- a case where the BBMP and a real estate company were at loggerheads. In another case, the Karnataka High Court directed the BBMP to get rid of encroachments on footpaths – this order was passed in response to a petition filed by an individual to make footpaths accessible to pedestrians. Yet another case was when the High Court ruled mixed land use…