Articles by News Desk

On 31st March 2016, a 40-year-old African Tuilip tree in Indiranagar 1st stage, home to hundreds of parakteets and scores of nests nurturing young ones, was brutally felled by the BBMP. The reason: it was dried up and a possible threat to passers by. Only a stump of the tree remains now. Pic: Arzu Mistry A view of the tree stump from a house it provided shade to. Pic: Arzu Mistry This variety of tree sheds its leaves and looks barren in the summer months – but it's not dead! And considering that Bengaluru is in the midst of one…

Government of India has kept a major step towards sustainable waste management, by making it mandatory to segregate waste at source. According to a Press Information Bureau press note, the new waste management rules are stricter than the rules notified in the year 2000. Exerpts from the press note: The Environment Ministry has revised Solid Waste Management Rules after 16 years. Addressing a press conference to announce the revised Rules on April 5, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said that the Rules are now applicable beyond municipal areas and will extend to…

  Bengaluru this week April  1st 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     We are very excited to be hosting the Journalism for Citizens workshop tomorrow at IIM Bangalore as part of our Summer Fundraiser. A big shoutout to all the folks who have registered for the workshop; not only because you are supporting independent community media, but also to appreciate your involvement as an active citizen working for a better Bengaluru! This week’s highlight: BBMP’s bloated budget for 2016-17 The Chairman of the Taxation Committee, M Shivaraj, presenting the BBMP Budget.…

Works taken up under SFC & 14th Finance Commission Grants for 2016-17   Sl.No. Name of works Amount INR Lakhs 1 Establishment of ABC Centres 250.00 2 Construction of Hospital at Sudhamanagar in Ward No.118 200.00 3 Construction of Referral Hospital in Ward No.165 200.00 4 Construction of Hospital building at ward 11 300.00 5 Construction of Hospital building at Ward No.2 300.00 6 Construction of Hospital building at ward No.31 300.00 7 Construction of dialisis centre at ward No.52 200.00 8 Construction of Maternity Hospital in Kanakanapalya 500.00 9 Providing CC Camara in each wards @ Rs.10.00 Lakh per…

Pic: BBMP   Full text of the BBMP budget speech 2016-17 presented by M Shivaraju, CHAIRMAN, TAXATION AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, BBMP, BENGALURU I heartily welcome all who are present in the Kempegowda Council Hall and I request your permission to present the Bruhath Bangaluru Managanagara Palike‟s Budget for the year 2016-17. Remembering with high gratitude, the great personality, the social reformer Sri. Basavanna, who was in the court of Bijjala during 12th century A.D. and made revolutions in Kalyana with his social justice, welfare of all. Transparency in his all walks, religious insight, with the greater responsibility of bringing in…

Here is a quick guide to all that you might want to know as you prepare to cast your vote. Find your constituency details and information on candidates: 11    Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar Incumbent: J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK » Candidates: J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK M N Raja, BJP Shimla Muthuchozhan, DMK Agnes F, PMK Vasanthi Devi, VCK More info » 20 Thousand Lights Incumbent: B. Valarmathi, AIADMK » Candidates: B Valarmathi AIADMK Selvam Ku Ka DMK Shivalingam M BJP Ambigapathy C MDMK Rangan V PMK More info » 12 Perambur Incumbent: SoundaraRajan. A, CPI M » Candidates: A SoundaraRajan, CPI-M P Vetrivel AIADMK R Prakash BJP N R Dhanapalan DMK M Venkatesa Perumal PMK More…

  Bengaluru this week March 24th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     You must have got our earlier mail with reason #2 to support Citizen Matters. If you missed that mail with the details of the Journalism Workshop for citizens on April 2nd, click here. This week’s highlight: How we can help farmers on the outskirts Chemical-free farming needs more efforts, hence costs more for a farmer. Pic: Shree D N At a time that we city dwellers in Bengaluru are getting affected by water problems, farmers on the city outskirts…

Bengaluru is the IT hub of India, and most people here are becoming tech-savvy.  Bengaluru is today a global name, and with the changing stature of the city, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) too is striving to do its best.  Given the widespread use of technology, BTP has decided to use technology to serve citizens better. BTP frequently receives many complaints against auto drivers from the public—refusal to go on hire, demanding excess fare, misbehaving and other issues—through its various communication channels. In order to address citizens’ problems effectively, BTP has designed, developed and launched a mobile application called bSafe…

As it happens every year, Bengaluru got good amount of money this year too. Here's a look at the details. Bangalore Water Supply and drainage Board The following projects have been approved: • Water Supply and Underground Drainage Project for 110 villages coming under BBMP at a cost of Rs. 5018 crore approved with JICA loan. It includes components to reduce unaccounted for water of 180 MLD. • In addition to existing untreated water main pipeline, scheme for extending additional untreated Water Transfer Pipeline between Forbes Sagar to N.B.R and to extend up to T.K. Halli at an estimated cost…

The public consultations organised tree cutting for Metro Phase II in Bengaluru have been repeatedly cancelled due to lack of data and procedural lapses. Activists who were present in the Metro public consultation on March 11 demanded that the data on planted trees and the trees to be cut be made public. Namma Metro had uploaded the tree cutting data, however there was no map done by Namma Metro. This map has been created using the data provided in the BMRCL website. Click on the individual balloons to see the type of tree and cordinates. Here are the trees to…