Articles by Karunya Keshav

About 30 kms from the city, a little off Sarjapur Road is Ananya School, a unique institution for underprivileged children.  Ananya is a part of an effort to bring the benefits of long distance running to its students. Trained electronics engineer and now full time runner, Santhosh Padmanabhan (30) is the brain behind the programme. Padmanabhan is the founder of Runner’s High, a Bangalore-based organisation that aims to promote ultra running and integrate running as an activity into the curriculum of schools for underprivileged children  such as Ananya School. They also coach interested individuals for long distance runs and marathons.…

The issue of road widening promises to get more charged as residents, traders and property owners of Dr Rajkumar Road threaten to take out emotive protests against the BBMP’s development plans for the road. This 5 km stretch of road in northwest Bangalore, from Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Factory Ltd to Prasanna Theatre, has been earmarked by BBMP for construction of a signal-free corridor. The property owners and tenants along Rajkumar Road, led by Citizen’s Support Group (CSG) Dr Rajkumar Road, are calling the plan an “urban disaster,” and are opposing the road widening project with the argument that road…

BBMP is on a beautification drive, painting the walls in the city in a hue of colours. Since August 15th 2009, about seven lakh square feet of wall along main roads and bridges, mostly in the west zone of the city have been turned into canvases for the BBMP’s Karnataka Vaibhava wall painting project. Scenes from mythology, paintings of the temples at Hampi, Belur and Halebid, the Mysore Palace, historical figures of Karnataka, jungle creatures, and even a few socially conscious paintings of polio vaccinations and the dangers of alcohol related abuse now adorn the public walls of the city,…

The dusty haze of construction, ubiquitous green signs and makeshift shacks with ‘namma metro', a clear view of a once tree-lined street, half demolished buildings, newly asphalted road - metro construction work is in full swing on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road (MKK Road) in north-west Bangalore. Listen to Citizen Matters audio story in English and Kannada (6 1/2 mins) Citizen Matters Podcasts Download Podcast Subscribe to podcasts What are Podcasts?Podcasts are audio files you can listen to whenever you want. You can subscribe to our podcast feed using a jukebox tool (like Apple's iTunes) so that your computer automatically downloads it…

Yet another road-widening project in Bengaluru has hit a roadblock as residents and shop owners raise the flag against BBMP’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) scheme. TDR scheme has come in for more fire. This time, shop owners, tenants, and residents of Tannery Road in East Bangalore are protesting against the road-widening work ordered by BBMP in their area. Tannery Road - Nagavara Owners/ Merchants Association office bearers and members, with Legislative Council Chairman Veeranna Mattikatti and guests at the Republic Day 2010 celebrations. Pic: Karunya Keshav. “We are not opposing road widening. We oppose TDR,” says Ahmed Baseer, property…