Latest news with #M.MaheshwarRao
The Hindu
4 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
BBMP bans PoP Ganesha idols, Plans over 40 immersion sites
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has stepped up to promote environmentally friendly celebrations of Gauri Ganesha festival by banning the use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols within city limits. At a preparatory meeting held in Malleswaram, BBMP Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao instructed officials to take strict action against the manufacture and sale of PoP idols. The BBMP will facilitate immersion at over 40 lakes and several designated immersion tanks across the city. Mr. Rao directed the officials to ensure safety arrangements at all sites, including barricading, lighting, trained swimmers, cranes, sanitation workers, and transport vehicles for waste management. In addition, temporary mobile immersion tanks will be set up at key locations and major junctions in each ward. A single-window clearance system will be implemented across 75 BBMP sub-divisions as an effort to streamline the permission process. This system will involve coordination between BBMP, police, Bescom, and fire and emergency services to expedite approvals.
The Hindu
30-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
BBMP chief orders expediting road widening works
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao directed officials to resolve issues related to Transferable Development Rights (TDR) concerning road widening projects and to expedite land acquisition for completing the ongoing infrastructure works. Mr. Rao instructed officials to hold discussions with property owners and resolve the disputes at the earliest. There are 16 ongoing road widening projects in the city, and work has been fully completed on two roads. He also directed officials to submit comprehensive information on how many properties have already been issued TDR, how many more need to be acquired, and the estimated expenditure required to complete the remaining acquisitions. The Chief Commissioner further instructed that a holistic approach be adopted for the development of traffic junctions to ensure smooth vehicular and pedestrian movement within a fixed time period. Further, Mr. Rao directed the officials to expedite high-density corridor (HDC) projects on the city's outer ring roads and ensure timely completion.
The Hindu
26-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Inner Ring Road street project revamps one of Bengaluru's busiest corridors with data-led, citizen-driven mobility improvements
The Bangalore Political Action Committee ( on Saturday unveiled the final report of the 'IRR Street: Standstill to Active' project, showcasing over two years of transformative interventions on the 7.5-km stretch of Bengaluru's Inner Ring Road (IRR), between Indiranagar KFC Junction and Madiwala Masjid in Koramangala. The transformation is part of a sustained citizen-government collaboration. The report, released by chief civic commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao, documents a series of critical changes aimed at easing traffic, enhancing pedestrian safety, improving bus services, and reclaiming public spaces along the congested corridor that connects neighbourhoods like Domlur, Ejipura, Koramangala, and Indiranagar. 'This initiative is much appreciated as it involved all key stakeholders. Walkability is the future of mobility in cities. BBMP is committed to supporting more such efforts across Bengaluru,' Mr. Rao said. According to the report, prior to intervention, the IRR corridor was plagued with congestion, missing footpaths, unlit stretches, poorly maintained stormwater drains, and inadequate bus frequency. A traffic analysis by showed peak-hour gridlocks extending up to 2.6 km, with over 24 congestion alerts daily. The road also suffered from five fatal crashes in 2023. 'Between June 2023 and July 2025, B. MOBILE team coordinated with BBMP, BMTC, Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), and BSWML. Their methodology involved on-ground audits, data collection, and impact-based implementation. This report is not just about fixing one street it's a replicable model for urban mobility reform,' said Revathy Ashok, Honorary CEO and Managing Trustee. The report states that the key transformations on the corridor include bus service enhancements where the BMTC's MF-5 fleet, running from SMVT to Silk Board, was ramped up from 17 to 26 buses, with daily trips rising from 169 to 227. In another initiative the road safety and crash blackspot fixes, six previously fatal junctions, including the TVS Showroom and Hero Honda Bus Stop, were transformed with raised pedestrian crossings, rumble strips, hazard boards, and warning signage. As a result, the number of fatalities dropped to zero between November 2024 and January 2025. Further under the initiative over 4,300 tonnes of construction debris, 130 barricades, and 129 tonnes of garbage were cleared from the footpaths and medians. BBMP electrified or added 45 new streetlights, reducing dark zones that had previously made walking at night dangerous, especially for women and children. Flood-prone areas like Sony World Junction and Domlur saw the construction of shoulder drains with kerb inlets recommended every 5 to 7 m. While several inlets remained clogged, BBMP was pushed to improve maintenance practices and install visible warning signage at open drains, the report states.
