Bangalore - CM

Parks seem like uncontroversial public spaces, but dig a little deeper, and you will find that even these apparently benign spaces are deeply political. They are often the settings for decisions and manoeuvrings that become evident only when you probe into their provenance, functioning and upkeep.

These three examples serve to demonstrate how public spaces have been taken over by political forces. Unfortunately, most of us citizens prefer to demur to the situation, forgetting that it is our money that is used to create and run these amenities. We forget to question, or to wonder, if there were a different way to use precious public space. Here is an attempt to do that:

Park 1

This park sits bang in between three very busy roads. It is triangular, fairly small, and access to the park is not easy. In the past, it was used by the casual visitor who might have had a few moments to spare before boarding his bus, or by a vegetable vendor who wanted a few moments of rest before resuming her work, or perhaps by those who had just nipped across from the busy shopping street to rest their legs.

It transformed almost overnight into a park with prim and proper planting, benches, a pathway, even an amphitheatre – all thanks to its rebirth as a park to commemorate an important political event. The park had a grand inauguration, speeches were made, and it was opened to the public. Except that it was never open. Every time one passed by, there was a big lock on the gate. Months, even years have passed by. The park is barely used, despite the lovely ambience, despite even free Wifi being offered within its walls! In a city starved for lung space, how is this even possible?

A park in Malleswaram. Pic: Suchitra Deep

One reason is that it sits across from Sankey tank, and anyone who wants a good stroll will just nip across the road and enjoy a better ambience. The other reason is that, for all purposes, it is just a traffic island sitting in the middle of three busy roads. You can expect to be constantly assaulted by sounds of honking and exhaust fumes. Why would anyone in their right minds even sign up for that? We already experience it every day on our streets.

Better solution: It could have been converted into an urban (Miyawaki type) forest or grove with traditional trees and herbaceous plants. A dense clump of trees and shrubs in this spot would have helped absorb the exhaust generated by traffic. It could have served as a roosting spot for birds – a just compensation for the shrinking tree cover in the vicinity.

Thriving mini forests near Manyata tech park. Pic: Manyata Residency VrikshaMitra Group

Read more: Saaku — Enough Is enough–residents stage protest walk to reclaim Malleswaram

Park 2

You will find this park next to the only traffic circle that still exists in Malleswaram. It used to be a small, nondescript park until a few years ago. But consider this – it is the only park in a ward that has a population of approximately 35,000 people. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests a minimum of about 100 sq ft of urban green space per person. This little park measures about 5,000 sq ft. Do the math!

A few years ago, it was ‘neatened’ and a small open-air gym was set up inside the park, and quite a few residents started using it regularly. This park is also a popular hangout for a local college two streets away, and so it became a well-used space. Barring a little wear and tear, and the dislocation of some tiles on the walking path, there was nothing wrong or wanting in the park. But the BBMP (with political blessings) decreed otherwise.

Last year, the boundary wall was ripped out, the large chapadi coping stones broken down (Ah! Where can one find those anymore….), all the benches removed, and the paving dug up. In its place, a wall was made with the stones that had been cut to size. On top of that, an oversized metal grill barricade was erected. The grill was also erected along the entire stretch of the existing compound walls of two houses adjacent to the park – an entirely unwarranted expense. In this process, two trees were strangulated between the grill and the wall. We were told that the grill has the same design as the one used near the Vidhana Soudha. The state legislature resembles an open jail and is most certainly not a model for a small residential park.

Residents had requested face to face seating, where they could TALK to each other – request denied. Residents had requested that the central area be grassed over where little children could play – request denied. Residents had requested for a garbage bin so that the trash thrown by the college kids could be collected at one place – request denied.

Better solution: The park could have been left as is, with minimal improvements made to the flooring. Composting bins could have been installed to convert the huge leaf litter generated by the trees in the park into compost, to be used again in the park. Without grills to obscure the view of the park, all those living nearby could have kept an eye on it. It could have become a friendly adda that every neighbourhood so desperately needs in these times.

Park 3

This park is situated very close to a busy shopping street. With its dense foliage, and play structures, it is a haven for those who work there or shop there. Except for a small problem. It has been closed for more than a decade due to a court case regarding the intended conversion of the park into a – wait for this – a parking lot. And not just any regular parking lot, but a multi-level car park, or an MLCP. Residents and shop owners in the vicinity of this park are clear that this plan is neither well-thought out nor practical, but the BBMP feels it is worth fighting for. Who suffers? The common man. In a city gasping for lung space, citizens have been denied access to this crucial green space. Instead, the park is now a hangout for unsocial elements, who have taken advantage of its neglect by making it their own.

Better solution: The park could have, instead, become a hangout for shoppers and residents, with small tables and benches set up so they could have lunch or tiffin between shopping. Perhaps a small stage could have been constructed where local cultural programs could be showcased in the evenings or during festivals. An area could have been earmarked for local craftsmen to sell their wares on a rotating basis. In a nutshell, this could have become a lively and refreshing space for the community, vendors and for visitors, instead of lying neglected and misused for decades.

Read more: Concretising open parks — this is not the development people want or need

Public space is for the public

All around the city we see similar strange anomalies. There are parks filled with play equipment, lying unused, because there is a diktat from above to keep them closed and inaccessible to residents. There are parks that have money thrown at them with abandon, inaugurated with pomp and ceremony, filled with statues, and lying unused, because they were created for political reasons, and not for serving the public. There are neglected parks, crying to be rejuvenated, but lying outside the radar of the administration because they belong to the ‘wrong’ neighbourhoods. There are parks that are being quietly turned into built up spaces. Countless others are being swallowed up in the name of development. Some beloved parks have been bequeathed with such a long laundry list of Don’ts that citizens have stopped visiting them.

The three instances offer just a glimpse into what ails a typical neighbourhood in our city. At the root of all these problems lie a few simple questions. For whom are these green spaces created? With what purpose were they created? What are the basic essentials for a park? Who are the custodians? Who decides what they should become?

Green spaces like parks, wetlands, tree cover, groves etc are crucial for a city. Our ambivalent relationship with them, our docile acceptance of what is doled out to us, our failure to recognise the devious nexus of political ambitions and administrative kowtowing, and our failure to speak up for our needs, has led to this situation.

Bengaluru used to be called a Garden city at one point of time. Is it not high time we reclaimed the title before it gets completely erased from public memory?

Also read:

• Mumbai has less green than what masterplan shows: just 1 sq m per person
• Bengaluru: Preference for parks drastically shrinks space available for playgrounds
• Runners in city demand open spaces, parks and sports facilities
• Shimla: Playgrounds and parks vanish in the name of development

A tale of three parks was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Advisory group to build ‘global’ city

The government will launch a Vision Bengaluru Advisory Group with important personalities from technology, to offer new thinking to steer towards a ‘Global Bengaluru’, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on June 5th. It will comprise “many stakeholders” who have invested here, generated jobs and development. He said the projects by civic agencies will be mapped at the ward level to bring in accountability and transparency.

The advisory group will include civil society representatives, industry captains, and urban planners. DKS wants to steer ‘Brand Bengaluru’ towards ‘Better Bengaluru’ and ‘Global Bengaluru. He said that he discussed water supply, solid waste management, traffic, and stormwater drain encroachments extensively. He added that there is a need for accountability among officers. He has instructed them to maintain a separate file for works carried out in each ward, with details such as the length of roads, expenditure on asphalting or concretising these roads, and the agency responsible for the work. It should be readily accessible.

DKS said that the group will include personalities, such as Infosys co-founders N R Narayan Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Wipro founder chairman Azim Premji.

