Civic

Prominent Bangalore-based RTI activists list evidence to show that bureaucrats are systematically trying to push the sunshine law back into the bottle. Here’s how.

City and state officials have been engaged in yet another effort to clean up the error and horror-ridden voter rolls in the state. What’s in store? How do you get on the elusive list?

He’s the head of the Citizen Action Forum (CAF), an organisation of citizens and citizens associations who believe in offering solutions, not just pointing out the problem. Meet N S Mukunda.

How does one file an Right to Information application? How can it help? If the power of the sunshine law is anything to go by, it’s time for more widespread use, especially in Bangalore, has come.

How do you go about widening roads when there are private properties, trees, and urban clusters in the areas proposed for widening? Can these be demolished for the sake of ease of everyday travel? Enter TDR. Zainab Bawa walks you through.

At a public meeting on 24 January, around 175
associations and groups dissented against Sakrama. Their resolutions will go to the Governor, High Court and political parties. Samuel Jacob reports.

From fixing potholes on a ward’s roads to pathways for the city’s parks and more, BBMP officials are breaking down contracts
into Rs.5 lakhs or lesser. A Banashankari citizen’s RTI applications helped trace a web of corruption. Sunil Tinani has more.

Cinema theatres in the city do not have adequate fire safety measures. In case of a fire, these buildings are not equipped to effectively deal with them, finds Ayesha Aleem

Is the Sakrama scheme legally tenable? By many accounts, it appears to be a shoddy piece of legislation designed to skirt what is really a breakdown of civic administration, finds Samuel Jacob.

How do some involved citizens perceive the BDA – the state-created planning and development authority for Bangalore. Is it an IT-savvy organisation and has it helped the city, or is it a corrupt body just not upto its job?

The city’s building bye-laws list out a number of amenities that public and semi-buildings must provide to disabled citizens. Malls are the most recent additions to modern Bengaluru, and Ayesha Aleem checks out a number of them to see if they are in compliance.

This cacophony of houses, shops, offices and commercial units is one of the many tank beds that have been converted to layouts in the city. But short-sighted, unplanned and ad-hoc development has led to flooding and severe drainage issues for residents.