Rishvanjas Rishi Raghavan

🚨HISTORIC ! The union government is finally showing signs of upcoming Municipal Reforms. NITI AAYOG has recently published a detailed report titled “Moving towards effective city government framework”. It proposes radical reforms in our urban local governments to streamline daily functioning, ensure seamless public service delivery and most importantly establish local accountability. The report recommends: -> Directly-elected mayors with fixed terms & executive authority. -> Integration of core urban services under city governments that currently report to the state departments. -> Greater financial autonomy & regular fund distribution. This is the first ever instance where the union government has officially talked about reforms in urban governance and decentralization of power. If implemented, this will radically change how India functions. -> The cities will finally get more autonomy and executive authority for performing at their max potential. -> City authority will be handed over from state-appointed Officials to democratically elected Mayors, marking a radical change in Indian politics. -> All parastatal bodies will be unified under one city government under a Mayor, making them directly accountable to the people. However, convincing the power-hungry state governments to devolve powers at the local level will still be a massive challenge for the union government. Some states will comply first, others may hesitate. But, the truth is - India needs Municipal Reforms ASAP. We hope @NITIAayog and @narendramodi make it happen soon enough before it's too late and people hit the streets if things continue as they are today.

MLAs across parties shamelessly demanded VIP passes for IPL games inside an Assembly session funded by taxpayer money. They didn’t learn from last year, when VIP photo-ops and mismanagement cost lives. They continue to delay local elections, spend city budgets without transparency, and leave Bengaluru with neglected roads, garbage, flooding, traffic, and broken civic systems. So while we @NammaBNP keep fighting to fix these issues, let’s give them what they really want: A VIP ticket to watch citizens suffer.

They asked for VIP passes. So we made them one. A special VIP ticket for the MLAs whose demands cost Bengaluru a home IPL final. Now share this and let it reach them. 🎟️🔥

Bengaluru's garbage contractors haven't been paid since January. Diesel prices up. Minimum wages hiked 60%. Payment rates frozen. As a result, sanitation workers quitting. Collections becoming irregular. City on the edge of a waste shutdown. This is what the 'small contractor + civic body' model looks like in practice.Chronically underpaid, financially unviable, one diesel hike away from collapse. No long-term contracts. No capex roadmap. Just survival mode. A ₹39,000 crore scaled operator with financial accountability, fixed SLAs and a long-term horizon is a good model

@DanishSait Only RCB can make you take out the calculator even when they’ve qualified and are sitting at #1 on the points table

I do not have understand how much we need? I’m so confused. Rcb peeps, please tell.

Gen Z, appreciate your energy and interest. Stop wasting your unmatched energy on national noise. Redirect the curiousity, interest in system where it actually changes your daily life, right in your municipality, panchayat and revenue offices. Demand pothole-free roads, working street lights, zero corruption, and crime-free localities in your own backyard. Show up at ward meetings. Question your corporator, MLA, sarpanch. Voice out like your street depends on it.

@bykarthikreddy CANNOT AGREE MORE!

And what’s the solution? Maybe for another thread. I spent 2 years of my Masters in Public Policy thesis on this subject, so I could probably write a book. But until then, I’ve written some articles, done podcasts. DM if you’re interested, happy to share links!

The court will likely permit it The deadline will shift from Aug 31st to Nov 30th. We’ll once again be told to wait for basic civic governance. And the familiar pattern continues. So remember this thread. And come back to tell me I was wrong!

SAVE THIS TWEET. And come back on July 31st to tell me I was wrong. Bengaluru civic elections will NOT happen by August 31st. Not because of citizens. But because MLAs across parties and the State Government benefit from delaying local democracy.

@IndianBang05 The beauty is that, if we have these so-called local public representatives in place, when something goes wrong, you have someone to hold accountable That is half the job, and it forces them to do some good… at least in fear, if not in their commitment to public interest

@RishvanjasR But do so-called public representatives really work for the interest of the public?

For nearly six years, Bengaluru has been denied the most basic layer of democracy, an elected local representative that citizens can hold accountable. Through garbage crises, flooding, broken roads and failing footpaths, we have had no corporator to question. The Supreme Court’s extension till August 31 must be the final indulgence. Bengaluru cannot be governed forever by administrators, notifications and excuses. The State Government and Election Commission must treat this as a hard deadline and restore elected local government without further delay.

