Colour, cheer and a lot of hope marked the Beka Bedu Santhe organised in the city on Sunday, as more than 500 citizens got together to mark the first anniversary of the ‘Steel Flyover Beda’ protest.
The Steel Flyover Beda protest marked a change in how citizens responded to city issues. Sustained pressure from residents had forced the State government to rethink its plans for the flyover. On Sunday, volunteers asked all those who turned up to ‘find their kin’ so they could work on area-specific issues. Participants were asked to gather in groups according to their area. Many made immediate connections.
One such ‘mini group’ comprised five residents from Basaveshwarnagar who immediately made plans on bettering their neighbourhood. “We thought that one thing we could start on was implementing decentralised composting in Basaveshwarnagar,” said Kumar, a resident of Basaveshwarnagar.
Class divide
There is a concern among citizens about how inclusive such a movement can really be. Geetha Menon, founder of Stree Jagruti Samiti, said that many a time when the samiti approached Resident Welfare Associations to take up issues pertaining to domestic workers, they were brushed aside with the explanation that the workers were not residents of that area. “The middle class too should take an interest in and join in the struggles of the working class,” said Ms. Menon.
Fun for children
Children had a fun day at the santhe. Around 200 children from underprivileged sections of society were asked express their idea of how they wanted their city to be. Many drew roads with potholes and even lakes in place of roads to depict Bengaluru. They presented skits on safer roads and toilets for transgenders.
Organiser Tara Krishnaswamy said that the anniversary of the protest had become a day for citizen rights. “Children especially have a claim to Bengaluru and we want them to ask for their rights,” she said.
More than 80 civic organisations participated.