What can we do?

End of the writeup is an example of what the people in KR Puram want.

Slumdwellers are not considered people by the flat-dwellers....but they are the most suffering people on whose labour the flat folks can dwell...the urban poor in slums are also predominantly dalit...

and real development can only happen ony if the slumdwellers and dalits and ordinary people can get quality education , health care , housing and jobs.

This where our dear MLA comes in.

Does he even have an idea about what all this means. Does he know what his people want. He knows but he also knows what he wants. He is a real estate man and wants to expand his empire. Why should the feudal lord be worried about his slave ? How can you expect him to worry?

On one hand the new feudal lord formulates policies like : SEZ , PRIVATISATION of EDUCATION , PRIVATISATION of HALTH CARE ( all these are good for the english speaking - earning upper middle class - provides them more options - oh private health care - the upper middle class itself is crying - also its good for the urban feudal lord - as he owns all the choices ) but its disartorous for the oridnary person - as he is left to the TRICKLE DOWN from the earning upper middle class - for education - health and jobs - result : they either dont get educated - dont get health care - or forced to accept the philanthrophy of the soaftware engineers and real estate speculators - result : corruption - criminalisation in the rush to become - the enlish speaking elite of the city

SHAME on a country which makes development dependent on the philanthrophy of a few individuals.

Okay so whats the soultuion . Whats the use thundering in blogs . Whats the use thundering when the field is left to the BJP , Congress and the JD(S).

We have to work there .. how many voters meetings did we organise. How much of peoples real issues we understand . How much pain and suffering of the common man we know . I mean count the number of ordinary people who you are in touch with - to get them in to college this admission time . count the number of people who you have helped get health care - how much you consider hous maids - drivers - autorickshaw drivers - carpenters people ( If you are reading this on a computer you will be one of those who benefit out of globn - hence you have a responsibility )


Building peoples movement in the field is the only answer : a movement to campaign against communalism , caste , criminalisation .

Okay after voting today - lets think - what we can do - to work in K.R Puram( or in any other area) on a day to day basis throughout next year. Atelast we would have started something there. This could become a model. What are the most important peoples issues in KR Puram. What will give us entry. What are the needs ? If there is a small unit there ... then how can we stregthen it and so on.......

however elections - democracy - are all spaces - where peoples movements - can partner - to create better alternatives

thats the only hope for change.

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from : http://www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_documents/waterindiaslums.pdf

Profile - Nellorepuram slum is located in the KR Puram CMC, in the constituency of Varthur and constitutes Ward No 24. This is one of the oldest slums among the four studied and is about 50 years old. It is an authorized slum and is among the list of slums as declared by the Slum Board.

Water is supplied once a week for about 2 hours. It is mainly the women and children who fetch water. There are fights at the taps according to the children.

Lack of individual toilets and ill-maintenance of public toilets has let to many people using open spaces in and around the locality to relieve themselves. In terms of health facilities, there are no basic public health facilities in the locality; a private clinic is located in the northern part of the slum.

Nellorepuram has a population of about 2512 persons in about 500 houses.

As per feedback from FGDs carried out among women, youth and children,the families here are also migrants from Tamil nadu and Andhra Pradesh who have come mainly in search of jobs. There are Hindu, Muslim and Christian families living here predominantly SC ST and speaking mostly Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

The main occupation of men is carpentry and painting, mainly as temporary
workers in HAL and BMCL. Women are mostly engaged in domestic work or
are paurakarmikas at the CMC, while children work in hotels or garages.

Most families have a BPL ration card and Voter ID cards are commonlyowned. Most families are paying property tax.

Manjunathanagar has a population of about 2250 persons in about 450 houses.

Manjunath Nagar also contains mostly Hindu families with about 10 households each of Muslim and Christian families. Most families have migrated from other southern states and rural Bangalore for better prospects. Tamil, Telugu and Kannada are the main languages spoken with a few families speaking Marathi or Malayalam or Urdu.

Reddypalya has a population of about 2750 persons in about 550 houses.

The people in this slum are mainly migrants from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil

Nadu. The residents comprise mostly of Hindus and some Muslim and

Christian families. Tamil, telugu and kannada are the predominantly spoken

languages. The residents mostly belong to scheduled castes, but there are

some lingayats and gowdas as well.

The main occupation of the men is driving, carpentry, vegetable vending and

construction work, and also as drivers (auto/taxi) while women are mostly domestic workers or working in garment factories. The children work in garages or help with painting work.

There is a high level of ownership or BPL ration cards and voter ID cardsamong the residents of Reddypalya and most of them pay property taxes too.

Sanjayanagar has a population of about 1875 persons in about 375 houses.

Most of the households comprise of migrant families.

As per information received from FGDs carried out among the men, women and children in the locality, residents are a mix of religions including Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Among the Hindus, the main castes include SCs and STs speaking Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam and Urdu; other castes include Reddys and Brahmans.

Main occupations followed by its residents include men working as painters,

construction labourers, Class IV employees in HAL, plumbers, cobblers and

factory workers; mostly working as daily wage earners. Among women it is

mostly working as housemaids in the nearby localities, flower vendors,

workers in garment factories and also rolling agarbattis not only for the

factory in the slum but for other factories as well.

Women quarelled with BJP leaders over election wages!!

Women are not far behind in the campaign. But there was big fight among women who had come for campaigning for BJP in KR Puram. THe local leaders though of giving the election wages(!) after 8.30 pm. But having spent more than 10 hours, women quarelled with local leaders that they should be given with their wages, since they have to go home and cook.

