Governance

If you have been facing power cuts, blame it on the over-100-year-old power distribution system in Bengaluru, says P Manivannan, Managing Director at BESCOM. The issue is not power shortage, but poor infrastructure, he says. Manivannan, a 1998-batch IAS officer, took charge at BESCOM in October 2010. P Manivannan, MD, BESCOM Illustration: Sneha Prasad In the last few months, Manivannan has promised reforms such as sending SMS alerts on power cuts to consumers, publicizing power supply data etc. He is also the first BESCOM official to put up a camera in his chamber, which can be viewed live at the…

February 23rd , Wednesday, will mark one year since the Carlton Towers fire tragedy, a tragedy which changed the lives of 9 families forever and where over 60 were injured, some of whom are still recovering. It was soon after the tragedy that ‘Beyond Carlton', a people's initiative for fire safety was formed in Bangalore. The Group includes family members of those who passed away, survivors of the tragedy and concerned citizens of Bangalore, who have come together to honour the memory of the lives lost in this avoidable tragedy, to ensure that justice is served to the perpetrators of…

The work for tar road began, in December 2009. As part of that, the work for drains along the road, though started from scratch, has been going on in rounds, changing the course of the drain thrice. The work came to a halt with out proper cover for drains. Lack of proper planning before starting the work was quite apparent. A short drain running across of the road, opened for clearing the blockage because of debris and wasn't covered since then, has been big trouble for all the passing vehicles, especially four wheelers, and pedestrians when it rains, at nights,…

Seven years after BDA laid out the first plan of Phase I of PRR (Peripheral Ring Road), the project is nowhere close to taking off, due to land acquisition issues. After many changes in length, alignment and cost made over the years, BDA - the executing agency for the project - gave the final alignment in 2007. BDA now plans to hold a meeting with the Chief Minister to discuss compensation for land acquisition. "We cannot acquire land or float tenders without arriving on a formula for compensation. This will be discussed in the meeting with CM," says BDA PRO…

The collapse of a wall in a construction site in CK Palya off Bannerghatta road on February 2, which killed five labourers and injured four, has once again proved how easily government sanctions can be obtained for any poor-quality building. A Citizen Matters investigation has shown that the lives of Parbhu Yadav, 40, Sanjith Sharma, 25, Raju Podar, 60, Jugesh Thathi, 40, and Raja, 60, all from Biharm could have been saved. Preliminary observations after the tragedy had already indicated flaws in construction including poor quality of cement mix, poor foundation and lack of cement pillars to support the nearly…

On February 7th morning, Karnataka's Urban Development and Law Minister Minister Suresh Kumar was to hold meeting to discuss a long-pending bill to reform Bengaluru's administration. This is the BMRG or Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Governance Bill, drafted by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's own ABIDe task force. Kumar had invited all 28 Bangalore MLAs, 3 MPs and officials of city agencies. What does this BILL change? * Longer-term and more powers for the mayor * Metropolitan planning committee (with elected members of BBMP council and panchayats) will run greater Bengaluru, not the state government * BDA's planning power will end.…

In what appears to be the tip of the iceberg, the owner of a HP (Hindustan Petroleum) petrol bunk in Banashankari caught the driver of a fuel tanker siphoning off 150-200 litres, valued at Rs 6000-7000. The incident happened on Tuesday, February 1st.  The truck from which petrol was siphoned off by the driver. It has been stationed at the petrol bunk while investigations are going on. Pic: Navya P K Mani Siddaiah, owner of Mahadeswara petrol bunk in Banashankari 3rd Stage, says that the truck driver has admitted to removing the petrol by opening the locks on top of…

Bangalore's ‘India Against Corruption' (IAC) rally on Sunday was not as much a crowd puller as it was expected to be. While the Saaku rally in December - organised by the same coalition of 18 organisations - had drawn a crowd of about 800, this rally had around 300 citizens from the city. The Bangalore Indians Against Corruption march on Jan 30th Sunday. Pic: Karthik Raman. In addition to the coalition, the Art of Living Foundation also participated in organising the rally. The decision about the event was taken impromptu, to coincide with the Delhi rally, where the Jan Lokpal…

A coalition of 18 civil society organizations in Bengaluru - which had organized the ‘Saaku' campaign on December 11 - is holding a campaign ‘India Against Corruption' on January 30. As part of this, rallies will be held across Bengaluru and 27 other cities on the day, demanding effective anti-corruption laws and passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill. (Earlier Saaku coverage.) Rally details Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 10:30 am STARTS: Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Chinnaswamy Stadium Campus, MG Road ROUTE: MG Statue to Kanteerva Stadium and gathering at MG Statue Vijay Dwivedi 99014-55685 and Soma Shekar 89710-49348 Jan Lokpal bill,…

The Karnataka bandh on Saturday disrupted normal life in Bengaluru.  On Friday, 21st January, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj's gave his sanction to initate prosecution of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP on allegations of the latter's involvement in several land scam cases. The party announced the bandh in protest. "Sixty six BMTC buses have been damaged across the city including one volvo bus and a Marco polo bus," said K S Vishwanath, Chief Traffic Manager (Operations) at BMTC.  "However there are no casualties reported on staff members", he said. BJP supporters being arrested by Bangalore City Police.…