Articles by Meera K

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has notified the E-waste [Management] Rules, 2016 which is effect from 01.10.2016. For implementation of these Rules, the Central Pollution Control Board has notified “implementation of guidelines for E-waste Management Rules, 2016”. The Board had issued authorization to 27 collection centers, 42 dismantlers, 24 recyclers and 14 recyclers/dismantlers. To review the implementation of E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 in the state, meeting was conveyed by the Chairman of the Board on 12.6.2017. The representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change were…

The ongoing case at the National Green Tribunal (and the frequent fires!) has helped keep the Bellandur lake in the news. The hearings on the petition filed by D Kupendra Reddy and another suo moto case when the fires happened some months ago, have resulted in a number of directions to the respondents including the state, and agencies like KSPCB and KLCDA. In its latest order on April 19, 2017, the NGT said: “All local authorities shall ensure that no untreated sewage water is permitted to enter into Bellandur Lake” - sounds familiar? Here is the chronological summary of developments…

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to constitute Ward Committees in Bengaluru within a month! Several earlier orders that asked the civic body to constitute the ward committees had not been conformed with. Ward committees are mandated as per Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, 1992. The direction came as part of a petition filed by Leo Saldanha and others, that said the BBMP is in violation of repeated directions from Karnataka High Court. Leo Saldanha, sharing this news over email, points out, "What would really help now is for public-spirited persons to step up and…

When an overhead walkway built by Ecospace was recently opened to public, residents of Outer Ring Road greeted it with joy. It made crossing the ORR so much safer and seemed to reduce congestion caused by vehicles slowing to let jaywalkers cross. Though India had a strong tradition of pedestrian-centric cities, it is deplorable that post-1970, cities in India have rarely been designed for pedestrians. Reviewing the list of ten most accident-prone areas in Bangalore, Citizen Matters found that the predominant factor for accidents was pedestrians crossing the road in the midst of high speed traffic. With the absence of…

When an overhead walkway built by Ecospace was recently opened to public, residents of Outer Ring Road greeted it with joy. It made crossing the ORR so much safer and seemed to reduce congestion caused by vehicles slowing to let jaywalkers cross. Though India had a strong tradition of pedestrian-centric cities, it is deplorable that post-1970, cities in India have rarely been designed for pedestrians. Other than the Mumbai pedestrian Walkway Project with more than 35 walkways commissioned, there are few examples of successful walkways in India. The 1.3 km Bandra Skywalk, completed in June 2008 is said to be…

Since the time Chennai has been ravaged by the floods in early-December, we have been hearing stories of how Bengaluru has pulled through for the people of Chennai. This is one such story. Over 10 lakhs raised Members of the Facebook groups Drive Without Borders and Wake Up Bengaluru came together to raise funds to support the relief work in Chennai. In less than 10 days, funds in excess of 10 lakhs were generated by members of the two groups. We delivered the relief material in two phases. In the first phase, volunteers from the groups visited a few places…

Last week, former Deputy CM and opposition leader KS Eshwarappa said Chief Minister Siddaramiah's statements have hurt the sentiments of a community. Dear Mr Eshwarappa, you are right about sentiments hurt, but it's not related to food or culture. Our sentiments are boiling - over the craters on the road that threaten our lives every single day, over the water stagnating in drains that's creating colonies of dengue everyday, over the unbelievable mess of traffic that keeps us all immobile on the roads for several hours in a day, over the highly polluted air that never lets us breathe easy,…

Some start their own enterprises because they want to be independent. Some have dreams of making it big. But some end up being change-makers, because they wish to see some problem solved, the kind nobody else was trying to fix! To be honest, I hadn’t planned to become an entrepreneur. Post 2000, I started noticing the growth pangs of Bangalore. The once-nice town was indeed becoming messy, garbage-ridden and traffic-laden. And I wanted to understand why. Why did the darn flyovers take years to build? Why did the garbage collection break down? Why did we have to depend on water…

  BWSSB has hiked the price of water, as well as reduced the number of slabs, with effect from November 2nd, 2014. The minimum water charge has gone up by almost 20% — from Rs 48 to Rs 57 a month and the monthly bill from Rs 83 to Rs 100 for domestic usage. Sanitary charge has been reduced from Rs 15 to Rs 14. For water usage above 8,000 litres, sanitary charge will be 25% of water supply charges. This was 15% earlier. Even with this hike, if you feel you are forced to pay more for water, you…

You are going to vote for a candidate as your MP for the next five years; this might not be a one-minute decision if you have an open mind and are willing to compare the candidates. This cheatsheet is meant to help get all the info for your own comparison in one place, so that you spend less time searching. Bengaluru Central comprises of Rajajinagar, Chamrajpet, Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar, Shantinagar, Sarvagnanagar, C V Raman Nagar and Mahadevapura assembly constituencies. It has around 15 lakh voters, from various communities and linguistic backgrounds, and includes large slums and traditional neighbourhoods of Shivaji Nagar,…