Articles by News Desk

Bruhat Bengaluru Nagara Palike (BBMP) has its branches in every ward. They are called ward offices, and they will have the assistant engineers, junior health inspectors, work inspectors, garbage supervisors and all other important stuff related to your ward. So, you need to know where your ward office is, to get anything done from BBMP. To help everyone in Bengaluru who is searching for their ward office, Opencity.in is mapping the ward offices of all 198 offices of Bengaluru, through this form. Since the form involves collecting the location data, you might be prompted to share your location. You can…

For two decades now, the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was proposed to amend the Constitution of India to reserve 33% of all seats in the Lower house of Parliament of India, the Lok Sabha, and in all state legislative assemblies for women, has either been defeated or has lapsed. The law, which would give a boost to active political participation of women and help them fight the abuse, discrimination and inequality they have historically suffered, has sadly not received enough importance even from parties headed by women. On March 5th, Satta Panchayat Iyyakam, a Chennai-based NGO fighting to protect the…

On February 23rd, Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), an independent citizens group, posted on its Facebook page about the struggle of women garment workers to get access to public transportation. “A thousand women (may be a 100 men?) stream out of the factory. Not all at once. But in bunches. They are on a mission. To make that purchase. To get on that bus or tempo (which is 3 times cheaper than BMTC). To get home. To start working, again, at home. After 9 hours of work at the garment factory,” the FB post read. The CfB post explained how thousands…

Contract workers working in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanakara Palike have decided to take to streets on March 8, International Women's Day. A press note from the BBMP Contract Workers Union demanded that the employments of contract workers be regularised. The government has revised their salaries but the benefit is not being enjoyed by the workers, says the press note. Here are the edited excerpts of the press note: Bangalore sees several events to mark women’s day – protests, celebrations, marathons, art and culture events etc. This year, we are asking Bangaloreans to mark women’s day by asking you all to come…

If you thought we stopped our newsletters, here we are, back again with a bunch of updates! We have changed a little, and we hope you enjoy reading the newsletter. Before you get into the newsletter: We now have a Telegram channel for sharing our updates from all our websites - Citizen Matters Main, Citizen Matters Bengaluru, and Citizen Matters Chennai. Do join the channel and keep track of what is published across all websites. You won’t see junk from us. Other members won’t be able to see you, and you won’t be able to see them. Mute it if…

It's that time of the year when young parents worry the most about their childrens' school admissions. We would like to work on a story on school fees in Bengaluru. Do help us with your inputs! Please fill the form. You are not obliged to leave your contact, but in case there's something that you want to talk to us about, please leave your contact in the form. Thank you! Related ArticlesDemand high but schools not keen: The story of Right to Education in BengaluruGovt fee guideline draft confuses schools and parents, stirs hornet’s nest

Sandy beaches are a prominent feature along the 7500 km coastline that envelopes either side of peninsular India. These are dynamic zones that support coastal communities as well as marine and terrestrial life forms. Could these local communities play an active role in monitoring the shoreline, creating a knowledge base and eventually, a baseline for appropriate action towards disaster risk reduction as well as recreation of a healthy coastline? This will be the focus of 'A Tide Turns' -- an interactive and exploratory event organised by SNEHA and LAW Trust of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, the volunteers of Karaikal and Cuddalore…

On January 8th 2017, over 4500 people from across Bengaluru visited Kaikondrahalli Lake to connect with their friends, community and nature. Lake festival, or Kere Habba, is a completely volunteer-organised event aimed at raising awareness, increasing community participation and fostering an appreciation of lakes in Bengaluru. Kaikondrahalli celebrated its third lake festival on January 8th, 2017. A bird living in the Kakondrahalli lake premises. Pic: Shree D N Over a hundred students from Renuka school situated on the banks of the lake, involved themselves in many activities; they organised a Halli Games session, to teach visitors how to play traditional…

Bellandur is one of the largest wards in Bengaluru. Of late, it has been in news for inefficient garbage collection and burning of garbage in public places. A few months ago, a new garbage contract was awarded to Bellandur. The residents allege that the new system is unscientific and designed to fail. The monthly waste management expenditure for Bellandur ward till August 2016 was Rs 35 lakh. A new contract was awarded in September 2016 and the contract amount was revised to Rs 45 lakh per month. But the difference was not just in cost calculation. The entire system of…

Dear reader, Wish you a very happy new year from all of us at Citizen Matters - Oorvani Foundation! It was a sad start to the new year, with the reports of molestation in several parts of Bengaluru. What do you think about the debate around molestation incidents? We would like to hear from you! This week’s highlight NICE road land acquisition saga Framers in Gonipura, Thippur and Sigehalli villages grow ragi, maize, dal, peanuts and veggies in their fertile agriculture land. Pic: Akshatha M Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) was supposed to connect two cities seamlessly. NICE Road, the part…