MyCityMyBudget: Focus on parks, footpaths and public toilets
The Hindu
What do citizens want from the civic body? Better roads and pedestrian infrastructure? More green spaces? Now’s the time to get your voice across.
Ahead of the upcoming civic budget, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Janaagraha launched the ‘MyCityMyBudget-Nanna Nagara Nanna Budget’ on Wednesday.
This year, the MyCityMyBudget campaign will focus on collecting budget inputs from citizens, with a special focus on parks, footpaths and public toilets, stated a press release. The budget bus will travel across the city and collect inputs from people in different neighbourhoods till March 15. Citizens can submit their budget inputs online by visiting www.mycitymybudget.in.
After flagging off the campaign and the budget bus, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said that Begnaluru is far more participatory when compared to other cities. Janaagraha will collate all the inputs received, analyse and provide the report to BBMP for incorporation in the upcoming city budget.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”
The festival in Bengaluru is happening at various locations, including ATREE in Jakkur, Bangalore Creative Circus in Yeshwantpur, Courtyard Koota in Kengeri, and Medai the Stage in Koramangala. The festival will also take place in various cities across Karnataka including Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Mandya, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davangere, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru.