Choked Bangalore - Heart of the matter?

09/23/07 10:38 - silkboard

The best piece of news I have heard this month came last week. It goes "BBMP to book crook engineers". Its something we all know and suspect to be true for ever now, and the plan to break the so called 'nexus' is ambitious:

"BBMP will book the engineers of the erstwhile CMCs and TMC who have sanctioned projects on storm water drains, valleys, in agricultural lands etc. ... Taking a serious note of rampant violation of zoning regulations and building bylaws, the BBMP ... will trace these officials ... and recommend action against them ... In the wake of demolitions being carried out across the city, the BBMP has stumbled on several cases where engineers have encouraged encroachments in exchange for kickbacks running into lakhs of rupees."

Not that we haven't heard similar language before, but there is an interesting twist to BBMP's threat this time.

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CDP: Anticipating Growth

09/21/07 15:02 - tsubba

With the new Comprehensive Development Plan - Master Plan 2015 - allowing commercial development in residential areas depending on road width, an area of 55 sqkm across the city has been earmarked for mixed land use. Residential areas with roads more than 60 feet wide will see commercial establishments emerging. While commercial space in some of these roads has already been developed, other connecting roads too will see hectic development shortly.

Major roads of more than 60 ft width in various localities in the city:

Banashankari: Kathriguppa Main Road, Puttana Chetty Road, Uttarahalli Main Road, Puttenahalli Main Road, Ittamadu Main Road, Pipeline Road, and Bugle Rock Road.

Benson Town: Millers Road, St John's Road, Mosque Road, and Coles Road.

Jayanagar: R V Road, Pattalamma Street, K R Road, Kanakapura Road, B P Wadia Road, Lalbagh Fort Road, and South End Road.

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Questions about MRTS Bangalore

09/21/07 14:40 - Naveen

Hi! My letter to be sent to BMRCL is as follows - please review & advise your comments, thanks.
Pertaining to the Metro & Mono-Rail for Bangalore, I request you to please advise me on the following queries that I have under the RTI Act.

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Bellandur Lake - I

09/20/07 20:33 - admin123

Being among the largest wetlands of Bangalore, the health of Bellandur lake is symptomatic of the condition of the waterbodies all across the city.

A recent study by the Energy & Wetlands Research Group at IISc points out that rampant unplanned developmental activities, untreated sewage, solid waste disposal, and encroachment of lake beds in its catchment have put the Bellandur Lake under extreme environmental stress, impairing the functional ability of the lake's ecosystem resulting in poor water quality, depletion and contamination of ground water, and frequent flooding in the catchment. Lack of integrated planning approaches pose serious threats to the sustainability of the region.

Here are some excerpts from their report: Environmental Impact of Developmental Activities
in the Bellandur Lake Catchment. Authors: Dr. T.V. Ramachandra, H.S. Sudhira, B. Karthick, and K.G. Avinash, Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc

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BCA1

09/20/07 19:08 - admin123

Bellandur Catchment Area

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Don't just be the change, mass-produce it...

09/20/07 08:07 - cvikash

What does it mean to : "Be the Change, we want to see." Many of us grapple with this advice, so did Pranav (Silkboard) and I, when we recently met. Alex Steffen at worldchanging.com goes a step further and applies it to our present context: "If our world is really looking down the barrel of environmental catastrophe, how do I live my life right now?” asked an email I got recently.

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What's so awfully wrong with Bangalore Metro design ?

09/19/07 12:17 - cvikash

The basic problem with Bangalore Metro Rail design, which is a "carbon copy" of the Delhi Metro Rail design is: i. its failure to define a catchment area and ii. design for seamless integration of feeder services and metro rail system (with seamless ticketing and intermodal synchronization) - RIGHT AT THE INCEPTION.

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Monorail as a solution for narrow roads

09/19/07 07:28 - blrsri

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SydneyMonorail2_gobeirne.jpg Notice the pillar that the rail is built on..and the rails itself..its neat and the best solution for narrow roads like what we have in bangalore!

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Extension of Metro Rail to Banashankari - Is this meaningful?

09/18/07 16:17 - Vasanth

Recently, on the BMRC website, they have posted a feasibility study of extension of Metro rail from RV Road to Banashankari Bus Station. Will this be helpful in anyway?

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No phone in car - two predictions

09/18/07 03:50 - silkboard

[flickr-photo:id=1400229180,size=s]Click on this ad Karnataka government put out in newspapers on Monday. The message is pretty loud and stern - if they find a phone on inside your car or two wheeler, your driving license will get canceled.

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