White-topping work is in progress on CMH Road. Therefore, the authorities have asked heavy vehicle users to avoid the stretch from Ulsoor to Double Road, Indiranagar. Instead, they will have to use the junctions at Adarsh, Anjaneya and Double Road to reach CMH Road.
The residents believe that the BBMP would have done well to asphalt bad roads rather than good roads. According to resident Ganesh, “The current condition of the road is good by Bengaluru standards”, but also points out that the stretch was re-surfaced less than a year ago.
Instead of CMH Road, the BBMP could have tarred the bad roads in the neighbourhood. Ganesh highlights the sad condition of the stretch from Old Madras Road near Ulsoor lake till Indiranagar 100 ft road. “If white topping was done there, it would be much better,” he tweeted to the authorities.
In addition, the residents want the speed breakers to be minimal to ensure traffic flow. “Even after white topping, as long as they keep adding speed breakers on roads with “buy one get two” offer for every 50 meters, whatever topping is done will not help to reduce congestion on roads,” says Ganesh. For example, Ganesh cites white topping of one stretch on Outer Ring Road. “One single speed breaker would cause more than half a kilometre of traffic near Kasturi Nagar, towards Hebbal,” he says.
Vijay Dennis, founder-president, RTI Workers Seva Samithi
In a letter dated December 9, 2019, the two-year-old Kudlu-based Karnataka RTI Workers Seva Samithi (KRTIWSS) has complained to the chief secretary of Karnataka to take action on BBMP offices in Begur Road and HSR Layout for not providing information about building violations in their jurisdiction as mandated by the Right to Information Act, 2005. The BBMP was to answer the queries within 30-45 days, but the civic agency failed to do it even after 79 days and counting.
In the last two years, over 40 RTI queries were made to the Bommanahalli BBMP office, however, the replies were never satisfactory. “They would give vague information, or never respond at all, or quote one fake RTI circular that a person can only file a query only three times a year,” said Vijay Dennis, the founder of the KRTIWSS.
Some of the complaints by KRTIWSS had to do with footpath encroachments across HSR Layout and Begur Road, and rampant building violations on stormwater drains, among other things. They have also filed a complaint with the Lok Ayukta about footpath encroachments by commercial establishments in HSR Layout.
“The BBMP officials just issue the showcause notice to the accused, take bribe and keep quiet without taking any action,” alleged Dennis. “Even if one building is demolished, the others will get scared, and not make the same mistake.” His fight continues. Will the authorities respond remains to be seen.
Despite cries for pedestrian-friendly roads and city infrastructure, Bengaluru continues to be mismanaged by an apathetic corporation and an even-more disoriented state government, irrespective of which party occupies the highest seat. The latest diatribe against such a bad road infrastructure came from the city’s first Bicycle Mayor Sathya Sankaran. Calling it the ‘city of cars, not people’, Sathya gave the examples of his parents who fell victims to Bengaluru’s appalling road infrastructure only recently.
Tweeting to the city police and BBMP Commissioner, Sathya wrote: “After the bad fall my father had on Sanjaynagar Main Road, it was my mother’s turn near New BEL Road bus stand. (She) Tripped over construction material left all over the place. This is a city for cars not people.”
The twitterrati was quick to react to this latest development by wishing his parents speedy recovery. In addition, they shared their thoughts on the city’s civic woes.
Citizen activist Srinivas Alavilli, the co-founder of Citizens for Bangalore, said, “We have become a city of machines and people have no place left. We shall take it back.”
The proactive Whitefield Rising resident group agreed with Srinivas by stating, “Our streets are strewn with debris, garbage, potholes and missing slabs.”
Vinay Kamble wanted to know if the government can be sued for this terrible incident. If you have the same question, yes, you can, if the injury happened due to a pothole, an open manhole or drain. In a recent case, the Karnataka High Court ordered the BBMP to compensate one such victim.
Vinay Sreenivasa had a similar story to share. “My mum in law also hurt her knee on a badly-laid footpath on Malleswaram 15th Cross. Unless we fix our pavements, we fail all the elderly and differently-abled in our city, and all of ourselves.”
Rajkumar Dugar recommended one measure that could rectify this issue. “This problem will reduce the day we have names of BBMP engineers and contractors displayed at every road with penalty clause for any damage to road. Citizens are made to cough up for the slightest mistake. Why not these people too?
Reacting to the incident, a representative of Save Harlur campaign made a stark statement: “This city is not even made for cars”. Another resident asked chief minister YS Yeddiyurappa to “transfer all inefficient officers”.
Only Balaji had an ironic twist to the controversy by questioning Sathya’s mission of sustainable mobility by saying, “And you have been misleading gullible people to cycle on such dangerous roads.”