BJP & Congress cadres earn more than Techies in KR Puram!!!

Believe it or not, BJP and Congress cadres earn more than software techies in KR Puram campaign. Minimum daily wages for campaigning through out the election period is Rs. 1000/- per head per day with biryani for a lunch and heavy dinner with liquor. Unemployed youth found very happy on the wages they have been getting and are unhappy that election is going to be over soon!!

Now people get Rs. 200/- to 500/- per vote!!

Former Minister cannot match BJP realtor in spending!!!

In KR Puram, the Councillors of the BJP have been distributing Rs. 500/- per head for casting vote to Nandish Reddy. Congress local leaders are distributing Rs. 300/- per head!
Curious thing is in some pockets of KR Puram few drunkards have told CPI(M) contestant Smt. Gowramma not to visit them empy-handed and waste their time, since other parties have paid them well!!

Has Election Commission really curbed the expenses?

People really laugh if you pose this question to them. Atleast they are happy that candidates are spending all the money as contribution to them. Earlier, contested candidates used to spend more on publicity materials, sound system, public rallies, etc. But having put an end to all these expenses by the EC, now the candidates are distributing the same money to people to lure them.

Even the candidates feel it is easier to carry money and distribute, instead of organizing for publicity materials, sound system, public rallies, etc.!!!

The adventurous bus stands - K R Puram

Submitted by silkboard on 3 April 2008 - 11:56pm.
Bangalore
BMTC
Public Transport
There are a few of these special bus stands these days that exist right before a flyover or an underpass. Just as the road forks and grade separation begins, you find some crowd. Buses usually stops to block traffic heading towards the underpass or flyover. And pedestrians either have to run across flowing traffic, or wait in the middle of traffic to catch buses. Needless to say, you get a lot of 'almost' hit-and-run and screeching halt situations.
Examples? A very crowded one near K R Puram station (like in this pic here). One just before Jayadeva Circle underpass. One or two near Dairy Circle flyover as well. You would know a few more.

Chaos near cable-stayed bridge

Rasheed Kappan
From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., traffic comes to a halt
A resident says
When I was young, we used to play football on this road
Traffic has grown by almost 20 times and people now spend half a litre of petrol to cross the road

TRAFFIC CONGESTION: Vehicles caught in traffic on Old Madras Road near K.R. Puram in Bangalore.
BANGALORE: The cable-stayed bridge was once touted as the ultimate panacea for all traffic woes of K.R. Puram, a critical, crowded, chaotic entry point to the city from the Eastern side. For its architects, the bridge was a marvel engineered to perfection. Yet today, the bridge has emerged as problem number one for many road users, caught in traffic jams triggered by vehicular growth and the structure’s poor planning.
The irony was stark and clear. K.R. Puram residents, who, for decades, had to just cut across the Old Madras Road to be on the other side, have found the bridge to be an insurmountable obstruction. Vehicle users are now forced to ride/drive nearly two kilometres to take a “U” turn, an exercise that unduly increases their fuel bills.
Too narrow for heavy vehicles, the roads on either side of the bridge are now mostly jammed. Chaos reigns during peak hours. Trucks, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and private buses, call centre taxis and private vehicles of every hue, cram into every available inch on the narrow track under the bridge. Yet, the bridge mostly attracts only the traffic moving onto the highway to Kolar and beyond.
Retired ITI employee Madaiah had seen and experienced the traffic transition. “When I was young, we used to play football on this road. But in the last three years, traffic has grown by almost 20 times. I cannot see any use from this bridge. People spend about half a litre of petrol just to cross the road. There are simply no underpasses for vehicles to cross,” he complained.
From about 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., traffic on Old Madras Road virtually comes to a halt. “With vehicles of employees of information technology and business process outsourcing firms moving in and out of the ITPL-Whitefield area and joining trucks getting out of the Outer Ring Road, you can imagine the chaos,” observed autorickshaw driver Ganesh. He too was convinced that the bridge had taken too much of the road space.
The only point where the bridge makes some sense is where it flies over the K.R. Puram Railway Station. But this is exactly the spot where railway passengers wait to board autorickshaws and other modes of transport to reach home. They are forced to brave the heavy traffic of trucks and buses here because this is the only vehicular passage under the bridge. “Traffic jams are frequent here. It gets maddening in the morning when many trains arrive and the passengers alight in hordes,” said Ganesh who has seen that happen time and again. For residents of Byappanahalli and adjoining areas, a trip to Mahadevapura and Whitefield had almost become unthinkable because of the traffic bottlenecks at the bridge and the Bennigenahalli railway underpass, said M.F. Jose, Secretary, New Byappanahalli Residents Welfare Association.
It was clear that most road users had wanted a flyover perched atop pillars, and not a bridge that sliced through the area. “If they had built a flyover with many crossings such as the one in K.R. Puram, it would have been much better,” felt 70-year-old Mohammed Yousuf, who had lived 20 years beside the Old Madras Road.
If the bridge seemed like a colossal waste of resources, the railway under-bridge ahead stood as a virtual traffic stopper. This bottleneck slowed traffic movement to a trickle. “It is a daily hell for us here,” said N. Ranganathan, who moved into a nearby apartment six months ago. He had just braved the heavy traffic to cross the road, an ordeal that showed on his tired face.
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