Articles by Srinivas Alavilli

The Honourable Chief Minister Shri H D Kumaraswamy has responded to the citizens’ protest on March 16th demanding public consultations and #TenderRadduMaadi. This represented the interests of a large number of people, including over 60 organisations. His response was both swift and spontaneous, and at very short notice, he met with citizen representatives. He patiently listened to various points of view at the meeting and offered his own comments in the discussion with Leo Saldanha of ESG, Prof Ashish Verma of IISc, Prakash Belawadi, Naresh Narasimhan, Vinay Sreenivasa of Bengaluru Bus Prayaneekara Vedike (BBPV), Zibi Jamal of Whitefield Rising, and…

"Two years ago", all of us came together to oppose the steel flyover that threatened to ruin our city. Your support in the form of physical presence at human chain and resolutions passed in your organization played a critical role in successfully stopping that. Now we have a much bigger battle ahead of us as the 100kms elevated corridor looms upon us. The old steel flyover is also part of it in the concrete avatar! We need to come together once again and we request your help. As you might know, we were expecting a notice for public consultation ever…

In a symbolic gesture, more than 300 residents of all age groups and from all corners of Bengaluru assembled this morning to inaugurate an initiative: #ಮರಹತ್ಯೆತಡೆಯೋಜನೆ (MaraHatyeThadeYojane (Project Stop tree felling)) Srinivas Alavilli, co founder of Citizens for Bengaluru said “This yojane is in response to the marking Of 144 trees on Bellary Road by KRDCL. KRDCL seems to be making preparations for cutting these trees for elevated corridor project. However, environmental impact assessment(EIA) has not been done and environmental clearance has not been granted for this project. Due process was not followed and public consultation not held in violation…

This article was written by Nagesh Bharadwaj, Secretary of Federation Of Associations of Basapura (FAB) and an active resident of Concorde Midway City Apartments. FAB is an apex body for various apartment associations and RWAs in Basapura of Ward 192. Bruhat Banguluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has 198 wards. One of them is Ward 192 — Begur ward. Each ward is supposed to have Ward Committee (WC) meetings. The Chairman of the WC is the Corporator and the Secretary is the Assistant Engineer (AE) of the ward. The WC has other members including some reserved for the citizens. The WC is…

A delegation of representatives from various civic and environmental groups in the city met the Member Secretary of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) at the MS Building earlier today and cautioned the SEIAA that the elevated corridor project violates several provisions of the law and reposed trust that the state environmental agency will act in public and environmental interest and stand up to political pressure. The letter submitted by the collective brings the following to the notice of SEIAA The elevated corridor project violates the KTCP (Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act) and hence cannot be reviewed by SEIAA…

As the year draws to a close, I can’t resist recollecting the valiant efforts put in by CfB volunteers this year. Your passion and sustained selfless efforts helped make our city a little better. Our work is hard and results are not easy to come by and yet you stuck around, spending enormous time and energy that you could have used for many other things. I’m sure your friends and family think you are a gone case when you disappear for meetings on a Wednesday or send post cards like a maniac! But they do understand and appreciate what you…

There is a huge difference between perception and reality. There is a certain image built about politicians and IAS officers that gets amplified by social media posts - usually a reaction to some headline, a quote, an incident that triggers outrage. But when you actually try and engage and work with politicians and officers, you will find many of them to be sincere, knowledgeable and passionate about their job and committed to positive change in their own ways. We don't talk about it much but many of us know, this is true. The wheels of the city move forward despite…

We are all frustrated about lack of urban governance - garbage, pot holes, flooding, dengue, traffic, we bear the brunt of it all, day in and day out. Almost every week there is a protest some place or other, a human chain, a petition, signature campaigns. WhatsApp groups are born every day for some cause or other. Citizens go to MLAs, MPs, Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, anyone willing to listen to their complaints. Media events like 'Jana Spandana' are housefull with lots of people waiting to air their grievances. But all these - local issues - are supposed to…

Two years ago on this day 8000 Bengalureans formed a human chain saying #SteelFlyoverBeda. The unprecedented public opposition forced the government to scrap the controversial 6.7 km ₹2000 crore steel flyover. CfB was born out of this citizen movement. To mark the second anniversary of citizens coming together, today CfB met the Mayor of Bengaluru and urged her to institute monthly ward committee meetings starting Nov 1st. Attached the letter submitted to the Mayor. Srinivas Alavilli, one of the founders of CfB said “I always look at #SteelFlyoverBeda as a tipping point - that infused fresh energy into citizen activism…

Thanks to the Chief Minister, (the proposed 18%) bus fare hike has been put on hold, temporarily, we are told. This is good news but not good enough. Increasing bus fares is the absolutely last thing we need in our city. It is true that diesel prices have gone up and the transport company (BMTC) needs to deal with that, but I appeal to the CM to find the money to actually reduce the fares for the following reasons. BMTC is the lifeline of Bengaluru. We have 60 lakh two-wheelers, 15 lakh cars but just 6500 buses and they carry…