Articles by News Desk

Why are lakes in Bengaluru polluted? Who is accountable? Karnataka government has recently constituted Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) to oversee the lake conservation. But there are many agencies in the city that are supposed to handle specific issues related to pollution.  But there is a problem. With multiple bodies looking after different systems, there is no accountability for any of them. When the crisis hits, they blame each other and get away, while the lakes emit fire and froth. Here is an explanation of which agency is responsible for what problem, as far as a lake is…

Pic: Shree D N The city government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has put out details of solid waste management (SWM) microplan for Bengaluru’s wards. With this public data, you can understand what is working in garbage collection and clearance and what is not, in your ward, and engage with fellow citizens and officials to resolve it. How to access the information: Go to the homepage of the BBMP website: bbmp.gov.in Choose the language and go to the department section on http://bbmp.gov.in/en/web/guest/home Select the Solid Waste Management section. (ಘನತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ section if in Kannada) Go to the download section - you…

Have you ever stopped to read an advertisement board nailed onto a tree trunk? Or stared in awe at the pretty strings of lights used to adorn many a tree during the festive season? Now place yourself in the position of the tree and think again! These fixtures or constricting elements on our mature trees actually kill them silently. However, the good news is that even as a concerned citizen, you can save the city's trees, free them from such abuse and give them a new lease of life and respect. Free the Tree Campaigns or FTCs organised by Nizhal, the…

ijay Nishanth, the founder of Vruksha, a non profit prganisation that works to protect trees, talks about how guidelines to put up hoardings are not being followed.He is also a member of Tree Committee in BBMP. Trees are often poisoned to death. Nishanth talks about how acid was poured on 17 trees in Marathahalli, to ensure visibility of hoardings. 14 of these trees died. An FIR was filed in this regard and the case has been assigned to the Lokayukta. He talks about how all of us can get together and work towards creating awareness of the need for saving…

A recent workshop on air pollution, which saw participation from IIT Delhi and Kanpur, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, World Health Organisation, as well as the Delhi Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board, brought to the fore yet again the fact that there are no policy level interventions to stop farmers from burning crop residue. Experts at the event stated that the state government and the central government need to prepare now for a pollution free winter. However, there seems to be a lackadaisical attitude towards applying existing data into a working and effective policy-level intervention. The implementation…

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), in a hearing held on April 12 2017, has warned of passing restraining directions against the State of Karnataka, if discharge of untreated sewage into the Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru is not stopped immediately. The NGT also directed the Chief Secretary of the state to be present before the Tribunal during the next hearing. The Tribunal also pulled up Karnataka Lake Catchment Development Authority (KLCDA) for allowing the situation to reach a stage where lake catches fire. The State government, KLCDA and other authorities have been directed to apprise the court of the measures taken…

The very popular share autos, or 7-seater mini vans operating in the hundreds in Chennai and addressing an acutely-felt need for intermediate public transport in the city are in fact illegal, and cannot pick up and drop passengers at random. This was revealed by a response given by the Tamil Nadu Transport Department to an RTI query filed in March 2017 by a journalist from the city, who blogs at Straphangers United. The RTI application was filed to the Secretary, Transport, Tamil Nadu, who forwarded it to the Transport Commissioner, who in turn sent it to the RTOs. The response to…

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented Karnataka State Budget on March 15th, 2017. Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), a citizens movement in Bengaluru, has welcomed the focus in the budget given to solve the mobility issues Bengaluru is facing, while asking the government to work more on a mobility strategy for the city. A press note from CfB says: "We have noted that the CM is seeking to address the stressful issues of mobility that bother Bengaluru with more buses, expanded Namma Metro, commuter rail, improved roads, grade separators and short-span flyovers at junctions and better pedestrian facilities. The MOU with Railways &…

  Bengaluru’s air story is one of unchecked air pollution, ever increasing dust and air quality issues. Bengaluru's Airpocalypse: Air pollution Problems & Solutions is a workshop that brings experts to answer key questions like: What is happening to Bengaluru’s air? From vehicular smoke ro garbage burning... How has it impacted our children’s and our health? What are some of the government policies and actions that are having an impact on the quality of air? And what can we do - as individuals, and as a collective? The workshop is hosted by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and supported by…

This is the full text of Karnataka state budget speech - 2017-18. [embeddoc url="https://citizenmatters.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Karnataka-Budget-speech-2017-18.pdf" download="all"]