Articles by News Desk

On February 8th, 2014, Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike, an organisation of bus commuters and civil society organizations, organised a planning meeting to discuss a campaign for affordable bus services in Bangalore. This was organised in response to the steep rise in bus fares over the last year and a half to almost 50%, increasing the economic hardship for Bangaloreans. If a garment worker or a pourakarmika, who earns Rs. 5,000 a month, buys a monthly pass for Rs. 725 (Rs. 925 for red board buses), she shells out 15-20% of her income just for commuting, which increases if more people…

                                  A young tree lover at Neralu. Pic credit: Suchi Govindarajan   NERALU, the crowd-funded 2-day Urban Tree Festival concluded at Cubbon Park on Sunday, the 9th of February 2014. Citizens of all ages participated enthusiastically in tree walks, and appreciated the specially curated movies and the display of Rumale Chennabasavaiah’s paintings of Bengaluru’s trees. Visitors listened to a range of talks by noted naturalists, ornithologists, and Urban Ecology experts. Children learnt about trees and their importance through a range of experiential activities such as…

The Adugodi Annual Chariot Festival, Rathasapthami, starts on February 6th and will go on up to 9am, February 7th, 2014. During the festival, there will be a large gathering, public movement and many pavement stalls in Adugodi. This is likely to affect movement of traffic in and around Adugodi.Plan your travel for tomorrow well in advance to avoid getting caught in likely traffic jams.  The Adugodi traffic police will divert vehicular movement on Adugodi Main Road, in view of large crowds coverging on Muni Chinnappa School for the Rathasapthami festival and other religious rituals. Alternative routes:- Vehicles coming from Madivala…

BESCOM consumers need not worry about wrong billing anymore. BESCOM has noticed that customers sometimes receive electricity bills that show more units they have actually consumed. They have attritudes error or negligence in meter reading, to be the main reasons for  wrong billing. Now BESCOM is taking a step to put an end to such human errors, through a technology called Photo Billing. A BESCOM employee checks the meter reading. In Photo Billing, the meter reader will take photographs of the reading of units consumed, with a special inbuilt 3MP Camera that is given to him. The captured images, will…

Many citizens have filed their objections to draft rules of Akrama - Sakrama, formally called as Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Regulation of Unauthorised Development or Construction) Rules 2013 on the notification No: UDD 566 MyAPRa 2013, Bangalore, Dated December 12th 2013. Those who filed the objections include Vijayan Menon from Kormangala, Nagesh from Southern part of Outer Ring Road and others. Overall legality of the scheme The Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) having been established, the planning of the city, including land use, must be routed through this statutory body, and cannot be passed by the State government independently. The…

It is a known fact that areas like Malleswaram and Basavanagudi play a significant role in shaping the city's love for classical music. Other than Indian Heritage Academy in Koramangala and BTM Cultural Academy, there are very few places easily accessible to classical music fans living in South-East Bangalore. Ranjani Fine Arts (RFA), a non-profit charitable trust, has stepped in to bridge this gap. ‘Enable, Educate, Access,' are quite possibly the words that define Ranjani Fine Arts’ raison d'etre. Ranjani Fine Arts (RFA) has for the past two years, been nurturing and developing the cultural landscape in the Sarjapur Road - Outer Ring…

The lake of thousand birds has died a slow death over the years. How many more years before it is restored? Pic courtesy: SLAIT Sarakki Lake in JP Nagar was a home for Savira Hakki (thousand birds) in the bygone days. Not only have the thousand birds vanished, but also the pristine water body is completely destroyed due to years of neglect, apathy and greed of the land sharks. Is there any hope left in protecting this precious water body? To avert the impending environmental disaster from the daily garbage dumping, stench of the filled in sewage water fully covered…

Any old Bangalorean would be surprised to see the way Whitefield has grown beyond imagination. However, the infrastructure in the area hasn't seen so much improvement. If you thought nobody bothers about this, you are wrong. Whitefield residents want to make a difference by asking the government agencies about what they want. They have already requested a stop for more trains that pass Whitefield railway station. Bruhat Whitefield Residential Community Association (BWRCA) members have submitted a memorandum to the Railway Divisional manager, in this regard. P S Narayanan, the Vice-president of Nitesh Forest Hills Apartment Owners Welfare Association, took the…

What is KASA MUKTHA? The Karnataka Chief Minister launched the initiative in 22 Wards on July 24, 2013 to solve Bangalore's 'garbage problem'. He promised a Kasa Muktha (Garbage-Free) Bengaluru in 6 months (by Jan 24, 2014). The 'garbage problem' is being addressed at 3 levels:a) Segregation of garbage – by the citizenb) Processing of segregated garbage – by the BBMPc) Elimination of BLACK SPOTS (or open garbage dumps) Why focus on BLACK SPOTS? This citizen-driven pilot focused only on eliminating Black Spots. The BLACK SPOT problem is not just a garbage problem – it affects public health, sanitation, pedestrian…