Governance

Obtaining khatas is known to be an ordeal in itself. It is not uncommon to hear BBMP officials demanding various sums of money to 'get the work done'. In the past few weeks several residents in Bengaluru have narrated stories of how much money they doled out to get a khata. But there is also a success story amidst them, which has inspired many others in the city to follow suit. Fifty families residing at Suncity Apartments on Sarjapur Road applied for khatas with the BBMP and obtained the registration document last year. All this without paying a single rupee…

The circumstances leading to resignation of Justice Santosh Hegde clearly shows the Karnataka Government's apathy to the issue of rampant corruption in the state. Year after year successive governments have always made the customary, rhetoric noises of rooting out corruption from the state. But the will to do so has always been suspected.Admired by his peers and idolised by his subordinates, Justice Santosh Hegde has stood tall owing to his undisputed integrity and unstinted commitment in bringing to book the guilty, however high or mighty they be. Never the one to be cowed down by the powers that be, he…

There has been confusion over the past few years on BBMP's issue of khatas, especially for properties awaiting 'regularisation' under Akrama/Sakrama. This guide presents the latest information on getting your khata. Republication of this guide without express permission from Citizen Matters is prohibited. See here for requesting permissions. If you own a property in Bengaluru – vacant site, indepedent house or an apartment – and are looking to apply for a khata, here's what you need to do register for one. To begin with, one needs to know what a khata is and why you need to register for it.…

The Bangalore Assistant Police Commissioner's office in Infantry Road, which earlier used to house the Foreigner's Registration Office (FRO) has now become the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). This now means that the office is empowered to provide a number of additional services for foreigners and expatriates living in Bangalore, including registration services, visa extensions and granting exit permits to foreigners leaving India. The central government's Bureau of Immigration has taken over the administration of the processes from the Bangalore Assistant Police Commissioner's office personnel and this has resulted in a number of changes. The procedure and the relevant forms…

Ring Road Property Owners Association (RRPOA) conducted a meeting to discuss BBMP’s road widening  plans along the stretch of road from Central Silk Board to Mysore Road which is about 14.5 kms.The meet was held at Sri Krishna Kalyana Mantapa, near Jayanagar 9th block on 8th June. RRPOA is an umbrella organisation formed by Residents Welfare Associations (RWA’s) of BTM, JP Nagar, Eliyas Nagar and Rajajinagar.Vidya Shankar, who is a President of the RRPOA, says the asociation’s next move is to approach the chief minister as well as the transport minister of the state regarding the issue. "We will bring…

Residents of Bengaluru are now hiring private surveyors to measure their property, which is marked for road widening by BBMP. This is because the BBMP's Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) notices do not provide detailed information on how much land will be required for acquisition.In April this year, residents of Golden Corner Apartments on Sarjapur Road received a notice from the BBMP, informing them about acquisition of a portion of their property for road widening. The notice says the road is to be widened by 45 feet and that the Apartment Association should submit land records using the Transfer of…

Water purifier in JP Nagar ParkA water purifier attached to a 300 litre water tank has been installed in JP Nagar Dhanvantari Park on May 27th. This was an initiative of Canara Bank, JP Nagar Branch, in association with JP Nagar Citizens Association. Children drinking water at the park. Pic: Chetan Boray. BBMP South Zone Horticulture Superintendent, Nagappa Atturkar says “Even though we have water facility in all the parks there is no water purifier. It is costly to invest on water purifiers, so we so encourage such initiatives.” He also confirmed that this is the first time, a water…

Take today’s news (June 3, 2010). Two reports are highlighted, one about Bangalore’s horrendous road fatalities (second highest in the country after Delhi, with over 860 deaths annually, and over 6,100 injured) and the other about a wall collapse that killed a 17-year-old girl. The compound wall had been built by the BBMP just three months ago. The girl had taken shelter next to it as it was raining, and the wall collapsed, crushing her underneath. Bad enough. But what is outrageous is the lack of accountability – the BBMP had parcelled out the work of erecting a short stretch…

In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application that was filed by RTI-activist M V K Anil Kumar, the state government's Department of Town and Country Planning responded to a question on what the procedure is to appoint various town planners in the town planning department, BDA, BBMP and other civic bodies.These rules are as per the Karnataka Town Planning Department Services (Recruitment) Rules, 1996. For the post of Director of Town Planning, the method of recruitment is only through promotion from the cadre of Joint Director of Town Planning. For this a person must possess a post-graduate degree…

To the casual observer, power cuts in the city have been erratic and without warning, however, BESCOM officials say these are very much scheduled.Three months ago, on February 25th 2010, BESCOM issued a notification on when there will be power cuts for domestic, commercial and industrial feeders. This was in view of the upcoming summer season. The notification had said that there will be two hours of power cuts everyday in batches – one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. For example, power is cut off in an area between 7 and 8 am in the…