Governance

Russell Market traders are operating devoid of electricity. Pic: Abhishek Angad. A traders' initiative to rebuild Bengaluru's gutted-Russell Market after the February 25th fire mishap has led to a standoff between them and BBMP. BBMP has sent an eviction notice to Russell Market traders citing dilapidated conditions.Though the fire weakened the market structure initially, renovation seems to have restored strength. To rebuild the structure, traders employed a third party, KK Infrastructure, a firm which also worked with Bangalore Airport. All the affected traders contributed funds along with money received from the government. Traders have initiated renovation ongoing at Rusell Market,…

News reports say Bengaluru mayor Sharadamma broke into tears when minister R Ashoka threatened to cut her funds allocation unless she apportioned the amount he wanted, to his loyalists. Sharadamma has refuted this, saying that she "did not cry". The point is not whether she did or didn't cry, but whether it is acceptable for a minister to dictate that the disbursement of funds should satisfy his loyalists, according to his whims rather than leaving it to the mayor's discretion. Minister R Ashoka has always had plenty to do with Bangalore's politics. Mayor Sharadamma Ramanjaneya seen here in the centre,…

Over hundred families in Aatmajyothi Nagar in Nayandahalli are drinking toxic water, with nearly 12 times the acceptable nitrate levels, from borewells. "The permissible limit of nitrates per litre of water is 45 milligram. But in the underground water in Nayandahalli, the nitrate level is 554 milligrams per liter, which is very high. It can cause various health hazards," said M V Shashirekha, water researcher and former official of the mines and geology department. Pic: Sankar C G There is a further shortage of safe drinking water due to delay in the completion of the Cauvery Fourth Stage Second Phase…

Bengaluru has lost out on hundreds of crores of rupees in property tax revenue, only because it did not verify tax declarations and did not raise tax rates in over a decade. This is as per an audit of BBMP for the years 2008-2010, by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). In a press release on March 28th, BBMP has sounded the gong for 2012-13 tax collections. According to the report, false tax declarations alone created loss of at least Rs 207.35 cr in 2008-10. This was based on a sample audit of 169 declarations alone, from 16…

It is illegal to run a hospital or a clinic without first registering with Health Ministry and Bengaluru has around 15,000 private medical establishments that are running without registration. This essentially flouts the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act 2009. Pic: Sankar C G But the doctors who run these clinics seem to be unaware of the process. "I have not registered my clinic anywhere because I didn't know about it. I don't have any kind of certificates from medical waste management, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board or BBMP," says Dr. Asha D. Patil of Santhi clinic in Kengeri.KPME Act 2009…

March 17, 2012 saw a small number of Bengalureans debate active citizenship. On the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day (March 15), Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) held a summit on the "state of Consumer Affairs in the City". The summit was held at Udayabhanu Kalasangha in Kempegawdanagar. From left, Sainath NR, Sakuntala Narasimhan, Ramamurthy, Maj. Pankaj Rai Pic: Anisha Nair The guest speakers included Dr. Sakuntala Narasimhan, national award winning journalist and consumer protection activist, N S Ramamurthy, former senior food inspector, Public Health Institute, Retd Major Pankaj Rai, who is currently helping people fight medical negligence cases, Sainath N…

Last month, around 400 residents under BESCOM's S6 subdivision, JP Nagar, were in for a shock. Their bill reflected a penalty ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs 1.1 lakhs. Upon enquiry, they found out that the penalty was for not entering into an agreement with BESCOM at the time of shifting into LT3 consumer category. The overall penalty charges amounted to around Rs 43 lakh. From left to right: Kashinath, Pradeep Nagaraj, Sunita K S. Pic: Abhishek Angad In May 2010, there was a major shifting of electricity installations from residential (LT2) to commercial (LT3) in the S6 subdivision of…

National Games Village (NGV) was built in 1997 and fire safety equipments were installed at the time. But 15 years on, most residents still do not know where these are located or how to use them.According to the Karnataka Fire Force Act, 1964, it is the responsibility of the fire department to check whether equipment are being maintained in good working condition.  Ghataprabha block of National Games Village. Pic: Anisha Nair Meera Rajesh, a resident of NGV says, "I am not aware of any fire safety equipment being installed in our society. I don't think there are any at all."…

I had the opportunity to attend a Children's Ward Sabha in Vijnana Nagar on February 23rd. It was organised by CWC (The Concerned for Working Children), an NGO for child rights.A Ward Sabha in urban areas is similar to a Gram Sabha in rural areas, wherein citizens of a village come together to voice their demands from elected representatives; these demands are supposed to be incorporated in the development package for that area. In 2006, based on the experience of other countries which have such children's sabhas, the Karnataka government took the initiative of making children's gram sabhas mandatory in…

Illustration: Sridhar comaravalli Mar 21st UPDATE On the evening of March 20st, as this article was published, lawyers decided to call off the strike for a few days. This was in response to Karnataka Home Minister R Ashoka's order to transfer DCP(Central) G Ramesh and ACP K N Jitendranath. Lawyers say, however, that they are continuing to demand resignation of Ashoka himself. Also, DGP (CID) R K Dutta's report to Karnataka's Home Secretary has confirmed that police did not follow due procedure during the lathi-charge on advocates on March 2nd, according to media reports. Lawyers say it is now a…