The Hindu
18-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Ad hoardings to make a comeback, BBMP expects to earn nearly ₹500 crore additional revenue this year
hoardings are all set to make a comeback in the city after it was banned in 2018. The civic body hopes to rake in an additional revenue of nearly ₹500 crore through advertisement fee that ranges between ₹50 and ₹90 a sq. ft of the hoarding, depending on the guidance value of land in the area. Hoardings will not be allowed around Vidhana Soudha. The State government on Thursday issued the final notification of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Advertisement) Bylaws - 2024, a new ad policy pending for years. The Draft of the bylaws was issued in July 2024, and a final notification has been issued with a few changes, incorporating objections that came for the draft. For instance, the draft bylaws listed road widths in feet, while the final notification lists it in metres. The draft said no advertisement, apart from self-advertisement, will be allowed on a road less than 60 ft wide. The advertisement fee was in the range of ₹40 and ₹110, which has now been revised to in the range of ₹50 and ₹90. The total horizontal length of hoardings at a circle has been revised from 60 ft to 120 ft, and the maximum height of a hoarding from the ground has been raised from 75 ft to 30 metres (over 98 ft). With the new ad policy coming into force, the stage is now set for the civic body to give out rights to put up advertisements in the city through an open auction/tender. Before that, the BBMP should divide the whole city into suitable stretches of roads, circles, and areas, where paid advertisements shall be permissible through a notification. Chief Civic Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said the civic body estimates to mop up additional revenue of about ₹400 to ₹500 crore through outdoor advertisement. The civic budget for 2025-26 estimates ₹750 crore revenue from the advertisement fee (as per new policy). However, the notification of road stretches, circles where advertisements will be allowed, and auction for advertising rights of the same will take time and this year, the revenue from this source will likely be lesser than what was estimated in the budget, sources said. The new advertisement bylaws for the first time allows advertising on private lands, lands owned by other agencies like Indian Railways, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) or bus stands of the KSRTC, and the BMTC, and public sector units. The revenue will be shared with the BBMP, the sources said. While the BBMP will auction advertising rights on road stretches, advertisers need to broker deals with individual property owners, including government agencies, to put up hoardings on them, and these property owners will have to pay additional property tax over the same. Restrictions The bylaws imposes several restrictions on outdoor advertising. For instance, it bans video advertising, imposes restrictions on neon lights, bans any advertising on trees, streetlights, electricity poles, on footpaths, abutting public roads, 50 ft from a traffic signal on all arms of the signal, 50 metres from any place of worship, etc. The bylaws also constitute an Advertisement Regulatory Committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department. The bylaws brings in several reforms, including making the entire process online. Each outdoor advertisement will have to carry a QR code which when scanned should provide all details of the advertisement and any violation will make it liable to be removed.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bengaluru ranks 36th among 44 Indian cities in Swachh Survekshan audit
Bengaluru has secured the 36th position out of 44 cities in the 'above 10 lakh population' category in the Swachh Survekshan 2024, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). In the previous year, the 'above 10 lakh' category was dropped. However, in 2022, Bengaluru had ranked 43rd among 45 participating cities in the same category. This year's result marks an improvement of eight positions compared to the 2022 ranking. In 2023, Bengaluru ranked 125th out of 446 cities in the 'above one lakh population' category. Top performers Gujarat's Ahmedabad topped the 'above 10 lakh' category with a score of 12,079, followed closely by Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) with 12,067 points and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) with 12,001. Bengaluru scored 6,842. In the 'Super Swachh League City' category, Mysuru secured 5th place. In the State-wise rankings, Bengaluru stood at 15th. Davangere emerged as the top-performing city in Karnataka with a score of 9,131, followed by Hubballi-Dharwad and Hosadurga. 'Room for improvement' BBMP Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao acknowledged that Bengaluru has room for improvement and expressed confidence in better results in the future. 'We have good plans for managing construction debris and solid waste, which will improve our standing in the next survey. We are currently transitioning to an Integrated Solid Waste Management system. Once that is in place, we will rank better,' Mr. Rao told The Hindu. However, activists say that Bengaluru should have done much better. 'Bengaluru is losing score in a few parameters consistently since the last three Swachh Survekshan audits, among which is waste processing,' V. Ramprasad, a civic activist, said. He said that Mysuru has improved substantially despite collecting less money from people when compared to Bengaluru. How is it calculated Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were assessed quarterly across four phases. They updated their Management Information System (MIS) monthly, which was validated through citizen feedback and reviewed by third-party assessors. Indicator-wise progress was documented and verified during the final survey in February 2025. The new Swachh Survekshan indicators focused on cleanliness, waste segregation, collection, processing, landfill and dumpsite management, wastewater treatment, reuse, and faecal sludge management. MoHUA conducted virtual sessions with States and ULBs to explain the methodology. Citizen engagement was vital, supported by digital, social, and traditional media campaigns to raise awareness and promote participation in the cleanliness mission.
