Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛅ Today’s weather: A bit sunny for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The city got its first taste of autos in 1950 when its first elected mayor, N Keshava, got a proposal to introduce motorised rickshaws. Despite opposition from horsecart riders, they were introduced.
🐕 No geotagging strays
The city’s initiative to geotag stray dogs may not get going as the BBMP is against the proposal.
What’s it about? The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has not agreed to the geotag plan taken up by the animal husbandry and veterinary services (AH&VS) department. The BBMP said it already undertakes birth control and anti-rabies drives and will introduce another initiative instead of geotagging.
- The AH&VS department with Mumbai-based NGO PawFriend.in has already tagged over 100 dogs housed at the Karuna Animal Welfare Association. Officials observed no behavioural change or discomfort in the animals.
- Since 2019, the BBMP has been in discussion with private companies to tag stray dogs with microchips. Using a mobile app, scanning the tag will reveal vaccination and birth-control measures.
Why the rejection? The BBMP believes that geotagging stray dogs won’t be useful since they’ll eventually bite and tear it away. Private and rescue dogs can be geotagged, however. Geotagging strays could result in legal action.
📹 AI cameras
Highways connecting the city will soon get AI-enabled cameras to check for violations.
What’s it about? The traffic police want to reduce accidents on highways. For this, AI-enabled cameras will be installed to catch and penalise violators on the spot. For the Bengaluru-Mysuru highways, authorities want to mimic the Mumbai-Pune expressway, where fatal accidents have reduced by 55%.
- The cameras will installed near the toll booths near the airport, at the Nagasandra toll booth on the Nelamangala Highway, Hosur Attibele Road, and the Hitnal toll booth near NH 73.
- The cameras will be connected to digital display boards to capture the speed of vehicles and detect violations. Each camera can spot a vehicle and its registration number from 200 metres away.
Other purposes: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hopes these cameras will also help reduce theft with reports of stolen crash barriers and lights. The cameras will also help in providing emergency support in case of accidents.
🛺 Namma Yatri’s success
The Namma Yatri app, about to complete a year in service, has been successful.
What’s it about? Launched last November by Bengaluru’s Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union (ARDU), the app has catered to over 1 crore rides across the city. For many commuters, it’s cheap, and drivers accept rides without much delay.
- Data from the ARDU showed over 20 lakh people have downloaded the app, and almost 96,000 drivers have it too. Daily usage among drivers is over 19,000 and even reaches 22,000 at times. There are an average of 2 lakh requests daily but only 94,000 rides.
- The fare in the app is about 10-15% less than other apps. For some, while the price difference is not much, the availability of rides makes the difference. Drivers make about 20 trips a day and earn over ₹1,500 daily.
Other statistics: Since the app’s launch, there have been 4 crore ride requests. The app has catered to over 1 crore rides. At launch, only 20% of the requests could be fulfilled. That number has increased to 37% now.
🌱 Encouraging sustainability
REVA University launched an initiative to promote awareness of the environment.
What’s it about? REVA University launched the REVA Krushi Tech Project to encourage people to live a green life and raise awareness of sustainable agriculture and food security.
- The event also saw the launch of the Grow Big plantation on the university’s campus. The Chancellor P Shyamaraju joined students in planting.
- He launched the vertical modular Agritecture and grow bag planting with the theme Vidya, Vaidya and Vyavasaya. It’s a wall-mounted structure with recycled resources.
What were planted? Around 300 grow bags were planted with capsicum, potatoes, tomato seedlings, etc.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you used the Namma Yatri app?
- I have used the Namma Yatri app.
- I haven’t used the Namma Yatri app.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite place to drive to from the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Richmond Road continues to be a hassle for commuters due to potholes and waterlogging.
- Right-to-protest activists demanding the right to protest outside Freedom Park were detained and later released by police.
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw called on the government to improve infrastructure in the wake of Trever Noah’s show cancellation.
- A stray dog census of the city revealed Bengaluru has over 2.7 lakh street dogs.
- The BBMP concluded that the previous pay and park system was illegal following violations by two agencies.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I was affected by the traffic jam on the ORR last week: 27.3%
- I wasn’t affected by the traffic jam on the ORR last week: 72.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What can officials do to help prevent traffic jams in the city?
Sriranga: “Complete the ORR metro at a quicker pace and encourage people to use public transport more.”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!