Meanwhile, D K Shivakumar also visited flood-prone areas to examine the ongoing drainage work and the widening of storm water drain (SWDs) at Yemlur. He told officials to construct a temporary drain. He warned developers who have got a court stay against clearing encroachments over SWDs.

Source: Indian Express, Deccan Herald, The Hindu

Read more: How monsoon ready are the lakes of Bengaluru?

1,213 discrepancies in BBMP works

Recently, an audit of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for 2019-20, by the Karnataka State Audit and Accounts Department, found 1,213 discrepancies, right from fake bills to excess payments. It will be tabled before the PAC (Public Accounts Committee).

In four chapters, it examines BBMP’s financial health, payments made to contractors and shortcomings in revenue generation, in property tax collection, and in the Town Planning Department. There has been a payment of Rs 1,169 crore, which has been disputed on various counts. The BBMP has to recover Rs 173 crore from contractors, due to excessive payments.

Also, the Town Planning Department has collected Rs 26.50 crore less than what property owners owe. The BBMP has failed to follow basic financial management principles and neglected the effective implementation of audit reports. The 61 divisions or departments of the BBMP did not share certain documents when the auditors questioned payments amounting to Rs 259 crore on dubious grounds.

Two common discrepancies are: overestimating the cost of work and issuing work orders at a time when there is only one bidder. Government regulations say that the BBMP should issue a new tender, when there is no competition. Recurring issues include reporting an excessive number of vehicles for garbage collection, lapses in CCTV camera installations and excessive payment, as in the Dasarahalli division’s project cell.

The tender showed that the manual excavation of soft soil was priced at Rs 269 per square metre, although pictures showed that the contractor used machines for excavation, costing only Rs 72 per square metre. It made the BBMP overpay by Rs 22.94 crore. The report was tabled in the legislature and will undergo one more round of scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee.

Source: Deccan Herald

BBMP may increase zones to 12

While there are proposals to break BBMP into five smaller corporations, the civic body is also planning to increase the number of zones from eight to twelve. The draft is being drawn up on the basis of BBMP Act 2020, which permits a maximum of 15 zones and up to 250 wards.

Last year, the government increased the number of BBMP wards from 198 to 243, but it neither increased the number of zones nor did it change the boundaries. Senior BBMP officials say the zones are being increased to ensure uniform distribution of wards and also make the administration come closer to citizens.

Source: Deccan Herald

Gruha Lakshmi scheme

The eligible female head of families for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, under which beneficiaries are paid Rs 2,000 a month has confused a number of people. The guidelines were released by the government on June 6th, explaining that women enrolled as Yajamani or head of the family, under Antyodaya, BPL (Below Poverty Line) and APL (Above Poverty Line) ration cards, are eligible for the scheme. There will be no fresh scope to decide any new woman as the head. 

One of the conditions for eligibility states that the woman or her husband should not be paying income tax or filing GST. The beneficiary’s name should be mentioned as head of the family in BPL or APL or Antyodaya cards. People without these cards cannot avail of the scheme.

Eligible beneficiaries can submit their applications between June 15th and July 15th, through the Seva Sindhu portal or at authorised agencies. After that, the beneficiaries will be selected and will get money directly to their bank accounts directly on August 15th.

Meanwhile, the opposition launched a scathing attack on the riders, calling the Congress poll promises an eyewash. But the CMO said that revised guidelines may be issued.

Source: The Hindu

Read more: The cost of high LPG prices: Environmental and health hazards in slums

4 new Metro lines by Nov

There are limited plans to conduct trial runs on the 2-km Baiyappanahalli-K R Puram Metro stretch from the first week of July. The city is prepared to get four more metro lines by November, according to the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, after a maiden review of the Namma Metro project. He is also the Bengaluru development minister and visited the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to discuss metro work, ramping up non-fare revenue and opening new lines.

Representative image. Outside a metro station in Bengaluru. Pic: Pragathi Ravi

The lines that will open by July include the 2.1-km Baiyappanahalli-KR Pura line, a missing link in the Chellaghatta-Whitefield Purple Line. The 1.9-km Kengeri-Chellaghatta line will be ready by September. The 3-km Nagasandra-Madavara line, under construction since 2017, will be ready by October. The 19.14-km RV Road-Bommasandra, which links Electronics City, will open by November.

There are also works that will be completed by 2026. The Metro line connection to the KIAL (Kempegowda International Airport Ltd) at Devanahalli will be done by June 2026, as part of the Blue Line, with 17 stations. Airport line will be done by June 2026, plus or minus three months, said DKS. The Silk Board to K R Puram line (Phase 2A) will also be completed by June 2026.

There have also been proposals to the Centre for clearance to take up works of other Metro phases, such as the Phase 3A line from Hebbal to Sarjapur Road. The BMRCL is also trying to increase its revenue, which includes posting ads inside and outside Metro coaches.

Source: Deccan Herald, Indian Express

City will lead EV jobs boom: Report

Bengaluru hopes to become a hub for both manufacturing and innovation in the electric vehicle market, even as it goes through a technology intensive transformation, according to a report by talent solutions provider Careernet. EV jobs saw a compound annual growth rate in India of 110% between 2020 and 2022, of which 28% were in Bengaluru.

Due to the innovation in the city, manufacturing activity around the region is expected. The top jobs in demand in FY22 (20%) were for designing battery management systems that are an integral part of EVs. There was also high demand for support roles, many of which would shift from the traditional vehicle market. The main domain skills in demand will be mainly for engineering and R&D (55%), where the most amount of upskilling would also be required. While the acquisition of such skills would be self-driven by individuals, enabling people in support roles to transition into the EV industry will be undertaken by manufacturers and service providers.

Source: Deccan Herald

[Compiled by Revathi Siva Kumar]

Also read:

• Do rules protect Bengaluru’s parks or restrict citizens’ freedom? 
• Monsoon preparedness of lakes: Lack of planning in development of Gowdanapalya lake and Subbaraaya kere

Bengaluru Buzz: Advisory for ‘global’ city | 1,213 flaws in BBMP’s work … and more was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Indian National Congress’ election campaign hinged on five guarantees to the public: 1) Anna Bhagya, which guarantees 10 kg rice per head every month to families below poverty line (BPL); 2) Gruhalakshmi, where every woman head of the family will be given a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000; 3) Gruhajyoti, where households consuming up to 200 units of power will have free power supply; 4) Shakti, where every woman resident in Karnataka can travel free in all but luxury, AC buses; 5) Yuva Nidhi,  a scheme providing unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 for graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders for a limited period.

The five guarantees were a much publicised poll promise by the Congress. Ad in the Hindu on May 10, 2023. Pic: Bhanu Sridharan

During the first cabinet meeting held on June 1, 2023, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised that the government would implement five guarantees within this fiscal year. Since then, the government has issued orders for implementation of these schemes. Here is how you can access or help someone access these benefits.

Shakti Yojane or free bus travel Women travelling by BMTC bus. File photo

What is the scheme? Under the Shakti Yojane scheme, all women domiciled in Karnataka can travel free in all regular government run buses. Specifically, women can travel for free in ordinary and express buses run by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and the Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC). The scheme does not apply to luxury or AC buses. It only applies to travel within Karnataka; inter-state travel is not free.

When? The scheme will be operational from June 11th, Sunday.

Who is eligible? All women of all ages who are domiciled in Karnataka, i.e., have a permanent address in the state, can avail these benefits. This means women who have government issued identity cards with a Karnataka address, including students can access these benefits. But women who have migrated from other states for (formal or informal) work or education may not be eligible.

