Towards a more aware Elections 2004

“Behold this and always love it! It is very sacred, and you must treat it as such...”
—Sioux Indian

Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the cause of improving the quality of governance in India. PAC’s focus is primarily on areas in which the public can play a proactive role in improving governance. PAC undertakes and supports research on public policy and services, disseminates research findings, facilitates citizen action, support for collective action and provides advisory services to state and non-state agencies.

PAC’s Board of Directors consists of nine eminent and experienced women and men from different walks of life and different parts of the country. Dr Samuel Paul, formerly Director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is Chairman of the Board. Dr Kamla Chowdhry, Trustee, National Foundation for India; Prof. K.R.S. Murthy, formerly Director, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; Mr Manubhai Shah, Managing Trustee, Consumer Education and Research Centre; Mr M.R. Jaishankar, Managing Director, Brigade Group; Mr P.P. Madappa, formerly Managing Director, Karnataka Antibiotics Ltd; Dr P.V. Shenoi, formerly Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore; Dr A. Ravindra, formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka; and Ms. Mirai Chatterjee, Coordinator of Social Security at the Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Ahmedabad.

The three campaigns that are being run by the PAC to increase awareness about elections and voting are:

1. Creating a voter’s list as part of the Summary Revision Awareness Campaign 2003. This is being sent to the Chief Election Commissioner.
2. A radio campaign to urge citizens to check their names on the voter’s list.
3. A “Campaign for Free, Fair and Informed Elections to the 14th Lok Sabha”.
   
   

For more information on PAC and their initiatives,
visit: http://www.pacindia.org
or write to them at:
Public Affairs Centre
422, 80 Feet Road,
VI Block, Koramangala
Bangalore 560 095

This budget’s focus is on infrastructure

The BCC’s budget for 2004-2005 was presented recently. The infrastructure projects ranked high and some new ones are on the anvil. Excerpts from an interview with the BCC Commissioner, M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy, on what’s special about this budget...

A better quality of life is given due attention in this budget
Streamlining traffic, resurfacing existing roads, laying 1,000 kms of new roads, improving 500 kms of sidewalks, building flyovers, grade separators, subways and taking care of approach roads to Bangalore that are outside the BCC’s jurisdiction. We are keen on providing street lights and street furniture on arterial roads of Bangalore. We will continue the works on rejuvenating parks and lakes in the city. We will set up citizen centres in all the wards and also refurbish the existing BCC offices across the city.

This budget is totally development-oriented
It focuses on infrastructure, improvement of amenities and upgradation of basic services of the citizens of Bangalore.

Last year’s performance
We implemented all our promises. Side-walks, roads, parks, lakes, flyovers…its all happening. Development is a continuous process, and we will strive for it.

-Excerpted from Times Property Bangalore, 27 February

A conversation with BWSSB Chairman Shri Vidyashankar, IAS

Shri M.N. Vidyashankar, Chairman, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, graduated from Delhi School of Economics and has an MBA from Harvard University. Joining the Indian Administrative Service in 1982, he has served in different departments in the State Government and also in the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances, Government of India.

He spoke to Jaishankar on the many aspects of the present water situation in Bangalore:

Water supply:
We are in a position to meet all the water requirements of the city. Today we are pumping about 800 million litres of water per day to the city.

Currently, the total water demand is of the order of 970-980 Mld (a million litres per day). We are, as of now, supplying 860 Mld. The reason for the gap in supply and demand is due to the fact that some areas in the east and south that have been added to Bangalore City don’t have the network to take our water. We are now networking all these areas too. 5900 borewells in the city have been added for use until the network is ready. Plus new tankers are also being hired to make water available in the city.

Future requirements of water in Bangalore city:
With the commission of Cauvery Stage 4 Phase 2, we should be able to pump an additional 500 Mld, making it 1500 Mld of water to the city by 2009-2010.

Today, Bangalore’s population is in the neighbourhood of 6 million. We expect the population to be about 8.3 million by 2025.
Our total water requirement by 2025 will increase to 2000 Mld, as per a high growth scenario in Bangalore City.


Non-potable water in the city:
The supply of non-potable water will be at reduced rates. For example, the current industrial rate is Rs 60 per litre. Today we are selling non-potable water at Rs 19 a litre.

Tertiary Treated water:
We are focusing in a very big way on Tertiary Treated water. We also have two of the biggest Tertiary Treatment Plants in the country—one in Yelahanka and the second at Vrishabhavati valley.

We are thinking of building two more plants (capacity of 60 Mld) behind Koramangala and the Airport.

In due course, Tertiary Treated water be will be available throughout Bangalore. Networks for central Bangalore will be very difficult because we have no space for laying any of our pipes. But we are certainly thinking of covering it in all the industrial areas because the industrial water requirement is going to be very huge.

Our request would be for industries to have a two-pipeline facility. Tertiary Treated water is very clean. It can actually match bottled water available in the city.
Also, for entire home requirements like washing clothes, utensils, cars, gardening, etc., (excluding cooking and consumption.) Tertiary Treated water is very good.

Reducing water leakage:
Water leakage is inevitable. The internationally accepted norm is about 20%. We can reduce leakage even below 20% but the cost of reducing leakage will be very high, much more than the amount of water we lose.
Currently, the water leakage in Bangalore is about 30%.

We have already started a very ambitious programme to reduce water leakage in Bangalore city. With the help of Japan Bank for International Co-operation, the pilot project started in June 2003. It covers about 40,000 connections in the city, supplying water 7 days a week. And this will be ready for the entire city by September this year. We are the first city in the country to execute the 7-day water supply and leakage reduction systems.

The 7-day water supply will be operational by December 2005 or January 2006 for the entire city.

Increase in sewage handling:
Currently we have the capacity to handle 420 million litres of sewerage. Now Stage 4 Phase 2 will bring an additional 400 Mld, which means our total sewage handling by 2009/10 could be in the order of 1000 million litres per day.

Water conservation:
All new houses constructed exceeding 2000 sft need necessarily have rooftop harvesting. Both the BDA and the BMP have amended their building bye-laws.

At the present levels of precipitation rainwater can take care of 100 days of water requirement of the city!

Rainwater harvesting is for consumption as well as for ground water recharge. In fact, there are open wells in Bangalore that are fed by rooftop harvesting and the water table even in the peak of summer is very good.

I know that Brigade Group is planning two such large open wells in their enclaves, setting a trend for the city, which I hope will continue.

Words of advice to citizens of Bangalore:
Please conserve water, because it is a very finite resource. It is renewable, but still finite.