Myntra Designs in Kudlu was fined Rs 2 lakh by HSR Layout ward BBMP officials for non-segregation of waste and using banned plastic on December 2, 2019.
BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar says, “The HSR sub-division imposed and collected the penalty. BBMP is urging establishments to segregate waste and stop using plastics that pollute.”
Amit Singh had his misgivings too: “When a company like Mantra doesn’t adhere to simple waste segregation requirements, then how can we trust them on adherence to complicated regulations around data privacy? I have serious doubts about their ethics.”
Shashank felt that the BBMP was being biased: “Wonder why you go into hiding when it comes to naming and shaming contractors doing shoddy and below par work? Convenient to blame firms not hand in glove, right?”
Naveen Patil felt that Rs 2 lakh was too less. “Add one zero or two zeros extra, it will show up in its bottom line profit and (they will) mend their ways of doing business.”
Is Big Basket next? Residents like PV Balakrishna have asked the BBMP to raid the Big Basket office behind Marble Palace on Sarjapur Road. “They openly dump waste, and even BBMP contractors selectively pick from the trash, leaving the rest to rot and emit a stench making living in the neighborhood a miserable experience,” tweeted Balakrishna.
Many netizens asked about Amazon and Flipkart. Well, Flipkart was fined recently. Myntra followed. Perhaps, it’s Amazon next, if they are also caught violating the rules.
May this serve as a warning to all those big establishments as the law applies to everyone. For all those who don’t know, you cannot use banned plastic (google it to know more). In addition, you are to segregate the waste into three sections: kitchen or wet waste, dry waste and sanitary waste.
No black garbage bags, please?
Sanjay made a pertinent point to the commissioner about garbage contractors accepting black garbage bags. “I request BBMP not to pick garbage packed in the banned black plastic covers. Whoever uses it should only dispose it, which is seen in BBMP lorries and autos, mostly laid like a bedding, one over the other.”
Kev_in_traffic, a “traffic management enthusiast”, tweeted this illuminating picture of a section of Koramangala. Aptly title “Definition of a “pot” hole! @blrcitytraffic has this to deal with in ST Bed, Koramangala”. It’s irreverent, and symbolic of the times we live in today.
On Saturday, dentist-turned-civic activist Dr Shanthi Tummala, a resident of Sector 3, HSR Layout, was bestowed with the ‘Karnataka Women Achievers’ award for 2019 (KWAA), an initiative to recognise incredible women of the state by actor Spoorthi Vishwas that began last year. She was one among the 20 women who were honoured last week.
“I feel honoured to receive the award under the category of ‘Outstanding environmental changemaker'”, says Dr Shanthi about how she was among the 20 women picked from 1023 nominations across Karnataka. “The organisers told me that 23 people nominated me. I was more happy to see that the chief guest was beloved Indian environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka and Guest of honour was Roopa Moudgil, the dynamic IPS officer known for her boldness.”
Readers familiar to Residents Watch need no introduction about Dr Shanthi. For a detailed profile on her, you can visit our previous story about HSR Layout’s prominent civic activists.
However, it needs to be said that this 43-year-old resident of HSR Layout for over 11 years, is a farmer’s daughter. Therefore, when she saw garbage strewn all around, she gave up her dental practice and became a social worker in HSR. Six years ago, there was zero garbage segregation and the blackspots were only growing every day. Today, according to her, there is 90 percent segregation of garbage in HSR Layout, and citizens and volunteers like her help the authorities to penalise people selling plastic in the neighbourhood.
Her efforts paid off and she became instantly recognised for waste management. She was appointed as a member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) and is also a ward committee member today of HSR Layout Ward 174.
Dr Shanthi’s list of achievements are one too many. From installing 10 lane composters for wet waste (and four more coming soon) to 22 leaf composting tanks in parks, to setting up a biodiversity park with rainwater recharge wells in Sector 6 “where they used to face water logging on roads every year”, to a community kitchen garden in Sector 3 to her continuous awareness sessions on sustainable living across the state to winning the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda award this year to being instrumental in setting up the SwachaGraha Kalika Kendra in Sector 4, Dr Shanthi’s list of milestones is endless.
Dipika Bajpai, the award-winning and dynamic former Deputy Conservator of Forests in Bangalore, praised a middleman the other day. Actually, it was a boy. She was reacting to an impressive story shared by Bhubaneshwar IPS officer Arun Bothra who summed up the tale by saying, “We are a nation of middlemen.” And Dipika responded with: “What a novel and nobel way of employment.”
Why are these civil servants so impressed with the boy, you ask? According to Bothra, this youngster apparently helped a senior citizen’s legal issue by tweeting about it to the cops. After looking at the grouse on Twitter, Bothra apparently invited the harassed citizen to his office, and resolved the issue. But what surprised him most was the passing remark by the elderly gentleman. “While leaving he told that a young boy in his area tweets for others. Charges Rs. 500/- for every resolved issue,” tweeted Bothra.