How to access: To avail these benefits, eligible women have to get smart cards within three months. They must apply for these smart cards through the Seva Sindhu Portal. However, the government has not yet issued any applications for these smart cards. Until smart cards are issued, eligible women must carry any government issued identity cards that show a Karnataka address, while traveling by these buses.

Read more: BMTC gets little budgetary support despite escalating losses due to higher fuel costs

Gruha Jyothi or electricity scheme Representative image. A locality lit up by house lights. Pic: Godwin D via Flickr CC BY 2.0

What is the scheme? While the Gruha Jyothi scheme has been called a free electricity scheme in the media, there are several caveats. Households or families that consume less than 200 units will not have to pay a fee. Previous electricity schemes such as Bhagya Jyothi and Kuteera Jyothi will be merged with this scheme.

When? Electricity bills from the month of July (issued in August) will come under the scheme.

Who is eligible? The scheme only applies to domestic households. Each household can register one unique RR number (Revenue Registration number assigned by BESCOM) for the scheme. Even within domestic households, eligibility for the scheme is based on the average units consumed in 2022-23. Households which consumed less than 200 units of electricity on average in 2022-23 are eligible for the scheme. These households can get the 2022 average units consumed plus an additional 10% for free. For instance, if you consumed an average of 100 units of electricity per month in 2022-23, you could get 110 units (100 units +10% of 100) free.

If the household consumes more than this allotted amount of electricity, but is still within the 200 units limit, only the excess amount will be billed. However, if a household consumes more than 200 units of electricity, they will be billed for the entire amount. For instance, if your allotted amount is 110 units but you consume 150 units in a month, you would be billed for the excess 40 units only. But if you consume 210 units, you would be billed for the entire amount.

How to access: To avail these benefits, consumers can register on the Seva Sindhu Portal with their RR numbers and upload proof of residence, i.e. documents like Aadhaar or a rental agreement must show the same address as the registered BESCOM meter. Applications will be open from June 15th. Importantly, one can also apply for the scheme offline at any Bangalore One, Grama One or Karnataka One centers.

You can also check out this FAQ by BESCOM: https://bescom.karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/aetomd/GruhaJyothiFAQ.pdf

Gruha Lakshmi or monthly financial assistance scheme Women can receive monthly financial assistance of Rs 2000 under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, but conditions apply. Pic: Anshul Rai Sharma

What is the scheme? The Gruha Lakshmi scheme allows for monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to women heads of the household.

When? The scheme is likely to be operational from August 15th. Applications must be submitted between June 15th and July 15th.

Who is eligible? The scheme only applies to women heads of households who hold a BPL (below poverty line), APL (above poverty line) or Antyodaya card issued by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies. Women who pay income tax or GST or have spouses who do so are not eligible. Female head of household can be self-declared, but only one woman from each house can apply. Applicant’s bank account must be paired with Aadhar, according to the government order.

How to access: To avail these benefits, eligible women must apply on the Seva Sindhu Portal between June 15th and July 15th. Applications can also be made in person, but the locations for physical applications have not yet been declared.  

Anna Bhagya or 10kg rice scheme

What is the scheme? The scheme provides for 10 kg of rice per month to every member of families, which are below poverty line.

When? The scheme will be operational from July 1st.

Who is eligible? All households which have a Karnataka state government issued BPL or Antyodaya Card are automatically eligible. There is no cap on number of family members.

How to access: There is no need to apply for this scheme. All BPL and Antyodaya Card holders automatically qualify from July 1st.

Read more: Interview Amit Basole: “PDS the most effective safety net, cash transfers the worst”

Yuva Nidhi or unemployment support Employment Exchange, Jayanagar. File photo. Pic: Akshatha M

What is the scheme? The Yuva Nidhi scheme provides monthly financial assistance to degree and diploma holders who have not got a job within six months of completing their education. The assistance will be for a maximum duration of two years. Degree holders will get financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month and diploma holders will get financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month. If the beneficiaries get a job within this two year period, they will have to declare this and the assistance will stop.

When? The dates for the scheme have not been announced yet.

Who is eligible? The scheme only applies to youth who are domiciled in Karnataka, i.e. have a permanent Karnataka address on their government issued ID cards.

How to access: Not yet announced

Also read:

• Rs 1.2 crores recovered as penalty from ineligible BPL card holders, some owned luxury cars
• The cost of high LPG prices: Environmental and health hazards in slums

Here’s how you can access the five guarantees promised by the new Karnataka government was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

The new rules for visitors in Cubbon Park, laid down by the Karnataka Horticulture Department, has been a topic of debate and discussion among citizens.

Visitors are not allowed to bring in food, not allowed to play games inside, and, the classic old issue made more stringent-no public display of affection, to the extent where couples are not allowed to sit too close to each other. While the security guards already have full power to keep couples in check for showing affection, they now in charge of ensuring the new rules are followed by all visitors. 

Reasons for the new rules 

“Some of these rules, like no photography and no PDA, have been around for a long time now, only a few new ones have been implemented, like no food and no games, for preserving the park and protecting the visitors,” says Bettegowda, Cubbon Park in-charge. “Despite multiple warnings, people throw food and plastic waste in the park right in front of our eyes, which is why we are not allowed to let visitors take food inside. In terms of not allowing games, people are less responsible in ensuring park properties are taken care of while playing games like cricket or badminton. This leads to the damage of properties,” he adds. 

Karnataka Horticulture Department claims to have implemented these rules in Cubbon Park and Lalbagh a couple of years ago. They have now been made more stringent to preserve the greenery of Cubbon Park from further damage. “Visitors are not allowed to bring their own food inside, but they can buy food from us and go inside,” says one of the shopkeepers, who sells corn outside the gate. While the fruit juices from the Horticulture Department can be sold inside the park, tea vendors are not allowed inside. 

Though the security guards are answerable to the authorities they report to, some say they have been a little lenient with the visitors with regard to the new rules. “We do not allow any food inside, but we still let people carry food from these stalls, otherwise it will hamper these small businesses,” says one of the guards. “The reason these strict laws are being imposed and we are asked to walk around with whistles and megaphones is that people are not responsible enough to respect the public space, in terms of littering, property damage, PDA, ecology protection, and a few other basic ethics,” another guard pipes in. 

Placards on ‘no PDA’ have been hung in several places across Cubbon Park. Pic: Harshitha Padmavinod Varied opinions of visitors

Most visitors do not agree with the new regulations in Cubbon Park. “Parks are meant for leisure. We come to these spaces for some time out from the hustle and bustle of the city. Now, with guards on their loudspeakers and restricting every bit of what you do and where you go inside the park makes leisure time tiresome,” says Deeksha, a regular visitor. “This is moral policing to tell people what is morally right and wrong by a few in power. This reduces the public space to yet another government office of sorts, and not really a place you can come to breathe in some fresh air,” complains Jayanth, a college student. 

However, a few regular visitors are in favour of the new rules. “Though people come to parks for some relaxation, there has to be some sort of regulations to protect the environment as well. Considering how poor people are with basic responsibilities, it only makes sense that these stringent rules come into effect. It is not difficult to not damage park property, not litter, or not make people feel uncomfortable with physical intimacy. If people find this difficult to comprehend and abide by, it’s only natural these rules will become more stringent,” says Padmaja, a regular walker in Cubbon. 

Regulations placard being hung up at Cubbon Park entrance. Pic: Harshitha Padmavinod Bengaluru and its parks 

Bengaluru has more than 1,200 parks and around 190 playgrounds, which already accounts for a small portion of area in comparison to the city’s total space. This further complicates the problem of accessibility, with most parks being closed during the middle of the day. “We have changed the timings, and most parks in the city are now open from 5 am to 10 am and are later reopened at 1:30 pm till 8 pm. We are obligated to close the gates for a few hours in the late mornings till early afternoons as we have to use that limited time to clean the premises, water the plants and trees, and maintain the park for the public’s benefit, though the closing hours tend to cause a bit of inconvenience,” says Chandrashekar, Deputy Director of Horticulture under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). 

