For sometime now, Hasiru Usiru, a group of individuals and NG0's, has been concerned at the way in which BBMP is going about addressing Bangalore's traffic congestion. At issue has been the manner in which the ‘Empowered Committee For Sustainable Development of Bangalore’ has been working and it's compliance with the Town and Country Planning Act. (See earlier article.)

In the meantime, on the premise of permissions granted by the comittee, the BBMP has been going ahead with indiscriminate tree-felling in the name of road-widening. Hasiru Usiru (HU) members have been trying to prove that alternative solutions exist, that will not mar the character and beauty of Bangalore, spoil its greenery and make a wasteland of roads with no trees or shade, and preserve the rights of people other than motorists to use the roads and footpaths: the elderly, children, the disabled, the pedestrians, the cyclists.

People signing the petition at the "Namma Raste" walk. Pic: Deepa Mohan.

To draw attention to the fact that all these residents of Bangalore also want to lay claim to their roads, Hasiru Usiru organized the Namma Raste, Namma Ooru (Our roads, Our city) walk on Sunday, 9th November.

After much deliberation, it was decided that since a part of Lalbagh itself was under threat, this beautiful common space of Bangalore would be the starting point of the walk. The walk would culminate at Puttana Chetty Town Hall. A petition would be circulated, during this time, for all concerned citizens to sign, which would later would be submitted to the Chief Minister.

Earlier, Hasiru Usiru (HU) volunteers met at the office of Environment Support Group, one of the NGO's who form part of the HU network, and chalked out various strategies to get more people aware of both the walk and its significance. Several volunteers met children and teachers in schools; some spoke to Residents' Welfare Associations; a few addressed shopkeepers on some of the 141 roads that have been identified for widening by the BBMP.

Flyers and posters advertising the event were designed and printed, and several volunteers handed them to morning and evening walkers at Lalbagh and other parks, as well. Many volunteers gathered at the ESG office on the evening prior to the walk, and painted placards highlighting the issues that citizens are facing.

Leo Saldanha of ESG addressed a Press Conference on 5th November. He said that road-widening and Metro projects were causing extensive damage to the city, destroying in the process lives, livelihoods and thousands of trees. This walk was also to demand an inclusive planning process in shaping our city and ensuring that short-sighted, elite-induced infrastructure development does not cause irreversible damage to the city and ruin the lives of thousands.

Printed copies of the Court Order, ordering BBMP to involve Hasiru Usiru in the decision-making process, were handed to the media, to further help create awareness of the public about their rights.

The walk

Wheelchair participant in "Namma Raste" walk. Pic: Deepa Mohan.

On the 9th November, it was heartening to see people slowly streaming in and collecting at Lalbagh West Gate. A pile of prepared placards and signs were kept ready for each person to pick up; but many people had made their own and brought them along, too. Several large banners were also held up.

When, finally, around 11.30 AM, the actual walk began, the crowd was sizeable, and between 800-1000 by some estimates. There was police deployment on the route, to see to it that neither the walkers nor the traffic was put to difficulty. It was a matter of pride that the walk did not cause the kind of traffic holdup that political meetings normally result in.

Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA, Gandhi Nagar constituency, spoke to the walkers at Lalbagh prior to the walk, and stressed both his support for the citizens' initiative, and the necessity for the involvement of the citizens.

The people participating in the walk belonged to many different denominations; children, elders, students, cyclists, shopkeepers, housewives, executives...all of them with a common concern for retaining the beauty and greenery of Bangalore while going ahead with its development.

Many TV channels and media personnel also covered the event, but as Pavitra Jayaraman, reporter of Mint said, "We are also here as concerned members of the public, not just to cover the event." As if to substantiate this statement, they all walked along the entire route with the members of the public. The petition papers were circulated and people signed their names to it eagerly.

Citizen Mallesh led several members in chanting slogans during the walk, and several songs were also sung! Everyone got into the spirit of the walk, and chanted the slogans whole-heartedly. Hasire ...Usiru! Beku, beku...nyaya beku! went the slogans, as the procession wound its way towards Town Hall.

At the Town Hall, people arranged themselves on the steps, and in an orderly fashion, displayed the various banners and placards that had been made. Several of them were eye-catching; some talked of the legal aspect; several made emotional statements and suggestions too. It was obvious that the walkers cared enough about their city to worry about losing their greenery and their rights as users of the roads and footpaths.

A group of cyclists, young and old; one gentleman in a wheelchair; a shopkeeper on Avenue Road who was distributing sweets to his fellow-citizens; other people who pitched in with water and fruit for the hot and thirsty walkers...it was indeed an uplifting sight to see that many people of Bangalore are not apathetic to what happens to their city.

Pramila Nisargi, lawyer and BJP-member, speaking at Town Hall after the walk. Leo Saldanha of ESG on her right. Pic: Deepa Mohan.

Premila Nesargi, lawyer and BJP-member, spoke at length to the people, pledging her support to the initiative started by Hasiru Usiru. She, too, made an emotional appeal about the necessity of preserving the beauty and greenery of Bangalore while going ahead with development.

Rajeev Gowda, who is a professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, also spoke on the occasion, stressing the need for citizens to be engaged in the process of the city's development and not feel alienated from it. Kathyayini Chamaraj of CIVIC also addressed the gathering and spoke impassionedly about the need to preserve the old while developing the new. Leo Saldanha of ESG mentioned that on the 29th November, HU would meet again at Town Hall; plans were being formalised to take the initiative further, and ensure that the BBMP included the citizens' forum in the decision making process.

The gathering slowly broke up, quietly and peacefully, and the Bangaloreans went back to their weekend occupations, hopeful that their voices are being heard, and that Bangalore will be a city which will not sacrifice the needs of several of its citizens and sections of society, for improving motorised transport alone. ⊕

Deepa Mohan is a freelance writer who fell in love with Bangalore when first she moved from Chennai, and has been both enthused and worried over the rapidly changing city. She is also a Bangalore metroblogger.

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