Infrastructure

Early this century, Whitefield caught the attention of the world with the setting up of IT Parks and world-class gated ­­­communities. It became a symbol of modern India, a hub of smartness. Whitefielders, including techies and farmers, immigrants and locals, rich and poor, bicyclists and water tanker drivers, are still working hard to stay in the limelight. It’s hard to stay in the limelight by creating a few startups and a couple of fancy homes, Whitefielders have found. It’s easier to gain attention by extraordinary egregious behaviour as a community – lessons learned from the reality TV shows. Famous lake…

This article and related guide articles on property matters are also available in the Citizen Matters e-book ‘Buying, Investing and Renting Property in Bengaluru’, published by Oorvani Media Pvt. Ltd. Copying this in any form will attract litigation. The e-book is available here. While properties are an evergreen area of investment, there are people who seek to buy property for the sake of living too. Whichever the case is, it is only prudent to check and ensure that the property is completely legal, given the amount of Akrama Sakrama and GPA scams that have been reported in the city. Here…

The National Green Tribunal has lashed out at the eight-member Expert Committee on the quality of its report on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project by two private companies in Agara-Bellandur catchment area. The NGT has taken exception to the report and criticised the Committee for non-compliance with the directions of the Tribunal. The Tribunal chaired by Justice Swatanter Kumar in its order on Thursday observed that the High Power Committee did not file the report within stipulated time. “And now when the report has been filed before the Tribunal, we have no hesitation in observing that the report does not…

Sides are covered on Mysore Bank circle skywalk. The narrow footpath forces pedestrians to walk on the road. Pic: Shamala Kittane Subramaniam This is the skywalk at the Mysore Bank Circle on Kempegowda Road in Bengaluru. It has an elevator and is well-lit. However, the sides of the skywalk path are covered, so the insides are not visible from the road. People who need to head from or towards Kandaya Bhavan struggle to cross this part on the footpath, because a large part of the footpath is occupied by the skywalk base. Harish, an employee at Kandaya Bhavana does not…

Talk about the Bangalore’s environment issues and most fresh on our minds are incidents involving lakes in the city, unabated and one after another. Be it the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulling up companies for large scale construction between two lake beds, Bellandur lake on fire, foam build up on polluted Sarakki, Bellandur and Varthur lakes or actions like clearing ‘encroachments’ on lake beds; the state of the lakes and the environment makes us wonder how our city reached such new lows. Various studies have shed light on the fact that while urbanisation led to environmental degradation, the rate has…

A few concerned citizens of Bengaluru who are well aware of the problems faced by laymen while purchasing a house in the city, have made it a point to draft their objections and suggestions to the amended Real Estate Bill 2013. Though they were not invited for the consultation programme organised by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, in the city on June 10th and 11th, they did not give up. These groups of citizens contacted the chairman of the Select Committee and requested if the Committee will allow them to submit their objections…

11-year-old Amita, a resident of Dega Enclave apartment in Koramangala in Bengaluru, was rushed to a doctor for developing severely high temperature soon after recovering from gastroenteritis. She was diagnosed with Typhoid. After spending four days in St. John’s Hospital on drips, she has returned home on June 16th, and is likely to miss her school for another week. There were many other kids who fell sick in the same apartment of eight houses, but hers was the most severe case. The culprit behind the case is supposed to be the contaminated water supplied through the Bangalore Water Supply and…

KCDC is accepting more garbage than it can handle, due to  pressure from the BBMP and the High Court. Pic: Akshatha M The Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) which was recently mired in a controversy over sale of burnt garbage packed in bags meant for vermicompost, is in trouble yet again. This time the problem lies in the inability of the firm to process the existing waste. Unprocessed garbage dumped in a large quantity in the KCDC yard is emanating stench causing discomfort to workers at the unit and residents of the neighbouring areas. Ramakrishna K, a resident of Somasundarapalya…

Buildings being razed down at the demolition drive at Sarakki Lake. Pic: Rahul Ravi Demolition drives on lake beds is the burning issue in Bengaluru now. The drive that commenced with the demolition of structures in and around Sarakki lake bed in mid-April has continued with Bengaluru urban district administration carrying out yet another eviction drive at Banasawadi last week. While the district administration has been hailed for its bold move to clear the encroachments, it has also been criticised for penalising people who have been living peacefully in the city for decades. Eviction drives and rumours surrounding it have indeed…

Various citizen groups get together to protest the construction of Mantri Apartments near Sankey lake. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni On Sunday morning, May 3rd, over 250 residents of Malleshwaram and Sadashivnagar area marched around the Sankey lake on the walking path, shouting slogans and holding placards, denouncing the Mantri Developers that is likely to constructed an apartment beside the lake and demanding that the Sankey lake be saved. Sankey Walkers association, Malleshwaram Swabhimana Initiative (MSI), Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), Sadashivnagar Residents Welfare Association, Citizen’s Action Forum (CAF) and a number of other organisations came together to form a Save Sankey Forum…