Park management

While approximately more than 1,000 parks in the city fall under the jurisdiction of the BBMP Horticulture Department, the two largest parks in the city, Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park, are managed by the Karnataka Horticulture Department. 

Cubbon Park is not the first park to implement these rigid rules. “Plastic has been completely banned in Lalbagh for a few years now. These rules were first implemented here before it got extended to Cubbon Park. Though we let people take some snacks in containers and their personal water bottles, we insist they keep the premises clean inside the park,” says Sunita, security in-charge at Lalbagh.

How restrictions hamper citizen activities

With less than 200 playgrounds in the city, children now hardly have space for outdoor games due to park regulations. Taking DSLR cameras inside has been banned in many parks in the city, including Cubbon and Lalbagh, citing environmental reasons and based on complaints from visitors. In Jayaprakash Narayan Park, the guards check the bags of every visitor for food and cameras before letting them inside. “It has become a hassle crossing through the park each day, as I have to explain why I am carrying my tiffin box every time at the gate,” says Rachana, a college student, who walks through the park to get home.

The guards at Sankey Tank stop visitors from bringing food items at the gate, even the ones from the stalls outside. “People go and eat inside and litter the place every time, so it’s better to keep the whole eating business outside,” affirms the guard. Most parks in the city have these few basic regulations, which are implemented in varying levels of strictness.

“We charge visitors with a minimal ticket price only here at Lalbagh, as this is not a park, but a botanical garden,” says an officer at Karnataka Horticulture Department, on condition of anonymity. “We have sufficient resources to run both the public spaces under our jurisdiction and so far, we have received public support in managing these spaces in terms of any regulations we’ve imposed so far,” they say, although there are some contrasting opinions from the public. 

Read more: The cost of high LPG prices: Environmental and health hazards in slums

The government grants Rs 80 crore annually to the BBMP Horticulture Department to manage the parks under their jurisdiction, they claim there is no lack of resources or funding for managing the parks.

However, as per a 2022 TOI report, Rs 6.5 crore was sanctioned to develop and maintain 37 parks in Jayanagar and surrounding neighbourhoods. However, BBMP spent 85% of the funds on developing only six parks. Some never-ending park renovations with heavy funding, include JP Park (Rs 37 crore), which has been underway for more than seven months with extravagant lighting and setting up of a toy train and Sankey Tank, with Rs 30 crore, which has been under refurbishment for over a year now. 

According to the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act of 1985, ‘whoever throws any rubbish into any park, play-field or open space specified in the list published under section 4 or section 5 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.’

As per a parks and playgrounds survey report by ichangemycity in 2017, 54% of the parks in the city contain garbage/ debris. The implementation of the Act is under question as not only do people continue to litter without bothering, but also despite there being a solution, it is not being implemented, though the departments claim to have imposed fines ranging from Rs 500 to 1,000 in most parks. 

Children playing in Cubbon Park. Pic: Harshitha Padmavinod Citizens equally responsible to making parks better public spaces 

The once ‘Garden City’ is now not only struggling to re-establish sufficient greenery amidst burgeoning urbanisation, but is also juggling to preserve the existing ecology, unfortunately at the cost of the public commons. While these stringent rules are mandatory to keep the ecology alive, the same rules are snatching away people’s diminishing leisure spaces. 

With Bengaluru already struggling with crippling lack of adequate open spaces for the public, and around a quarter of parks being closed most of the time, the preservation and renovation of parks is vital for the city. But this is not just the responsibility of lawmakers alone. If visitors have issues with stringent regulations in parks, then they must also adhere to basic ethics that have to be followed in public spaces. If the power of authorities are kept in check and the public follows basic civic responsibilities, then our parks will be protected and citizens will also enjoy their leisure time. 

Also read:

• Monsoon preparedness of lakes: Lack of planning in development of Gowdanapalya lake and Subbaraaya kere
• What Rs 23,000 crore of BBMP work orders show: 74% of funds for roads, drains

Do rules protect Bengaluru’s parks or restrict citizens’ freedom?  was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Bengaluru has been ranked the least liveable city, among Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Ahmedabad, in the 2022 Global Liveability Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). While the parameters of such surveys are contested, living conditions in Bengaluru slums certainly comes close to such characterisation.

For example, the high price of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), a key household need, provided by Indian oil companies, has impacted people living in slums.

The reality on the ground

As one moves through the neighbourhood of Rajendra Nagar slum, large vessels are seen outside people’s houses. On asking the residents of the purpose of these vessels, it is clear that they are used to heat water. Due to the high price of gas cylinders, most slum residents prefer alternatives, especially when it comes to boiling/heating water, a necessity during winter months.

For a neighbourhood that suffers from water scarcity and intermittent water delivery at irregular hours through the week, getting warm water is far from a possibility. As a result, several families use vessels to boil water and choose not to use gas for this, lest they run out of fuel soon.

Outdoor cooking area in Rajendra Nagar slum, Bengaluru. Pic: Anshul Rai Sharma

Read more: Costly and scarce: Water access a daily struggle for Bengaluru slum dwellers

The issue of household air pollution

With low average household income, aggravated financial constraints due to the after effects of COVID-19 lockdown, the slum is deeply affected. Prince, a resident of the slum, states that his home also uses the bigger vessel with firewood to boil water. On probing, he admits that sometimes people use garbage items, like discarded plastic pieces as raw material to start a fire for cooking. This has led to increased levels of toxic fumes within these neighbourhoods. Small clouds of black smoke are visible from most of the streets throughout the day. This comes with severe consequences.

Declining health conditions are a major concern in a settlement that already suffers from a deficit of primary healthcare infrastructure. The entire neighbourhoods of Rajendra Nagar and LR Nagar, comprising more than 12,000 families, are dependent on one Primary Health Centre in LR Nagar, along with a few local clinics. As per the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, nearly 600,000 deaths in India in 2019 can be attributed to indoor air pollution.

In addition to this, it also has significant climate related consequences. Household air pollution contributes to 30% to 50% of the ambient air quality in India, according to CEEW’s State of Clean Cooking Energy Access in India (2021). This disproportionality affects women and children. Where the former are usually at the helm of cooking while the latter spends most of their daytime in these narrow lanes, where these vessels are kept.

Woman cooking outside her house in Rajendra Nagar slum, Bengaluru. Pic: Anshul Rai Sharma

Read more: Editorial: Can’t afford cooking oil, gas or vegetables? Eat less, or eat cake

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

LPG connections are considered an essential welfare service and is the locus for sustainable household cooking.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to address this by providing LPG connections among more than 80 million households, particularly people living below the poverty line (BPL). PMUY has certainly emerged as a flagship scheme, which intends to reach every household through gas connections.

Several estimates report more than 90% households have LPG connections. Karnataka itself boasts more than 32 lakh connections. However, it is difficult to ascertain how regularly these have been made available.

Affordability of refills

Not everyone is affected equally by rising LPG prices. Some families with high purchasing capacity are able to afford a new cylinder every month, which costs about Rs 1,100 in Bengaluru. A food shop owner, on the condition of anonymity, shares that he gets an extra cylinder in the black market at a higher price because of the large scale of cooking in their shop. The question remains, how can LPG be made not only accessible but also usable for families that already have a connection? This has to do with affordability of refills, which must be accounted for if the government wants to ensure that PMUY remains a credible intervention.

