Infrastructure

On January 16, 2021, Citizen Matters arranged a discussion on Bengaluru's Commuter Rail project with a panel of activists who have been campaigning for a rail-based extension to the suburbs. The conversation had Prakash Mandoth, Ex-Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee; Rajkumar Dugar, Citizens for Citizens; Sanjeev Dyamannavar, Praja RAAG; Tara Krishnaswamy, Citizens for Bengaluru; Zibi Jamal, Whitefield Rising; and Sathya Sankaran of Praja RAAG speaking to Meera K and Bhanutej N from Citizen Matters. Some progress The Union Cabinet finally approved the Commuter Rail for Bengaluru in October 2020, a decade after the first intensive campaign for this service began…

Baiyappanahalli Railway Terminal nearing its completion: Pic: Gaurav Sawant The new Baiyappanahalli terminal is fast approaching operational readiness. The various planning departments are still discussing the infrastructure needs to access the terminal and ideas to regulate traffic. Most citizens are not aware that the whole project involves a terminal with a built up area of 26,00,000 square feet, with 21 towers in the complex for both residential and commercial purposes. Many of the towers are 12 floors high. Proposed Master Plan of the upcoming Baiyappanahalli Railway Terminal which is expected to be inaugurated in February 2021. Pic: Shine George In…

More than 2,500 people die and over 3,000 are injured annually in Mumbai's suburban network, considered the lifeline of India's commercial capital. Quoting figures from the Railway Police, the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2019-20, reveals that in 2017, there were 3,014 deaths and 3,345 injuries, while in 2018, this number was 2,981 and 3,349, respectively. On a particularly deadly day, 18 July 2019, 18 people died - the maximum in a single day. These include 12 on Central Railway and 6 on Western Railways. The latest conundrum surrounding the location of the Metro 3 car depot needs to be viewed in this context. In this political tug of war, no matter…

At Mumbai Votes, we spent the last year tracking and assessing the performance of MPs against the promises they made before election and during the first year (2019-20), of their five year term.  All of the six MPs made promises to expedite long pending redevelopment & rehabilitation of slums and old buildings. In a city with more than half its population living in slums, and several collapses of old buildings, it is reasonable to expect elected representatives to prioritise the issue of safe, affordable and dignified housing for all.  In this piece, I will assess their efforts to fulfil their…

The coronavirus outbreak has shined a spotlight on the often overlooked underbelly of India’s ‘City of Dreams’ –– the slums and other informal settlements where about 49 percent of its population resides. Within these neighbourhoods, unusually high population densities - up to 350 families per hectare against the city average of 38 as per data from the 2011 Census - and poor drinking water and sanitation facilities give rise to unhealthy living conditions.  So what is the future of slums in a post-COVID-19 world? Can we formalise the informal? Migrating to urban centres Cities are envisaged as the hub of…

Translated by Sandhya Raju அகலமான நடைபாதைகள், பிராகசமான தெரு விளக்குகள், சைகிளுக்கென தனி பாதை, நியமிக்கப்பட்ட பார்க்கிங் இடம், ஷாப்பிங் வந்தவர்கள் சற்று ஓய்வெடுக்க பெஞ்சுகள் என பாண்டி பஜாரில் உள்ள தியாகராயா சாலை பல பேருக்கு ஷாப்பிங் அனுபவத்தையே மாற்றி அமைத்துள்ளது. இந்த வசதிகள் அனைத்தும் சென்னையில் முதன் முறையாக அமைக்கப்பட்டது. வாகன ஓட்டிகளும், பாதசாரிகளும் பரஸ்பரம் ஒருவருக்கொருவர் அடுத்தவரை பாதிக்காமல் செல்வதை இங்கு காணலாம். ஆண்டு முழுவதும் மக்கள் கூட்டம் உள்ள இந்த ஷாப்பிங் பகுதியில் இப்படியொரு பாதசாரிகள் பிளாசா இன்றியமையாததாக இருந்தது. மாற்று திறனாளிகள் உபயோகிக்கக் கூடிய நடைபாதைகள், நெறிபடுத்தப்பட்ட பார்க்கிங் ஆகியவை பாதசாரிகளுக்கான திட்டம் கீழ் அமைக்கப்பட்டது அனைவரின் பாராட்டையும் பெற்றது. இருப்பினும், இந்த் திட்டம் செயலுக்கு வந்த ஒரு வருடம் பிறகு பல்வேறு கேள்விகளை எழுப்பியுள்ளன. சில்லரை வர்த்தகம் புரியும் வியாபாரிகள் நடைபாதைகளை ஆக்கிரமித்துள்ளது, வகையற்ற பார்க்கிங், இரவு நேரத்தில் மது அருந்திவிட்டு…

Wide footpaths, bright street lights, a separate lane for cyclists, designated parking space and benches to relax on while shopping. The transformation of Thiyagaraya Road in Pondy Bazaar into a pedestrian plaza has redefined the shopping experience for many residents of Chennai.  For the first time ever in Chennai, a dedicated space was allocated for pedestrians for a hassle-free shopping experience in a commercial street. At this part of T Nagar, vehicle users and pedestrians now coexist without disturbing each other.  The pedestrian plaza was much needed for Pondy Bazaar, where citizens shop throughout the year. The changes envisaged as…

The Covid-19 pandemic and various levels of lockdown has affected us in many different ways; from livelihoods, education and mobility, to mental health. Confined physically and mentally for months, there is one common thing that everyone longs for – open spaces that can be freely accessed. On that claustrophobic backdrop, any decision that makes this a reality, was going to be welcome.  So, making Church Street a vehicle-free zone for a certain number of days in a month was a happy development for Bengaluru. The hope is that this weekend experiment will reduce pollution, encourage walking and use electric vehicles. …

As we saw in Part 1 of this series, many apartments in Bengaluru have been rushing to install rooftop solar panels in view of expected policy changes. These systems have helped apartments steeply reduce their monthly power bills for common areas. Here's a guide on how you can get a rooftop solar system installed in your apartment too, based on information from the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF), a collective of nearly 500 apartment associations in the city. Also see: A guide to installing solar power in your home What is a rooftop solar system? In this system, solar panels are…

Several large municipal councils in the country have budgets which could be the envy of a small state government. A case in point is Brinhanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the corporation that runs Mumbai (20-21 Budget: 33,000 Crores). With such large budgets and huge manpower to execute the works, why is almost every civic facility in Mumbai in a sorry state? Roads, water supply and drainage, sanitation and healthcare facilities, municipal schools etc. scarcely bear any comparison with similar such facilities in more civilised countries. The answer is not far to seek. To prove the point, a recent news item in the…