Traffic congestion to continue for atleast 2 years in KR Puram

Tin factory

By Anuksha Dey After lying dormant for about two years in KR Puram, the Metro line construction site near Jyothipura is showing signs of progress. However, residents might have to wait a few years for the Tin Factory traffic congestion to ease. The Tin factory junction, which connects East Bangalore to Central Bangalore, is riddled … Read more

BBMP receives international honor in energy-efficient street lighting; residents call it a ‘pseudo achievement’

street lighting

By Qamar ZJ The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has won the silver medal for its energy-efficient street lighting project under the ‘Best Utilities Project’ at the Partnerships Awards 2020. The judges included 80 individuals representing public and private enterprises. However,  netizens are dubbing the honor as a ‘pseudo achievement’ as most of Bangaluru is … Read more

Found a messy toilet or broken footpath? Report now for end-to-end solution!

my city my budget

By Chandrima Mazumdar To reduce public urination and fix the broken footpaths within the year, Janaagraha, a non-profit organization, has teamed with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in their annual budget campaign called MyCityMyBudget. And every citizen can play a role in beautifying the city. In the last five years, over 50,000 citizens gave 90,000 … Read more

BBMP promises compensation to victims of bad infrastructure; Twitterati responds 

bbmp notice

By Aratrika Dey On December 1, the BBMP published a public notification in the papers, promising to  compensate citizens injured due to bad roads or footpaths with a payment of Rs 15,000. In case of death, the family of the victim will be paid Rs 3 lakhs by the BBMP, while minor injuries will merit … Read more

RTI: How to make public sector banks answerable to you

RTI

By Aratrika Dey The right to information should be a fundamental right of every citizen. Given the lack of transparency from the public sector banks in the country, the citizens need to know how to file an RTI (Right to Information) application. Banks serve as a part of the foundation of any economy. But much … Read more

‘Smart Cities Mission’ is anti-poor, non-inclusive, and against the constitutional mandate: Experts

smart cities mission

By Qamar ZJ & Chandrima Mazumdar While the 2015 idea of ‘100 Smart Cities Mission’ promised improved standards of living, the reality is that it has forced many people into poverty. Instead of acting as a role model for the tier 2 and tier 3 cities, the governance and financial implications of this urban renewal … Read more

After many road accidents and public pressure, Iblur skywalk is finally ready!

iblur skywalk

By Chandrima Mazumdar After more than two years of accidents and protests at the Iblur junction, a skywalk is finally ready for use by the public. Amid the pandemic, this is indeed great news for the residents and office goers in Bellandur and surrounding areas. Bellandur Jothege (BJ), a people’s organisation, was one of the … Read more

Citizens oppose Yelahanka ‘signal-free corridor’ plan; find it highly pedestrian-unfriendly 

pedestrians

By Aratrika Dey The BBMP has proposed a plan to build a 1.6 kilometer-long integrated flyover for the junction near the Yelahanka police station. However, it provides a solution only for the vehicle users on the busy stretch. The citizens are miffed that there is no initiative to aid the pedestrians. Bengaluru has a big … Read more

Citizens remove 383 nails and 2000 pins from one peepal tree

tree nails

By Aratrika Dey The other day, Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) member Raghavendra Poojari tweeted that he and a group of friends single-handedly removed 383 nails and over 2000 stapler pins stuck to a peepal tree near Vijayanagar bus stand… there are still many more to be removed. “Every time I went on morning walks … Read more

Stop Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes from becoming polluted ponds: Citizens set 31-point agenda for the government

bellandur lake

By Zahid H Javali & Aratrika Dey The Bangalore Environment Trust (BET), a 33-year-old advisory body of enlightened citizens has petitioned the state government to work on 31 agenda points to immediately save Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes from extinction. They have stressed the need for adequate budgeting towards time-bound maintenance of the Bellandur-Varthur catchment … Read more

Waterlogging alert: When it rains, avoid Koramangala and its surroundings

koramangala waterlogging

Originally tweeted by Muralidhar Rao (@murali772) on November 16, 2020. By Chandrima Mazumdar The lives of Koramangala residents were once again disrupted due to the rainfall on Monday. A tweet by resident and civic activist Muralidhar Rao showed the road near Maharaja Junction clogged with water. Interestingly, this happened with only 30mm of rainfall that … Read more

City’s footpaths invaded by vehicles 

bangalore footpaths

By Aratrika Dey Bengalureans have increasingly taken to social media to voice their frustrations regarding the persisting problem of footpath encroachment by cars and two-wheelers. In several places, the footpaths can be seen lined with rows after rows of two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Vehicle users are getting away with parking in ‘no-parking’ zones. The city lacks … Read more