Further, there is a grave need to see climate-change related issues in slums as a consequence of deep infrastructural inequalities that force residents to make unsustainable choices. It is clear that the urban poor are at the forefront of climate change exigencies. If capacity building is seen as a way to make communities make better choices, then such unsustainable choices must be read as a consequence of lack of capacity. Policy makers and authorities must realise that at the core of unsustainable practices is the issue of prices and affordability. Without such supply-side changes, all rhetoric about ‘Sustainable Cities’ will be baseless, leading to further marginalisation of the urban poor from the newly emerging sustainability discourse.

Outdoor cooking vessels at Rajendra Nagar slum, Bengaluru. Pic: Anshul Rai Sharma Also read:

• Karnataka budget focuses on roads and buildings, not on people
• Rs 11,163 crore for the city, but social infrastructure gets short shrift again in BBMP budget
• Photo story: Life in single-room homes in Chennai

The cost of high LPG prices: Environmental and health hazards in slums was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Tracing the truth behind the claims made by the previous government that “47 lakes had been developed under the Nava Nagarothana scheme at the cost of Rs 317.25 crore”, the author of this series, in a ground report, examines the state of Bengaluru’s lakes.

In the first part, he provides a detailed insight into the actual condition of three lakes, where rejuvenation was supposedly carried out. These were: Doddakallasandra lake, Kothanur Lake, Chunchaghatta lake, and Yelachenahalli lake.

In the second part, the author–who is a birdwatcher, a naturalist, and a passionate conservationist–gives detailed reports on the status of two other lakes: Gowdanapalya lake and Subbaraya Kere.

Gowdanapalya Lake

Gowdanapalya Lake or Gowdanapalya Kere is a peculiar case, where rejuvenation started more than a year ago. BBMP constructed a diversion channel, after which the restoration work has been paused for unknown reasons.

One of the reasons, BBMP claims, is due to an ongoing case with regard to the lake. The basic structure of inlet and outlets have been done, but the stone pitching work for retaining of water is incomplete. The lake bed was cleaned up a while ago.

During the previous monsoon, too, there were issues due to uncleared silt, which was lying around, along with heaps of plastic and many other pollutants (including medical waste). When it started raining, this silt, along with the rest of the garbage, settled back across the lake bed and has been lying like that since then.

The gradient of Gowdanapalya lake is on a lower level and feeds into Dorekere. It receives water from Padmanabhanagar area and a secondary stream (SWD) feeds into the lake. A lot of rainwater and untreated water enters the lake. It was there for the last few months. The lake receives a lot of water, which dries up by March (summer). During the dry season, the water from the stormwater drain usually does not enter the lake, as the inlet is higher than the SWD. However, during the rainy season due to the quantum of water in the rajakaluve/secondary stream, which is mixed with sewage and garbage, it entered the lake.

Hydrology of the lakes in the Vrishabhavathi River Basin. Pic courtesy: Paani.earth

The video below clearly shows how the inlet is filled with solid waste and plastic. The diversion channel is also not in a healthy condition.

Accumulated silt, tree branches, and plastics, are in the lake. As it is, the lake is filled with so much plastic, bigger waste material, such as mattresses, some furniture, among other things, are strewn about on the lake bed.

State of Gowdanapalya lake. Pic: Raghavendra B Pachhapur

The lake bed also has small islands of polluted water, already in an algal bloom stage. Rain showers bring in more plastic and other unwanted things into the lake bed. I visited BBMP, personally met the chief engineer and requested him to at least clear the lake bed so that less rainwater comes inside the lake.

But all my requests have gone in vain. For the last one month, I have been regularly monitoring the changes, but there is hardly any progress. BBMP should immediately clear the waste on the lake bed and prepare it for the monsoons so that the city can get good rainwater.

Otherwise we will miss one more season. It is a loss to the ecology, if we don’t do something about it. Despite so much money being spent, two seasons have already been wasted.

Read more: A historical lens on Bengaluru’s drains

Subbaraaya Kere

Subbaraaya Kere is a very small lake, which is under five acres. As it is located on a lower side of the gradient, the lake attracts a lot of rainwater. Unfortunately, it is not well planned. The DPR also doesn’t show how it is going to collect the rainwater and channelise it to the lake.

This year too, it rained in the wrong season. It is ideal to dewater around January/February so that by March, the lake bed would be dry for desilting. If this is delayed by a month or two, we face a monsoon which can upset the works and the lake may not be ready to collect rainwater.

Despite this knowledge, the rainwater channelling commenced during the last week of May, when it was about to rain. As expected, when it rained heavily, a portion of the bund collapsed and water started seeping from the bund region. This was highlighted, and later they corrected it with a small stone structure, which generalises a little bit of rainwater.

But the way it is collected, the drain system is not in place even now, despite the issue being brought to their notice. The DPR doesn’t mention this in the plan at all. The inlets are made in small structures and it is still seems like a temporary structure.

There are inlets that have a sewage diversion channel. There have been a few spells of rain. And it has already taken so much sewage and plastic to the lake bed that there is no mechanism to stop the solid waste entering into the lake.

And as a peculiar case, one side of the lake also gets a lot of rainwater from the road from the top of the Jambusavari Dinne. Arrangements have been made so that there is no water logging on the road.

A few inlets that are too small, measuring just four inches have been made. While this too brings a lot of rain to the lake, of course it comes with plastic and solid waste, which is supposed to be cleaned. So, despite being a new lake, the design has not been properly planned in advance.

How do we plan it well so that the issues with the lake are avoided in future?

Our approach to lake rejuvenation is very engineering centric without any thought to ecology. All lakes are approached with a cookie cutter method, where the lake is developed into a soup bowl, which is devoid of any vegetation. The lake vegetation is not only a source for biodiversity – fish, amphibians, birds, etc- but also serves as a livelihood for people who forage wild greens.

With monsoons around the corner, in the backdrop of the two unfortunate deaths, which occurred during the Summer rainfall, this calls for urgent action on the part of the authorities.

Clogged sewage diversion channel, temporary inlet structure at Subbaraaya Kere. Pic: Raghavendra B Pachhapur Also read:

• Lack of stormwater drain planning in Bengaluru is a risk factor for future floods
• Faulty execution in BBMP SWD works has led to floods

Monsoon preparedness of lakes: Lack of planning in development of Gowdanapalya lake and Subbaraaya kere was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Editor’s Note: The previous BJP government had announced its Bengaluru Mission 2022, under which 25 lakes were identified and funds were granted by the BBMP and CM’s Nava Nagarothana scheme in December 2020.

Three years after the announcement, with an eye on the Karnataka Elections 2023 on January 25th, the BJP government claimed in an advertisement that “47 lakes had been developed under the Nava Nagarothana scheme at the cost of 317.25 crores.”

The reality, however, is in contrast to the claims, as a citizen found out. The author, a birdwatcher, a naturalist, and a passionate conservationist did the rounds of six lakes and documented his findings of the status on the ground.

In the first part of the series, the author examines the status of four lakes. These are Doddakallasandra, Kothnur, Yelachenahalli and Chunchaghatta lakes. All the lakes are part of the so-called rejuvenated lakes.

Doddakallasandra Lake

Doddakallasandra Lake is biodiversity rich. A biodiversity report by ActionAid Association, with support from NTT Data Services, was prepared in 2020, during which 71 birds were observed over a period of 12 months, covering different trees, plants, birds and plants, butterflies. We now find that the lake is visited by 111 species of birds.

Now, we (lake volunteers) have been very conscious about the lake’s water quality. We have ensured, in over one year, that the water quality is under Class D, suitable for wildlife and fisheries. There is a constant check on entry of pollutants. Different local community members also contribute to keeping an eye.

