Governance

One has to be thankful that a beginning has been made to create Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee. But why have the MPC Rules been framed to apply only to Bangalore, while Mysore and Hubli—Dharwad are also about to cross the 10 lakh population criterion, or have already crossed it? Are the rules going to be framed for each city separately? The way the rules have been framed for the MPC’s  functioning, it will serve only two functions: 1) to comply with the High Court order to meet the letter of the law, but not its spirit; 2) to continue to…

The most common complaint Bangaloreans have about the city of Bengaluru is about the planning being a disaster. This is especially the case after Bengaluru grew out of its old city limits and ate up rural areas very quickly. All of this, coupled with reckless issue of permissions and corruption, led to disorderly growth in traffic, water usage and even hiving off of lakes for development. The term “well-planned city” is referred to in a utopian way by many. But come September 16, this is all about to change. Bangalore is one step closer to better planning and coordination between…

  Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Company (BMTC) has initiated some steps aimed at improved mobility and reduction in air pollution in the Bengaluru Metropolis through decongestion of traffic. Bus day is conducted every month, and tomorrow is a Bus day. Excerpts from BMTC press note in this regard: This month BMTC has decided to observe 55th “Bus Day” on 4th September 2014, Thursday to ensure maximum public participation. The Bus Day in this month will be observed in the following corridors: Old Airport Road (ITPL Sarjapura Road Hosur Road   Bannerghatta Road      Kanakapura Road Mysore Road, Magadi Road Tumkur Road…

In the first part of this series, I explained about the history of Whitefield area in Bengaluru that resulted in khata confusions. In the second part, I answered many questions related to khata, in addition to explaining why khata is not a proof of ownership. There are five categories of people based on the khata they have or don't have. Category A: Those who have been able to obtain a khata issued by the erstwhile Mahadevapura CMCCategory B: Those who have a Village panchayat khata issued by the erstwhile Whitefield Village panchayat, but for some reason, were unable to obtain…

With most school managements in Bengaluru reluctant to adhere to some of the child safety guidelines issued by the Police Department, there is uncertainty in the air. While the Police Department is unsure about taking action against schools that do not comply with the rules after August 31, school managements have not decided on their course of action yet. Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi is aware of the concerns raised by the private school associations. However he admitted that taking action against schools that don’t follow the norms is not easy. "We just cannot take action immediately, there are…

In Part I, I explained the history of property-related confusion in Whitefield area in Bengaluru, and why Khata confusions arise. Here are some more questions answered on Khata: What is Khata? The term ‘Khata’ literally means an account. This term has a long history. Kingdoms levied land revenue on citizens to raise the bulk of their resources. For this purpose, they developed systems for measuring of land and appointed collectors to estimate and collect the taxes. Each land owner was assigned a ‘Khata’ in the records of the tax collectors, in which details of the estimated tax payable and the…

The District Disability Welfare Office organised a camp for the differently-abled at the Government Kannada School in DJ Halli on August 11th and 12th, to ensure immediate needs of differently-abled people at DJ Halli are met. The camp allowed the differently-abled to undergo medical check-ups, and apply for disability certificates, disability pension and aid devices.   The first patient to come into the camp was an old lady, Vijaya, with some form of mental illness, who came in as early 8 30 am on Aug 11th, despite the disability camp being scheduled to start only at 10 am. She was…

Bengaluru has seen several cases of child sexual abuse in past month. Many parents and schools are apprehensive about coming out in the open, when a case of sexual abuse occurs. The social stigma, the pressure of interacting with police, not being sure about whom to contact etc are the issues generally faced. Above all, the very thought of the child having to re-live the incident during the investigation, is scary to many parents. This write-up is an attempt to explain how easy and child-friendly the law really is towards the child. A still from 'Komal,' an educative film on…

Be careful of your belongings if you live in Bengaluru. If you lose your expensive phones, gadgets and other valuable items, that is solely your fault and the Bangalore Police will add to your worry by giving you an earful of why you must no use such expensive items. Clearly in HSR layout police station that is the message that is running around.  And what is even worse, they claim to be doing all the work in the country. “Anything that happens anywhere in India all of them land up at the HSR Layout Police Station. I am going to…

This is a sign that citizens are beginning to use IT Act section 66A to hit back people posting hurtful and offensive remarks online, in response to their own articulations. V R Bhat, a Kannada columnist in Bengaluru, and active user of Facebook found himself on the receiving end of 66A this week, when someone he offended used the infamous IT Act’s 66A clause on him. The above comment in Kannada, put on Facebook by V R Bhat has attracted a complaint against him under section 66A of IT Act. when the tagged person and others filed a complaint under…