Pragathi R Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Guess why women avoid cycling in our city

December 21, 2020 Pragathi R

When women cyclists speak of safety, they are not only talking about accident-risk, but about harassment. Urban design should factor this in.

Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypolls: Info on candidates, constituency and more

October 31, 2020 Pragathi R

BJP is fielding ex-Congress-MLA Munirathna N in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly bypolls on November 3. Munirathna will face off against Congress’s Kusuma and JD(S)’s Krishnamurthy.

Bangalore Teachers’ Constituency election: Info on MLC, candidates and more

October 24, 2020 Pragathi R

Bangalore Teachers’ Constituency election, on October 28, will see incumbent MLC Puttanna contesting JD(S)’s A P Ranganathan and Congress’s Praveen Kumar.

Rules on reopening tough to implement, Bengaluru schools say

October 21, 2020 Pragathi R

While Karnataka government is yet to decide on school reopening, its SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for reopening are quite detailed. Many school managements say the SOPs are difficult to comply with.

Want to boost sustainable transport in your neighbourhood? You can apply for ‘SuMA’ funds

October 1, 2020 Pragathi R

Want to set up cycling lanes in your neighbourhood? Or ensure better footpaths or last-mile connectivity? SuMA programme by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport now offers Rs 50 lakh plus technical expertise to selected neighbourhood groups to implement such projects.

Homelessness starker than ever in pandemic

September 30, 2020 Pragathi R

The government has mandated one permanent shelter equipped with essential services for every one lakh people. Bengaluru has only 10 for a population of over one crore.

Metro reopening: What are the lessons from global cities?

September 12, 2020 Pragathi R

Many global cities have been able to run their train services without COVID transmission in the last few months. But they also seem to have taken more precautions than Namma Metro has.

Rents dip as tenants seek cheaper homes on city outskirts

August 23, 2020 Pragathi R

The pandemic-triggered reverse migration, job-losses, pay-cuts combined with work-from-home option, pushes tenants towards cheaper housing on the city’s outskirts.

Post-COVID working conditions could be more exploitative for informal workers

July 18, 2020 Pragathi R

Predicting that informal workers in urban centres could take longer to bounce back from the effects of the lockdown, experts suggest a slew of measures that can mitigate their difficulties.

Taking stock: Bengaluru’s four months saw 22000+ COVID cases

July 16, 2020 Pragathi R

Bengaluru, once hailed for its COVID response, is grappling with rapid spread now. What transpired between one case reported on March 9 to over 22,000 cases now? Here’s a timeline.

Unlock 1.0: Are safety measures in Bengaluru restaurants, shops adequate?

June 27, 2020 Pragathi R

The number of COVID cases in Bengaluru has been sharply rising of late. The city’s commercial establishments do have some safety measures in place, but are these enough?

Bengaluru’s robust milk supply chain beats Covid-19

April 11, 2020 Pragathi R

While the supply chain of several commodities have been disrupted following the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, milk supply in the city is able to carry on almost unaffected and with minimal operational challenges. The dairy sector’s managers say that losses, if any, are marginal and can be recovered in the post-lockdown period.

Reducing BMTC Fares = Reducing Congestion, Emissions, Losses

March 12, 2020 Pragathi R

A scenario-based analysis establishes that the increase in average fare of public transportation (here, BMTC) leads to increased private vehicle usage, which means there will be a higher volume of vehicles on the road. This in turn causes congestion, resulting in higher travel time and increased GHG emission.

Women tap into creativity to fight sexual violence

March 11, 2020 Pragathi R

A week before Women’s Day, women from different walks of life came together to make themselves heard against sexual violence. They sang, danced, told stories, stitched a quilt, posted notes and bonded with each other. The highlight of the event was that they eliminated jargon from their language of liberation.