Whenever there is an entry of a pollutant, they alert us so that we raise it with the concerned officials and ensure that it is sorted out within at least a week’s time.

Our observations:

• We have noticed that all the harvested macrophytes/aquatic plants and grass from the lake waters are placed on the bund and left for as long as three to four months. This adds to the risk of this grass getting back to the lake waters and affecting the water body.
• Apart from this, we are also not happy with the way solid waste management is done. The maintenance people collect all the waste accumulated in the wetland or in the lake and place it on the bund again. During the monsoon period, most of this solid waste goes back to the lake.
• Recently, we observed that the accumulated garbage is being burnt and that it is sometimes buried in some of the areas, where people don’t walk. So maintenance is a big challenge.
• We found two instances of underground (UGD) chamber spillover, which entered the lake through rainwater, harvested structures and polluted the lake, sometime in February this year, and again in May, during the monsoon rains.
• At present, we have seen issues with the diversion channel silt that has accumulated, due to which the water movement flow has slowed down. Sometimes, it is also backing up, as the sewage diversion channel has not been opened up for two years. It is filled with silt and has clogged in portions. This leads to it backing up into one of the inlets and joining the lake.

Status of Doddakallasandra Lake in May 2023. Pic: Raghavendra B Pachhapur

We have brought this to the notice of the BBMP officials, but a solution is yet to be found. Just four days ago when I visited Doddakallasandra, I could see fishes gasping for air.

I have seen this in other lakes as well. So it is likely that the water within the lake has now reached an optimum level, where dissolved oxygen is reduced drastically. We need to see the water test result to check the status.

Read more: Whom do you call to fix your lake?

Kothanur Lake

Kothanur Lake is on one of the streams contributing to the Koramangala-Challaghatta (KC) Valley. Its catchment area is around Jamboo Savari Dinne, which is one of the highest points of Bengaluru. It is situated on a lower gradient, it is nearly 30 feet lower than the main road.

We have observed two main issues:

1. Solid waste: It has two inlets, one of the main inlets collects more rainwater. Unfortunately, this inlet also brings in solid waste and plastics along with it to the lake. Maintenance is one of the main challenges of this lake. The present practice in maintenance is (after many requests with the concerned officials) that they come and collect all the solid waste and keep it on the bunds.

The unhealthy practice of keeping the solid waste and plastics on the bund is dangerous for the birds that come to visit the lake and it also tends to go back into the lake.

2. Sewage: Houses are built up to the gates of the lake, one of the UGD chambers right opposite to the lake gate, which constantly overflows. The UGD line connects to the houses near the lake entrance, and a diversion channel at Kothanur lake runs under the walking path. So, the local sewage from the UGD is carried towards the lake, and connects it to the Rajakaluve next to the lake. This leads to multiple instances of overflowing sewage entering the lake. BWSSB has responded, but often quite late. There is an issue with the UGD infrastructure in that area, which has not been addressed so far.

One of the challenges is second and third smaller inlets, which bring untreated water from the village, while BWSSB claims it is not sewage water and excuses themselves while BBMP Lakes department claims it is from the village and we cannot do anything about it.

The lake has seen two instances of Fishkill this year and two instances last year too. In spite of numerous complaints to KSPCB hasn’t helped in stopping this polluted water intrusion into the lake.

So maintenance is one of the major issues with this lake, particularly during the monsoons. It needs regular upkeep. Solid waste should be disposed off from the lake, and not to be placed on the bund.

Solid waste from the lake is deposited on the bund by the authorities at Kothanur lake in May 2023. Pic: Raghavendra B Pachhapur Yelachenahalli lake

Yelachenahalli lake or Anayapa tank, as referred to by the Pollution Control Board, is linked by a stormwater drain, which is a source of water. The stormwater drain is filled with silt and water.

It passes through one side of the drain as the water flows through the drain. There is a road culvert, after which it enters the lake area. There is a dive drain with a structure in it.

This has got a diversion drain and it also enters the lake. Now, that structure where the diversion drain starts, is again filled with stormwater silt and is heavily filled with polluted silt.

If it is not cleaned, all the silt from the stormwater drain and the structure area enters the lake area. Further down the lake there is a small suspension pond.

Before the suspension pond, there is a small culvert, which is inside the lake. Under this culvert the colour of the water is blackish. Further through the suspension pond, the water’s colour changes to parrot green, where algal growth has already set in and is in the last stage of blooming.

If you refer to the Pollution Control Board report for the month of April. It is already classified as category E, which is not conducive for wildlife and fisheries.

There is a history of fish kill, probably due to the entry of chemicals last year. And so there is an urgent need to clear all the silt and get ready for the monsoons before all the silt enters into the lake.

Read more: Why pre-monsoon showers lead to fish kill cases in Bengaluru’s Lakes

Chunchaghatta lake

Chunchaghatta lake is a part of the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley (KC Valley) stream. Upstream, it is connected through Kothanur lake and downstream it is connected to Sarakki lake. It has got one major Rajakaluve inlet. Rajakaluve inlet is more or less comparatively clean as it passes through the local developed area and UGD is not a major issue at this point of time, but there are surprises sometimes, which have been caught and stopped. Recently, on May 27th, I observed a live stream of untreated water running into the #ChunchaghattaLake.

BBMP had recently developed a suspension pond for the benefit of the lake because it has now been taking all sorts of water, filtering it to some extent, and then forwarding it to the larger lake.

Chunchaghatta is special, because compared to other lakes, it has a shallow water region in some portions where water reduces, so it attracts nearly threatened species like painted stork, oriental darter, black headed ibis.

These three bird species have been regular visitors during the shallow waters. As for the issues, BBMP did not prepare the suspension pond because the lake had already accumulated so much silt in the last one and a half to two years that it was not cleaned.

It is now filled with water with all the recent rains. Unfortunately, the water will carry a lot of nutrients. But there are other inlets, particularly linked to the local village. These inlets bring in untreated water during the dry season as well, and BWSSB has not been able to fix it so far.

It also brings in a lot of solid waste, which is already spread across the lake bed. Again, maintenance is one of the major challenges. The maintenance is not up to the mark and they don’t regularly clear all the solid waste on the lake bed.

They also had this practice of keeping the solid waste on the bund most of the time. It has been entering the water again during the last few rains. A lot of plastic waste has entered the lake bed. It is already filled up on the lake bed, which is why the water level is increasing. And it is not being cleaned. So in the coming days, I think maintenance should be taken up on a regular basis.

[The second part of the series will explore the condition of three other lakes]

Also read:

• Polluted lakes, poor waste management contaminating Bengaluru’s groundwater
•  MOUs or no MOUs, citizen groups continue the fight to save Bengaluru’s lakes
• Govt claims 47 lakes developed and 17 underway, but this is not quite true

How monsoon ready are the lakes of Bengaluru? was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

May 2023 wettest since 1957: IMD

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on May 30th issued a yellow alert for Bengaluru and 10 other districts. There might be a temporary disruption of electricity in some areas, minor traffic snarls, and uprooting of trees and branches.

May, this year, was the wettest for the city in recorded history, with nearly 30.1 cms of rainfall, breaking a 66-year record of 28 cms, set in May 1957. Every year since 2015, the May rainfall hovered above the mean monthly total of 128.7 mms.

However, the pre-monsoon showers has brought more threatening potholes on the roads, which the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is hurrying to fix.  