Clearly, where there is an opportunity, there is money to be made. The tweet received over 238 comments, was retweeted over 600 times and registered over 2500 likes.
However, Bothra did clarify that only 5-10% of complaints are resolved through Twitter. The rest is through the respective police stations.
Here are some of the best comments on Twitter about this boy’s side venture:
Aishwarya P: On a positive side, we can appreciate the boy for using his skill and time to earn money and also enabling others to solve their issues. After all, what he is rendering is also a service. I believe he is much better than those who depend on parents or govt for money.
Sitanshu Mahapatra: The Boy is the Entrepreneur of the Year👋🏾👋🏾👋🏾
Sandip: Is he mentioned anywhere that he is doing social service? If not, then he is doing nothing wrong. You must have heard the dialogue “if you are good at something never do it for free”.
Arun Chopra: He’s making money out of his education while doing social service, better than selling pakoras.
C J Karira: He saw a business opportunity! Fifty years ago, letter writers sitting outside GPOs did a similar job… only difference is that paper sheet has become smartphone and pen the finger.
Syeda Sabaun Noor: Wow!!! This thing is making us less of a community… Everyone is doing a side business.. sad.
Jay Jagdev: These jobs carry more respectable names like Advisor, Consultants…
Hundreds of people blocked the footpaths on 12th Main in Indiranagar today. Claiming to be victims of the residents’ crackdown on illegal pubs and restaurants, the protestors carried placards saying they should be given jobs as they are unemployed now. The residents counter it by saying that this is a ridiculous way to brush aside the illegalities and nuisances committed by pubs like Monkey Bar. It’s tantamount to saying that lawless businesses have no jobs for people because the law prohibits them.
The silent standing protest lasted for about an hour after which the crowd dissipated. Holding placards saying, “I want my job”, “Wanted: A job”, “Help! I’ve Lost My Job”, and so on, several observers reported that many restaurants appeared to be supporting this move as there were DJs and servers wearing white and holding flowers. A war of words began on Twitter too where some people asked the Indiranagar resident associations to give jobs to those who have lost employment due to their “mafia attitude”. Blaming proactive residents for shutting down restaurants that “stopped blaring music” after protests, the naysayers are questioning the association to stop their ‘holier than thou’ attitude and be more understanding to business concerns.
Reacting to all the controversy, resident Isabel Paul had this to say: “Unplanned and money-minded commercialization in residential areas impacts everyone eventually, and the govt needs to identify a satisfactory solution in collaboration with all the stakeholders.”
I Change Indiranagar Responds
In a tweet to the authorities, the media and the general public, I Change Indiranagar, the proactive federation of all residents welfare associations in Indiranagar, HAL 2nd and 3rd Stage, came out with its reaction to the snap silent protest conducted this afternoon: 1. We are not against any legally-run establishments – pub, bar, brewery or restaurant. 2. We are only interested in ensuring all establishments are operated based on the legal rules and norms laid down by the government authorities, be it building bye laws, fire safety, pollution control, traffic and law and order police, Excise, BBMP health department, BESCOM and BWSSB rules. 3. The core of this is the safety and well-being of residents, who have to bear sound and smoke pollution from generators and vehicles and roof top establishments blaring music past midnight, which are against Supreme Court established pollution norms. 4. It is also our concern for the safety of the patrons and guests of these establishments, as the owners of these establishments have not taken that into consideration. 5. Parking area in basement is most often misused for commercial purpose and cars parked in front of residents’ gates. 6. Buildings without occupancy certificate cause serious risk to lives of their guests and residents around, especially in case of fire. 7. Many illegal activities such as drugs and prostitution, which are a bane to society, occur in and around these establishments. 8. The security of residents and visitors alike, is seriously being compromised due to the huge influx of people on a given weekend and we as resident’s need our RIGHT TO LIFE restored too. This entire campaign is being made to look like arm-twisting mechanism by the authorities.
EDITORSPEAK
It is clear that the law is violated repeatedly in most cases of commercial enterprises in residential areas. And this is most prominent with pubs, the Monkey Bar being the most recent example as it did not have the mandatory Occupation Certificate, among many more violations. Political connivance, bribery and coercion is evident as many big establishments under the radar were found to be owned by heavyweights in business, politics and entertainment. Clearly, this nexus can only be broken if there is political will. The best example that one BBMP official cited was the removal of flex banners across the city within days after the High Court order. This shows that only the courts can rescue the residents from the commercial ambitions of senseless, greedy and unlawful entrepreneurs. It’s time this commercial breed realises its mistakes and makes amends instead of using youth as pawns in their larger game of commercialising everything in the city and outside. Every trend has its limits, and commercialisation has gone way beyond the saturation point. It’s about time the Supreme Court intervenes and ensures such illegal commercialisation does not happen anywhere in the country.
