Articles by Sandeep Anirudhan

Note: The edited version of the article, published on 14 Oct 2020, has been replaced by the version submitted and subsequently modified by the author himself. The author had contested the copy edits made by Citizen Matters prior to publishing. A revamp of the city government was long overdue; our freedom fighters had led a long struggle for Swaraj, ie., Self Rule, which has eluded entire generations, due to the centralized nature of government adopted by our constitution. Cities and towns in India, have in administrative terms, remained colonies of their respective State Govts, giving the residents of the cities…

Bengaluru faces another water crisis this summer. It's not just citizens who are responsible for this situation. For decades, the state government and civic administration have been focusing on short term strategies, without assessing whether these are sustainable. The main cause of the current crisis is that we have no clue where our resources come from, what their limits are, and we don't value what we have. The city has destroyed its water security - the 1800 lakes that our forefathers built here, are down to less than 200 now. And even these remaining lakes don't have potable water. If…

Dear H D Kumaraswamy, Do you have children or grandchildren? The reason I ask is this: What future are we really gifting them? Have you got any idea what the specialists at the United Nations Climate change, COP conventions are deliberating these days? Let me offer you a flavor: They are debating which countries will take the upcoming waves of Climate Change Refugees. ie, when Maldives goes under the sea, who will receive the wave of refugees that will flee? When Bangladesh is fully under sea, who will receive those millions? These make it look distant. But then what I…

Dear Chief Minister of Karnataka, With great urgency, in your very first budget, you have announced an undebated ‘Elevated Corridor’ project that has not had public consultation, and followed no due process. Another project is an untested technology called ‘Pod Taxi’, again not following any due process or transparency! These are listed neither in the master plan for Bengaluru, nor in any integrated mobility plan for the city. These will impact the 1.2 crore residents of the city in many ways. The Elevated Corridors project will cost the exchequer Rs. 34,000 crores, 151 acres of land, and almost 4000 trees.…

Bengaluru is in the process of preparing yet another master plan. What does the process involve and what does it aim to achieve? To understand this, let us go back to the time when Kempegowda first founded our great city, Bengaluru.   Challenge: Bangalore was on a high plateau and had no water resources.   Only way it could host a city: Rain water harvesting, and lots of it. Best option to do it was through lakes, using them as water sinks. First thing on his agenda: Build many lakes, more than the population the city then had would require.…