Governance

BBMP Contract Pourakarmika Workers Association staged a protest today at BBMP head office about the pending salaries for the past two months. Around 1,000 workers participated in the protest. They demanded that the system of paying salaries through contractors should be done away with and be paid directly by BBMP. The pourakarmikas say that the contractor usually pays only half the salary, that too as cash and not via cheques. They also demanded for minimum wage and proper identity cards. Pourakarmikas protesting at BBMP head office. Pic: Sankar C G “We are not getting minimum wage on time as mentioned…

BBMP has listed control room numbers for disaster management on its official website. Unfortunately these lines either do not work or there is no response. I had lodged a complaint (Complaint no: 197) with BBMP (South Office) on May 11 for clearing the branch of the tree that had fallen due to heavy rain, which was promptly cleared within couple of hours.It has been more than 10 days and the branches cut are thrown across my compound facilitating to make it a dump yard. Irony is that BBMP Porakarmikas who clean the road, dump all the debris in the same…

BBMP unlike BDA is not a development authority, it can be termed as a maintenance authority and provides services, hence it should focus on -Capacity building - Administrative restructuring of BBMP - Roles and responsibilities of departments/officers  to be defined.Computerisation of all BBMP offices, establishment of  citizen help centers in each ward.Adequate and skilled professionals should be hired as required in BBMP.Services of Private consultants/professionals /outsourcing can be utilised as required on a contract basis instead of utilizing engineers from the public works department.Involve registered Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) and civic organizations to monitor projects of the ward and conduct…

In the land grab case filed by BTM Layout's Bank Officers' Co- Operative Housing Society(BOCOH) the High Court has ordered civic bodies for taking action against erring officials. The dispute over the ownership of a civic amenity site in BTM layout 1st Stage, measuring 2 acres 31 guntas seems to be fixed for now. At a hearing on April 20th, HC confirmed in an order that this land was earmarked to be developed as a park by the BDA, or later by BBMP. The court criticised BBMP for the khata transfer of the civic amenity site, and BDA for giving…

The Karnataka State cabinet on 7th May underlined its commitment towards women empowerment and announced provide 50 per cent reservation in urban local bodies on the lines of reservation in gram, taluk and zilla panchayats. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs S Suresh Kumar after a cabinet meeting on 7th, reportedly said that the government will amend the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964 and Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 in the next legislature. Karnataka has nine city corporations including the recent inclusion of Tumkur. It has 205 other municipalities: 43 City Municipal Councils, 94 Town Municipal Council and 68 Town Panchayats.…

An illegal and unauthorised construction of a temple in a civic amenities (CA) site in JP Nagar has started.The CA site is located between 30th A Main Road and 17th A cross road. The Supreme Court mandates that no temple construction should be allowed on a CA site and this is a clear violation of Supreme Court rule.This has been brought to the notice of  MLA B Vijaya Kumar and the Joint Commissioner (South), BBMP Hemachandra. They have promised to look into the matter at the earliest. A glimpse at CA site in JP Nagar where the temple construction has…

Even as contestants were making efforts to push through last minute voter registrations for the graduates constituency election, there was confusion last week. One, the last date for registrations was not categorically clear. There was reports that citizens could register during the week of May 14th, and contradicting reports that Sunday May 13th was the last day. Second, BBMP officials were declining to register voters.  "We opened on holidays Saturday and Sunday, May 12 and 13th, for enrollment. We closed registration on 13th, as per the clarification we got from Election Commission of India", says Shambhu Dayal Meena, Regional Commissioner…

The only large playground on 19th Main, BTM layout, 1st stage has become dumping yard, for construction debris, owing to the broken fence all around. This playground comes under BBMP ward 176 and is a major open lung space for the neighbourhood.The residents feel that if the fencing is not done, the entire playground will soon become a dumping yard. Some contractors have started to illegally dump construction debris at night. Subramaniyam Sheshadari, a resident who stays opposite the playground says that at the least, the fence should be repaired to avoid the situation from getting worse. Debris in the…

So we have a new Mayor now. Time for celebration - or introspection? You decide, after reading the backgrounder described here. Three weeks ago, a group of RWAs (residents' welfare associations) sounded jubilant that justice prevails, at least some of the time. Abhyudaya, a federation of RWAs of old ward no. 55 of the city, put out details of the six year long battle that they had been waging (since 2005) with the BBMP. The residents discovered that out of 11 CA sites meant for common use, as community parks or playgrounds, sanctioned by the BDA, seven had been illegally…

Most of us have paid the taxes for the years 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 & 2011-12 by filling the appropriate form (From I - for properties with PID no./ Form II-for properties having only Khata no./ Form III-for properties with neither PID nor Khata no.). Now it is time to pay taxes for the current year.The forms are of two different types - White (Form IV) and Blue (Form V).For properties, where there is no change in any field - either in CATEGORY (Residential / Non-Residential), or DIMENSIONS (Any addition / Deletion to the structure), USAGE (Tenanted / Self occupied), you…