By law, the residents have every right to oppose any activity if it disturbs them, be it noise, air, or water pollution, or parking congestion and any other inconvenience. In a court of law, such an argument will always win. Therefore, we urge all entrepreneurs to be good Indians and follow the law rather than bribe an official and run their establishments without the relevant permissions. When they go ahead with the violations, and soon, the axe falls on them due to resident activism, they are responsible for rendering their staff without jobs. Not the residents. It’s plain common sense.
#BBMP is keen to save existing trees in #Bengaluru. Formally launched #FreeTheTree initiative in Malleshwaram this morning by removing tree guards hampering growth of trees. In the coming days, such guards will be removed from hundreds of trees across the city. @theuglyindianpic.twitter.com/HTajgCOxTw
It is a travesty of the times. Activists, and non-profit organisations team up with civic agencies to plant saplings and erect tree guards with much fanfare. Later, the sapling grows into a tree, and the metal barricade is still there, stifling its growth. In addition, the trees planted on footpaths touch the live wires above them, posing a danger to everyone around.
Thankfully, the BBMP seems to have realised this as Commissioner BH Anil Kumar, who appears to be making the right noises ever since he took over, began a citywide ‘Free The Tree’ campaign today in Malleswaram. Hundreds of tree guards will go under the cutter in the next few days. However, we urge him to ensure that this is made a mandatory exercise at every ward where one person is only in charge of ensuring that the trees are looked after. Importantly, they should chop the trees that had taken over the footpaths and the roads and also touching the live wires. In addition, a heavy penalty needs to be levied on those who park on footpaths meant for pedestrians. This has become rampant across the city.
Though the formal launch was today, the BBMP’s forest department and citizens, including those going by the monicker The Ugly Indians began the campaign a few days earlier. They freed 17 trees each in Indiranagar and HSR Layout. More will follow like it happened today in Malleswaram.
Resident Uday Chopda has some words of caution and constructive feedback about this issue. “They should not cement the pavement as trees don’t get water, nor does the ground water get re-charged,” he says. “Every tree should have at least one box of 2ft by 2ft for the water to seep in. They should sow saplings at places where trees are cut for development like Indiranagar 100 Ft Road. All shops and houses have either removed the tree in front of the property or they cut; please make it mandatory to grow in such areas.”
Dear BBMP, let #freethetree campaign not remain an adhoc measure, but a consistent effort by you.
The Vasantnagar-headquartered Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) is inviting all Bengalureans to take part in a survey that we would share with city planners on how best to offer first and last mile connectivity to public transport. Will they have to be monorails, a plan mooted earlier? Or mini buses run by BMTC? Or increasing the bike and cycle rentals around bus and train stations? The alternatives are many.
Go ahead, take part in this survey. It will take a few minutes of your time, but by doing this, you will not only be helping yourself but also the future generation. Because what we ideate today gets done much later. The future is now. Take charge of it now. Click this B.PAC survey link and answer the questionnaire.
Remember, B.PAC is a non-governmental organisation patronised by city luminaries like Kiran Mazumdar, Charu Sharma, Prasad Bidapa, Prakash Belawadi, Nisha Millet, Harish Bijoor, RK Misra, and K Jairaj, among others.
Whitefield Rising, the citizen action group, has some good news to share about an economical way to save water: installing mini sewage treatment plants across the city. They have a success story to share with a full technical presentation tomorrow between 11am and 1130am at Bangalore One on Whitefield Main Road.
The beauty of this presentation is that there is a successful, operational mini STP that will be shown to the public, with special focus on the technology and the process that goes into it. This STP takes the dirty water from the stormwater drains, purifies it and releases it into public toilets for recycling, while the rest joins the lake.
The plant is completely solar-powered and is all natural as it does not use any chemicals. The joint initiative of Whitefield Rising and Hagadur Ward 84 committee, the STP was implemented by Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited and funded by an MLC grant from Mahadevapura.
The plant requires only 10 sq. metres, and Rs 14.5 lakhs. Most importantly, it takes only a month to build and commission.
This is another true public-private partnership that can do wonders to society. Be there and get one for your ward/neighbourhood/city.
Much to everyone’s relief, work on the Koramangala-Ejipura flyover has resumed after BBMP cleared the contractor’s bills.
The work on the flyover had stoped for a few months as the bill was not paid by the civic agency. However, with the new government and new BBMP commissioner BH Anil Kumar, all pending works are being expedited. One such project was this flyover.
Announcing this move, BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar also tweeted that “a strict directive has been issued to complete work by engaging more workers. Hon’ble MLA @RLR_BTM has acknowledged for resolving the same”. We do hope that MLA Ramalinga Reddy does his bit to expedite this.
