Twenty-two year old Gayathri S says she has done it all. From marketing to promotions to driving an auto rickshaw and even a stint as a model, she has taken up all kinds of odd jobs to support herself and her family of three. It shows on her frail, skinny frame. Gayathri completed her four-year Bachelor's degree in computer science engineering course just last month.

A resident of Vyalikaval in north Bengaluru, she lives with her mother, her school-dropout brother Purushotham G and younger sister Usha G, an eighth standard student. Gayathri's father Srinivas passed away when she was…

July 19: Cubbon Park police station, a familiar landmark for those who travel through the central parts of the city, is all set to lose its compound wall to the controversial road widening project undertaken by BBMP. While the project has been stalled temporarily because of opposition from the affected property owners, the wall on Kasturba Road will have to be demolished as the tender for the wo

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It is an 11.2 acre plush green landscape. A few huts have sprouted here and there. Encroachments. Pigs and cows graze along quietly. Apart from the piles of garbage strewn in certain portions, the Meistripalya kere (also known as Jakkasandra Lake) is a vital open space for residents of Koramangala.

It is to protect this very lung space that the residents of Koramangala fought for years. Their efforts finally bore fruit in February 2010 after the Supreme Court ruled in their favour to protect this land as an open space. And on Friday, June 18th 2010,…

Bengaluru, June 18: Incidents like the death of 17-year-old Sanjana Singh on June 1 this year in a wall collapse and the death of other children in the city in the rains last year due to the negligence of civic agencies including BBMP, should be a source of shame to people serving the city, said Member of Parliament Rajiv Chandrasekhar in a letter written to Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa on Fr

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Bangalore Environment Trust has come out with a position paper on the widening of 91 roads in general and six core inner city roads in particular. Bangalore Environment Trust (BET), founded in 1987, works on environment issues concerning the city.

Our point is that there is a case for a relook at this 91 roads programme based on various traffic measures being taken by the government like Metro, Monorail, underpasses etc. In any case, we feel that six heritage roads with a large number of old trees must not be widened, but instead various other measures to expedite traffic…

The Karnataka High Court's order with regard to the state government's proposed war memorial project is likely to be pronounced during this week. Just last week, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had begun work at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park, where the memorial is proposed to come up. This was, however, stalled following several media reports that suggested that going ahead with construction work amounted to contempt of court as the case is subjudice.

The proposed war memorial project, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crores, has been in the eye of…

The BBMP council is finally in place, but the BBMP is not the only agency responsible for urban governance in Bangalore. There are many para-statals like BDA, BMRDA, BWSSB, BMTC responsible for performing the many civic functions of the city.  There is a clear need for a citizen to understand the functional differences between these statutory agencies to deal with issues pragmatically.

The City Corporation

The BBMP (meaning Greater Bangalore City Corporation) is the Municipal Corporation which is responsible for the overall administration of the city of Bangalore. The BBMP was officially formed in January 2007 by merging the 100 wards…