Since I have been critical of tunnel projects, here are 3 ways that I can actually support it: 1. Integrated planning: Don’t jeopardise the Red Line in metro phase 3A which is key in connecting central Bengaluru to the airport (it’ll also likely run underground). Please coordinate & prioritise! 2. Present actual data & forecasts, taking along mobility experts, of how much this tunnel will decongest and what areas — copy paste reports won’t cut it. Hebbal to Silk Board is just one main road, most of Bangalore traffic doesn’t even reach here everyday. So let’s be sure this will decongest! 3. Don’t sell off ancillary revenue: The concession given to the builder makes their earning potential exceed their costs and risks BY FAR and suspiciously so. Don’t sell off our city’s revenue. Corporations are already underfunded. If you’re doing this, at least give the city revenue to spend on other mobility projects improving last mile connectivity.

Bengaluru’s ₹40,000+ crore Twin Tunnel Road project a proposed underground corridor linking north and south Bengaluru) has now entered the geotechnical survey stage. Adani Enterprises is the lone bidder (not awarded as yet) and has commenced soil testing, borehole studies, utility mapping, and tunnel alignment investigations. The tunnel project has been criticised enormously expensive vanity project, but honestly it is the only long-term way to decongest core Bengaluru given the city ’s infrastructure crisis. Hoping this project succeeds, but given the city’s chronically abysmal urban governance capacity in managing infrastructure projects ( a system that struggles to complete a 1.5 km flyover even in a decade) Bengaluru should brace for the worst-case outcomes.

@anil_lulla @bengalurupost1 I tried booking a slot several times, but it didn’t through. Same for everyone I know. The BSWML div AGM when contacted, said they’re still ironing out the details & might need a week to operationalise. But this is a great service if up and running! Can keep you posted.

@bengalurupost1 Does anyone have an experience to share on this new App service?

Got old sofas, mattresses, cupboards or bulky waste occupying space at home? 🛋️🏠 Instead of dumping them on footpaths or empty plots, Bengaluru residents can now schedule FREE doorstep pickup through the Dclutter app by BSWML ♻️ A good initiative that can help reduce waste blackspots across the city. 📲 Download, schedule & dispose responsibly. #nammabengaluru #dclutterapp #swachhbharat #bengaluru

For years, Bengaluru has known what needs to be done. We have some of the best mobility experts and planners. But yet, nothing they suggest gets done. Why? Because those in power are not interested in this kind of vision for the city. You’re right, videos going viral may not do much. The only solution is if we get into the council. Even a handful of voices that care only about the city and no other political obligations. That’s what I’m working on with @NammaBNP, we will fight the corporation elections and earn the right to shape the city’s plans.

Very well explained Rishi, long term vision for infra in the city has been masked with an eye-patch for quite some decades now. Honestly, looking at Gotham-like hopelessness wants one to do at least something, but is the message going viral going to help the cause? Aren’t these falling on dare-you-say-anything-ears? No pun intended, but what can a citizen, which is tired of looking at an army of @blrcitytraffic standing near the hot zone pub areas of the city even on a weekday evening, and struggling to find one cop standing at the heaviest bottleneck areas across the city. Not that they are to blamed entirely, as the civic sense and responsibilities are gone to the drain, but now that you hold some position at governing council, what is that can actually be done? @St_Brosephs

The New Short Tunnel: Sow traffic at Hebbal, Reap it at Baptist Hospital

@saikiranblore @solidview @DULTBangalore @MoHUA_India @NammaBengaluroo @TVMohandasPai @BelawadiBlr @ashwinmahesh @bykarthikreddy @BDAOfficialGok @WF_Watcher @Tejasvi_Surya @PCMohanMP @GBA_office I understand your frustration, all of us have been there. But somewhere deep down, I know that I need to live in this city for 50 more years, so I can’t give it up without a fight. We all should do everything we can in our capacity. They can’t take us for a ride forever.

@RishvanjasR @solidview @DULTBangalore @MoHUA_India @NammaBengaluroo @TVMohandasPai @BelawadiBlr @ashwinmahesh @bykarthikreddy @BDAOfficialGok @WF_Watcher Make 100 more videos with another 100 people, post them on social media/news channels. Evn then, GBA or the govt wont recognise their mistakes or modify the way of their work. They r hell bound to do wht they r doing, due to corruption. @Tejasvi_Surya @PCMohanMP @GBA_office

@reclaimchennai @solidview @DULTBangalore @MoHUA_India @NammaBengaluroo @TVMohandasPai @BelawadiBlr @ashwinmahesh @bykarthikreddy @BDAOfficialGok @WF_Watcher Agreed, we’ll work on this. The issues are so complex that we end up taking the time to explain it end to end. But we need to find a way!

@RishvanjasR @solidview @DULTBangalore @MoHUA_India @NammaBengaluroo @TVMohandasPai @BelawadiBlr @ashwinmahesh @bykarthikreddy @BDAOfficialGok @WF_Watcher You need more short form vertical videos. People's attention spans are fried. The message is perfect, but it needs to reach masses.