On May 30th, many arterial roads, including parts of the Outer Ring Road, were flooded and traffic-ridden following torrential rains. It made several underpasses ponds, although authorities tried to place barricades. The worst affected roads were Bellandur near EcoSpace, Bannerghatta Road near Sagar Hospital junction, Lingarajapuram underpass, Sivananda Circle, Chickpet Main Road, Sankey Road and KR Circle underpasses and Old Madras Road near RMZ Infinity.

The city needs about 658 kms of stormwater drains and nature-based solutions, such as ‘sponge city’, to prevent urban flooding, said a report released by property consultant, Knight Frank India.

Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that BBMP is “galvanised” to face the rains, following the directions from the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. He said that all zonal commissioners, joint commissioners, chief engineers and executive engineers, along with the forest wing, have been directed to be on high alert and monitor the situation. He warned of strict action against negligent officials.

Source: Deccan Herald, The Hindu, Indian Express

Cauvery Stage V delayed

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is facing hurdles in implementing the Cauvery Stage V project, which is trying to provide drinking water to 110 villages in the city’s outskirts. Residents will need to wait for at least three more months.

The project is only 75% complete, with its progress slowed down due to dependency on the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). An official said that works are overlapping, and they can only lay some of their infrastructure after the bridges are constructed by the NHAI. The pandemic too led to delay, as they faced a shortage of industrial oxygen that stalled progress.

Source: Deccan Herald

Read more: Treated water from one-third of BWSSB sewage treatment plants is unsafe

Energy-efficient desalination unit

A novel thermal desalination system, using solar energy, has been developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which is energy-efficient, cost-effective, portable and convenient for areas with limited access to continuous electricity. The unit helps to increase the availability of clean and potable water.

Thermal desalination helps to convert saline water into vapour that is free of salt and minerals. When condensed, it forms freshwater, but it consumes a lot of energy. The IISc is replacing the use of electricity and fossil fuels with solar stills, to evaporate saltwater in large reservoirs and collect the vapour that condenses on a transparent roof. The researchers want to scale up the system and improve its durability, to expand the volume of drinking water for domestic and commercial uses.

Source: Indian Express

Demand to implement five guarantees

Bescom officials are now up against a number of customers refusing to pay their electricity bills, citing the new Congress government’s promise to implement one of its five guarantees of supplying free power up to 200 units. Some customers ask deduction for the first 200 units. Bescom officials have asked people to pay their bills within the stipulated time or warn that they will disconnect the power supply as per the policy decision, unless the government gives an order.

Meanwhile, the proposed implementation of the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme, offering a monthly subvention of Rs 2,000 to the female head of houses, is said to have stirred conflicts in houses between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Family members argue over who should receive the monthly cash incentive

Also, Greenpeace India has lauded the free bus travel for women but called it only the first step in a series of measures to reform the public transportation sector, including increasing the BMTC fleet to 14,000. It called for multiple interventions to make public transport accessible and affordable, including a 24X7 grievance redressal mechanism.

Greenpeace’s message ‘Bus for women, Bus for all’ before Vidhan Soudha. Pic: Twitter/greenpeaceindia

They include reservation of seats for women, elderly and sexual minorities, bus lanes to decongest the roads and making bus commutes timely and reliable.

As pressure mounts for implementation of the guarantees, the State’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Priyank Kharge, said that criteria and frameworks are being decided.

Source: The New Indian Express, Times of India, Deccan Herald, Indian Express

Read more: Lack of public consultation is a hindrance to holistic lake development in Bengaluru

New police chief

B Dayananda, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) has been named the new city’s police commissioner. A transfer order regarding four senior IPS officials was issued. B Dayananda replaces C H Pratap Reddy.

He was an officer of the 1994 batch. He was the joint commissioner of police (crime) and headed the city’s traffic department too.

He said that his department will prioritise traffic management with coordination from civic agencies.

Source: Deccan Herald, Indian Express, The Hindu

[Compiled by Revathi Siva Kumar]

Also read:

• What Bengaluru’s TB control programme tells us about efficiency of health systems for migrants
• Engaging communities in informal settlements in the climate change agenda

Bengaluru Buzz: Wettest May since 1957 | Cauvery V delayed … and more was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Bengaluru is now increasingly witnessing the combined effects of climate change and rapid urbanisation in varied forms. Be it the heat island effect, or increased intensity of rainfall over a shorter duration of time, flooding different city areas.

Yet, climate responsive strategies largely remain obscured in developmental strategies as well as governance models.

Impact on informal settlements

The harshest brunt of this situation is borne by people living in informal settlements across Bengaluru. The city has almost 2000+ slums spread across, with only 25% of these slums having access to some basic services.

These settlements are constructed using heat-absorbing materials like tin, asbestos, tarpaulin etc. which causes the heat to remain trapped indoors. Homes in these settlements also do not have any ventilation, except for their front doors.

Due to a lack of resources the priorities of residents in these settlements do not include climate change, adaptation and mitigation strategies, precisely because their immediate needs remain unaddressed. Additionally, climate change remains an abstraction for them, which provides no immediate monetary or service-based incentive.

How then to make residents be active participants in the agenda of climate change? This was the vantage point of our climate pilot. The idea was to turn climate change into a tangible concept for these communities, working upon which they can also gain monetary and other benefits in the long run.

Read more:  Bengaluru: Still unprepared to face unusual weather events due to climate change

Climate pilot

Palaniamma has been living with her husband and son in a 2-room semi-pucca house in Janakiram Layout for the last 15 years. She and her husband are sugar cane juice sellers. Their son is a daily wage construction worker.

The whole settlement of Janakiram Layout is located on Railway land and the settlers own a “Parichay Patra” that says they have been living in the area for a long time. They do not have access to legal electricity connections and rely completely on illegal connections from nearby electrical posts.
Palaniamma’s home is a typical slum dwelling. It is congested, with a leaky asbestos roof, and no ventilation except the front door. Due to sudden and frequent electricity cuts and voltage fluctuations, she has had to change damaged appliances like TV, fridge, etc. multiple times.

Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) is a grassroots, socio-technical organisation that works to strengthen the collectives of women in the urban informal sector and advocate action on improving housing living and working environments. MHT, in collaboration with SELCO Foundation–which seeks to inspire and implement socially, financially and environmentally inclusive solutions by improving access to sustainable energy)–implemented a climate pilot in Janakiram Layout in Bengaluru.

Palaniamma discussing her issues with the MHT and Selco team outside her house. Pic courtesy: MHT team About the Demonstration Pilot

The pilot included the installation of a solar home lighting system to remove dependence on illegal grid connections. This involved designing a roofing mechanism, which consisted of:

• Solar reflective white paint over the existing roofing sheet and
• A water and fire-resistant false ceiling with a 45mm gap was also installed inside the house

The combination of both these technologies was to reduce indoor temperatures by 2-3℃. It will also prevent any water leakages from the roof.

The solar home lighting system is currently supporting the entire energy requirement of Palaniamma’s household, including all the appliances that she requires for her day-to-day usage. If she had a legal electricity connection, she would incur a bill of at least Rs 450-500 per month for electricity usage.
Post the technological interventions, Palaniamma admits happily that there was absolutely no leakage from the roof even during very heavy rains. Her thermal discomfort has reduced to a great extent as well. With the solar energy system in place, she had uninterrupted access to electricity, unlike other houses in the neighbourhood, which faced power cuts. Another added benefit is that her house now has a greater aesthetic value. She has received a lot of compliments on how beautiful her new roof looks.

The pilot installation has led to reduced temperatures in Palaniamma’s house vis-à-vis other houses in the slum, according to our initial records. We will track the performance of this pilot over the course of a few months. The pilot has seen effective reduction in temperatures during the summers (between 2-5 degrees) and due to solarisation, she incurs less cost on electricity. Also, the house doesn’t frequent power cuts.

