A blessing or a curse?

psaram42 - 4-JUN-2010

 The Global Investors Meet (GIM) which concluded on Friday the 4^th June 2010, has thrown up a new monitory scale of lakh crore. With the all too common inflation this is no surprise. It can expand to infinity. The Tata nano has started its production line, when there is no parking space in metros like New Delhi, Bangalore etc.  Unfortunately the space on the planet earth is limited however much we wish it is not true.

Real Facts about GIM

vinay_sreenivasa - 2-JUN-2010

OPPOSE AUCTION OF KARNATAKA

Demand People Friendly & Environment Friendly Development

The Chief Minister of Karnataka has announced that the 2 day Global Investors Meet in Bangalore will bring 3 lakh crores of investment as well as around 3 lakh new jobs. The promise of 3 lakh jobs to be created by the GIM and the prosperity it will bring to Karnataka does not appear to be true. Read below to find out the real costs and real facts of the GIM.

False Promise of Investment and Job Creation

Signal Free Corridor projects - need scrutiny (updated)

silkboard - 1-JUN-2010

Vinay S, an active member at Hasiru Usiru has obtained detailed information from BBMP on upcoming signal free corridor projects. Many people think that the project(s) need some serious scrutiny for the returns they promise on investments. Its one thing to make a relatively new road like Outer ring road into a signal free corridor, and another to talk about turning more than half dozen radial roads signal free without a clear plan for each and every interesction that lies on the way, or more important, without commensurate or alternate investments on public transport (like priority lanes for Big10 routes). Many feel that without such clarity, these corridor projects may end up being "bottleneck shifting" or "more parking space for free" projects.

Vinay has promised to mail over all documents he has obtained (will upload them here as soon as I get hold of them). We may need to scan and upload some sketches as well.

Are trees needed in this city?

srinidhi - 27-MAY-2010

 Very unfortunate but many in this city seems to hate trees now, trees get bad press when they fall during rains and storms. We like the shade they give, especially during hot summers, but also curse them for the jams created after a storm..fallen branches etc..

BBMP has gone to the extent that they have planted signs below the trees on Chord Road: “Warning! There is a chance of trees and branches falling during the rain. So drive cautiously.”

We, without understanding these trees are out to blame them for the damage they cause. So why do branches fall off trees? There are a few reasons as below:

1. A Weak Branch Union occurs when a branch and stem (or two or more co-dominant stems) grow so closely together that bark grows between them, inside the tree. The term for bark growing inside the tree is “included bark.” As more and more bark is included inside the tree, the weak union is formed that is more likely to fail.

Delhi/Mumbai get wider spans...not Blr why?

srinidhi - 19-MAY-2010

 To expedite the process and make it more cost effective, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is making use of gigantic 25 metre-long girders to join spans on elevated stretch of the section.

‘‘The cost of construction with the existing 3-meter spans works out to Rs 24 crore per km, while the 25-meter ones cost Rs 19 crore per km. So using the bigger spans will result in a saving of nearly Rs 5 crore per km,’’ said a DMRC official.

It  looks like this..

The bigger spans work out to be more economical and also speed up pace of the construction. Officials said it takes about a week to join the space between two pillars using segmental construction while the bigger spans can be put in place in just one day.

Right to response in English

murali772 - 17-MAY-2010

From over a year now, the responses from GoK officials to queries under RTI, are being made out only in Kannada, even when raised in English, and even when specifically requested to respond in English.

Now, though I can speak Kannada fairly fluently; I can't read or write the language (Questions as to why people like me haven't bothered to learn to read and write the language can be the subject of another blog; but, please do not bring it up here). However, even true-blue Kannadiga's, to whom I have been referring these official responses, have been having difficulty figuring out the specific nuances pertaining to the issues involved.

As such, I feel this is a strategy being adopted by the babu's largely to obfuscate and prevaricate on issues. And, it is certainly having its effects - like from over a year, I have not filed a single query, though I used to be quite a regular before.

In the light of all these, on the 1st of this year, I filed a query as under:

Future of Capitalism

murali772 - 7-MAY-2010

''The public trust in business and its leaders has never been lower. To restore trust, it is time for business leaders to embrace their own version of the doctor’s Hippocratic Oath, which shapes a common understanding of the role of business in society and the conduct expected of business leaders,'' wrote Nitin Nohria ( who has been named to take over as the Dean of the prestigious Harvard Business School) recently after critiquing the failure of leadership in the recent economic and corporate turmoil.

''Developing, adopting, and institutionalizing such an oath is not going to be easy. But there is no better or more important moment to try—because at stake is the very legitimacy of business leaders and the future of capitalism,'' he warned. His passion for the idea led to HBS students adopting a voluntary MBA oath.

For the full report in the TOI, click here

Building bye laws

psaram42 - 26-APR-2010

 The comprehensive Building bye laws of 2003 available as a pdf document  is impressive which tries to set the rules in a professional way for preserving heritage Bangalore. However the BJP government thought in its wisdom that it is very stringent and some minor deviations are in the public interest. I built my house in 1986 fully complaint to the set backs specified, and some thing more than specified and built a duplex building exclusively for one family. However I built a toilet at a corner outside which was not as per the rule book. However such akramas are now Sakrama. This according to me is a step in the forward direction. 

"Water and a City" - discussions following the screening

murali772 - 26-APR-2010

The movie brought out the scenario fairly well, but which most on Praja are quite aware of.

During the discussions that followed, I brought up the matter of the reported 40% odd losses, largely on account of the inefficiencies/ mismanagement in distribution (compared to less than 10% in an efficient system), and followed it up with a suggestion "if the kind of contract entered into between Mysore City Corporation and JUSCO, was not the way to address the issue?".

Prof Mohan Kumar (Civil Engg Dept, IISc) responded saying a study/ survey had been conducted by L&T and Anglian Waters (or, one of the other foreign players - I am not quite sure which) a few years back covering some parts of Bangalore (I thought I heard the name Fraser Town mentioned) at a cost of Rs 32 crores - did he mention World Bank funded?. He did not mention if any work was actually undertaken. But, went on to add that it raised all kinds of technical issues, like "how do you replace the pipes in an area like Avenue road, etc?"

Electricity distribution and Pruning of road side trees

psaram42 - 23-APR-2010

 During rainy season the road side trees are usually in the news. The whirlwinds are the culprits in up rooting of many trees.  The pruning of the road side trees is another chore that the BBMP has to do due to the over head domestic electricity distribution system currently being followed in the city.