Nagesh Aras Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

“KSPCB’s steep hike in CFO charges, unreasonable and unjust”

March 25, 2021 Nagesh Aras

The hike in the annual Consent for Operation fee is arbitrary and, worse, could discourage people from treating their sewage. It is especially unfair to law-abiding citizens.

A critique of KSPCB’s guidelines for STP design and location

March 24, 2021 Nagesh Aras and Ananth S Kodavasal

The KSPCB’s guidelines for STPs are riddled with poor and technically wrong recommendations that would end up producing expensive, substandard STPs.

Why KSPCB’s real-time probe for STPs is ridiculous

March 23, 2021 Nagesh Aras

The KSPCB which allows establishment of STPs without stringent checks, is now imposing an expensive and overkill solution whose technology could soon be obsolete.

Arrangements made by BMTC in collaboration with various other agencies to ply migrant workers from Orissa to Chikkabanavara Railway Station during COVID-19 lockdown in Bengaluru. Pic: Twitter handle of BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar

Can BMTC get Bengalureans to use the bus during COVID?

August 7, 2020 Nagesh Aras

BMTC, which already wasn’t quite popular with Bengalureans, is running skeletal services now. Can sanitation measures, support of private operators, help?

“Bengaluru’s proposed Parking Policy actually encourages private transport”

April 30, 2020 Nagesh Aras

A review of DULT’s draft parking policy proposal highlights many issues – it is not based on data and lacks an implementation strategy. Is it designed to fail, like earlier plans?

How a dysfunctional pollution watchdog is affecting Bengaluru’s water scene

March 22, 2020 Nagesh Aras

That Bengaluru gets into a regular water crisis, is something we all know. But whose job is it to protect our water resources? It’s our state pollution control board. And here’s why KSPCB is incapable of bailing us out.

Faulty sewage treatment plant in your apartment? Pollution Control Board may be liable, not you

March 9, 2020 Nagesh Aras

KSPCB has been asking apartments in the city to pay up lakhs as compensation for defective sewage treatment plants. But the Board itself is responsible for approving many plants that had design and fabrication issues.

Why sewage treatment plants in apartments are messed up, and how this can change

March 6, 2020 Nagesh Aras

Apartment STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants) are set up after getting government approvals, yet they malfunction soon and residents keep spending lakhs to correct defects. This scenario can change with some reforms in the STP approval process.

“Draft Mobility Plan based on faulty data, is financially unviable”

January 20, 2020 Nagesh Aras

The draft Comprehensive Mobility Plan is problematic from the legal, technical and financial perspectives

“How Bengaluru’s flawed bus priority lane project can be salvaged”

November 17, 2019 Nagesh Aras

There are many planning issues around the bus priority lane project in ORR. Here are some solutions to those

15 challenges in executing the ORR bus priority lane project

November 15, 2019 Nagesh Aras

BBMP and BMTC have not thought through many practical difficulties in implementing the bus priority lane (BPL) on ORR. Questions on bus clumping at junctions, traffic management in service roads and so on remain unanswered

“Bus priority lane in ORR: Ambitious but poorly thought-out?”

November 14, 2019 Nagesh Aras

There is much optimism around the bus priority lane to be operational on ORR tomorrow. But there’s no clarity on what outcome we can expect, or how the project will fit into the overall transport plan for ORR and the city

16 things to get right with Bengaluru’s public transportation

November 14, 2019 Nagesh Aras

How can the humble bus or the local train be made attractive to Bengalureans? From ensuring seats to creating apps, a lot needs to be done for this. Here are some pointers

Why I am going to protest against the Elevated Corridor, and what the govt should be doing first

March 15, 2019 Nagesh Aras

The government can take some quick impact decisions to fix the road congestion issue – including improving signal timings and rationalising bus routes.

Loopholes that can render Bengaluru’s Ward Committees useless

December 6, 2018 Nagesh Aras

Ward committees look good in theory. Bengaluru has started witnessing monthly meetings in wards slowly. But is the existing system good enough to allow ward committees to work for public?