The asbestos roofing that existed before the climate pilot. Pic courtesy: MHT Team False Roofing Intervention due to the climate pilot. Pic courtesy: MHT Team

Read more: How Bengaluru youth are taking part in the global movement against climate change

Participation in the Climate Change Agenda

We had envisioned utilising this pilot as a tool for engaging communities in the climate change agenda, which is a fairly abstract concept for them. The pilot has led to an emerging curiosity and dialogue around the issue of climate change within the settlement. Women are now also eager to know more about renewable energy installations for their own homes, customised as per their own needs. Palaniamma was also invited as one of our speakers during the City Resource Forum (CRF) meeting and she talked about the benefits of the pilot.

This intervention has enabled MHT to mobilise women, form a community action group (CAG), and provide formal training on climate change. The training provides insights on the intersection of climate change, urban governance, and public participation.

MHT’s ultimate goal is to empower the CAG members and encourage them to become active participants in the climate change agenda at the city level through avenues like the Citizen resource forum “Ellara Bengaluru”, and ward meetings.

Also read:

• Bengaluru’s climate change history and lessons to learn
• Cities must focus on disaster resilient infrastructure in the era of climate change

Engaging communities in informal settlements in the climate change agenda was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Despite the previous government’s claims of developing 47 lakes in Bengaluru at the cost of Rs 317.25 crore, under the Nava Nagarothana scheme, with an additional Rs 200 crore being sanctioned to restore 17 lakes, the process of lake maintenance is shrouded in issues. Chief among these is the lack of transparency and access to information, poor enforcement of laws, and above all, absence of public consultation. 

Environmentalists and citizen groups have worked against these odds to protect lakes, but questions remain on why public consultation is not duly followed and why lakes continue to be encroached upon and overflow with sewage. It was to address these issues that Citizen Matters, Bengaluru, organised a webinar, Missing: Public participation in lake development in Bengaluru, on May 26th. 

Read more: Lake development: Politicians seek publicity, but leave the public clueless

The panelists included Bijoy Venugopal, bird watcher and founder-editor of The Green Ogre. He is part of a group of active birdwatchers pushing for Saul Kere development to be biodiversity friendly. Nirmala Gowda, co-founder of Paani.earth, a citizen-led research initiative that is building up a detailed database on the river-basins of the Cauvery basin. Ram Prasad, co-founder of Friends of Lakes and leading advocate for transparent and scientific lake management, and Soumya ND, Member, Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust, a citizen group monitoring the above mentioned lake.

Lakes in an urban context

Ram Prasad makes a distinction between perspectives on lakes in rural vis-à-vis the urban context. In rural areas, lakes are important for livelihood whereas in urban areas the quality of water is ignored because the city gets imported water. “A lake in an urban context is only for recreational and beautification purposes. There is a need to reimagine what the lake means in the urban aspiration. Urban aspiration is being taken away by a certain section of people, who are looking at it as real estate value and not for its environmental value,” says Ram Prasad. 

Nirmala, then, spoke about the work Paani.earth, which aims to empower citizens with a database of river basin information. “We look at issues from a lake perspective and zoom out from the river basin perspective.” Nirmala spoke about the unscientific restoration of Byramangala lake. 

The High Court issued a stay order on the works in 2020, which continues till today. “The use of the lake is for irrigation. Wastewater, which comprises industrial effluents and sewage, has been entering Vrishabhavathy river and Byaramangala lake, since 1980s till the 2000s, due to the industrialisation of Bengaluru. The farmers would not have access to water for their livelihood.” Nirmala says they ran from pillar to post to get the Detailed Project Report (DPR). They finally got it via filing an RTI. “We translated the DPRs into Kannada and took it to the farmers and women, and explained to them the implications of the restoration projects.” 

Regarding the experience with Bellandur technical committee, Nirmala says: “There were two or three public hearings. Scientists were saying one thing to the public and the exact opposite inside the technical committee. Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) made hand drawn maps and used it for discussions during the Bellandur technical committee meetings. We got the data that these are the lakes that drain into Bellandur, these are the stressors. This was used in the technical committee meetings.” Paani.earth was started, Nirmala says, because they didn’t want people to struggle to get information. 

Bijoy says he wanted to go beyond bird watching and delve deeper into other aspects of biodiversity. ‘’In 2020, I was part of a lake survey by BngBirds, Environment Support Group (ESG), and several others. We surveyed about 30 lakes around the city. At that point it came to my attention that we were looking at a larger problem. Our core job was to document biodiversity there, but we also made note extensively of the other problems that pervaded these lakes. For instance, we noticed that many of the lakes were being constructed like soup bowls. Part of our orientation was to understand what should be the ideal wetlands. It should be commons, not fenced, and not cut off to the general public.”

Saul Kere. Pic: Bijoy Venugopal

Bijoy adds: “We have seen the problems of raw sewage inflow. Most of us in Bellandur lake were victims of the floods last year. Late December, last year, we came across a flex banner just outside Saul Kere announcing that the lake would be developed and beautified. That rang a lot of alarm bells for us.” 

Read more: Saul Kere, a biodiversity hotspot in the city might never be the same again

Bijoy says they noticed there was no transparency in information. “We realised that no real conversations were happening between administrative bodies and citizens. Also, as most of us know, BBMP hasn’t even had an election in the last few years, so you don’t know who is responsible for what. We have seen the systematic destruction of these public commons.” He makes a pertinent point that talking to citizen groups is not the same as informing citizens.

“A lake is not just a body of shimmering water, it is also the vegetation that surrounds it. It is what plants live in that water, what creatures does the water support. That entire web of life is quite fascinating for us. It is not clear what the milestones are for lake development. Keeping this process opaque works for those with vested interests.”

Soumya spoke about her experience of how they worked to get the lake entrusted in the care of the forest department and out of the hands of the BBMP.  “We had already interacted with the forest department and the lake was under the custodianship of the Forest department for quite some time. When we saw what was happening with all the other lakes that were under BBMP we thought that maybe BBMP’s intention is right. But it was more people centric whereas the forest department was more nature centric. The forest department was more open to suggestions and has created a lake management committee. They call us to understand what we have in mind. Transparency is not that big of an issue for us while working with the forest department,” Soumya says. 

Lakes are not public parks

For any rejuvenation of lakes one has to go through the KTCDA. Without a DPR if you do any lake rejuvenation it is not right, Ram Prasad stresses. 

Nirmala adds that significant political interference at the MLA level creates problems. “Media doesn’t do enough scientific reporting. Transformation at the citizen level is required.”

She disagrees that lakes should be transformed into parks. “From a lake perspective, the space is not meant for jogging parks and gyms. We should be able to think beyond ourselves. Water coming into the lake is bypassed. We need to know how that bypassed water affects certain settlements-this is not factored in.” 

Citizen engagement

However, citizen engagement is important to get people interested in protecting the lakes. Soumya says, regarding citizen participation, they have a huge community of 300 to 400 people. 

Ram Prasad advises to get a lake vision document ready before lake rejuvenation starts. “In an urban context, we need social activity to keep an eye on the lake. When the DPR is being prepared, the public should be consulted. We prepared a lake health index, for which we interviewed people. We found that nobody is talking about water. Citizens should engage with the water too.”

Conclusion

However, there seems to be no easy answers on how to get the authorities accountable, how to get more credible and in-depth information in one place that is easily available and accessible to citizens.

Watch the full discussion here:

Also read:

• Saul Kere project must be redesigned to be bird-friendly
• What we lose when we lose a lake — the Mallathahalli Lake experience

Lack of public consultation is a hindrance to holistic lake development in Bengaluru was published on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru