Almost a year has passed since the city was witness to a spontaneous opposition to the ill-fated proposed steel flyover on Ballari Road. As the movement gathered steam, it gave birth to the #SteelFlyoverBeda campaign. To mark their success, citizens involved in the campaign are coming together again on October 15 with a #BekuBedaSanthe to frame a citizen's charter for Bengaluru, ahead of the Assembly polls.
October 16, 2016 saw a human chain being formed along the proposed alignment of the steel flyover, which marked the beginning of a citizen’s movement. In March 2017, citizens claimed victory when the State government scrapped the project.
Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), a group of activists that emerged out of these protests, went on to demand better public transport with the #ChukkuBukkuBeku campaign. That, too, was a success.
“We opposed the steel flyover not just as a project, but the mindset and direction of infrastructure solutions for the city. Demand for suburban rail was a natural corollary,” said Srinivas Alavilli, CfB.
Based on their experiences, citizens hope that the #BekuBedaSanthe will have the potential to chart the city’s future. The Santhe, initiated by CfB and co-hosted by a diverse set of citizen groups, will be a day-long event which, for the first time, will bring together diverse citizens’ groups in the RWA movement who are working towards public transport, mobility, solid waste management, for slum-dwellers and the urban poor, and urban planning. They aim to put down demands for both Beku (Dos) and Beda (Don’ts) in their sectors. This list of Dos and Don’ts for the city's political class will be compiled as a citizen’s charter.
Care is being taken to ensure that the resultant charter is inclusive. “After the steel flyover fiasco, the list of Don’ts has also become important,” Mr. Alavilli said.
Once the charter is drawn up, citizens’ groups intend to make it a talking point during the campaign for the 2018 Assembly polls where political parties will be asked to take a stand on various issues. Activists hope to hold politicians accountable when they come to power.
Successes of Beku-Beda last year
#SteelFlyoverBeda: State government scrapped the ₹2,000 crore project on Ballari Road, which leads to the airport
#ChukkuBukkuBeku: Work on suburban rail network has begun, with the State government and Indian Railways sharing the cost
Areas of focus at #BekuBedaSanthe
Mobility
Water
Garbage
Traffic
Safety
Planning
Sustainability
Urban governance
Rights of the underprivileged
