murali772's blog

Are you a resident of Mizoram capital Aizawl? If yes, do not buy a car until you have a garage or parking space. Grappled with constant traffic snarls, Mizoram has finally found a way out, banning the sale of vehicles to any individual who does not own a garage or parking space. A car purchased after August 30 will be viewed illegal if its owner does not possess a garage or parking space.

Recently, a group of residents from certain streets in Koramangala petitioned to the ward level authorities to evict food-vending hawkers from the neighbourhood. Some were on pavements and some occupied vacant plots. After many meetings, the authorities obliged. In some cases, the carts reappeared the same day.

While the BJP is rightfully on the offensive against the colossal misdeeds vis-a-vis the CWG, in its own backyard, instances of financial impropriety, though not on such a big scale as in Delhi, have come to light.

After a persistent pursuit, through registered letters, RTI queries, appeals, etc, targeted primarily at the Commissioner for Transport in Karnataka, he has finally got the the RTO, Koramangala, to write to me officially to say that I cannot be issued a license to operate 'majilu vahanagalu' (meaning 'stage carriage', I guess) in the city.

The official demand for returning the money paid by the government telecom arm, BSNL, for third-generation (3G) spectrum (turned down, for now, by the Union finance ministry) is an illustration of why the state should be kept well away from running a business — it is not possible to be both player and umpire.

In a courageous move, the Karnataka government has decided to crack down on unauthorized religious shrines, including temples, churches, mosques and gurdwaras, which encroach upon roads, parks, storm water drains and other public places.

Regional Transport Authority officials never had it so tough. While they have managed to stop all private and government vehicles from displaying advertisements, they've found the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) a tough nut to crack. They're armed with an Act of law, a high court ruling and a Road Safety Authority (RSA) decision which prohibits display of ads on vehicles as these could distract other drivers. However BMTC buses, especially the Volvos, continue to display huge ads. What's worse, government ads with large photographs of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and transport minister R Ashoka are on almost all buses plying towards IT corridor areas like Whitefield and Electronic City. Interestingly, BMTC managing director Syed Zameer Pasha says he's unaware of this blatant flouting of rules.

Though fund-starved, BWSSB is doing little to claim dues running into crores of rupees from Govt agencies. Says Board chairman P B Ramamurthy: "Since bill collection is the main source of revenue for BWSSB, we have been continuously pressing both the government and semi-government bodies to pay their bills.''