Articles by Nikita Malusare

High Court of Karnataka (HC) suggested that BBMP make payments for tree-planting contracts only after monitoring the survival rate of the seedlings for an year after planting, to ensure that the seedlings planted are protected and maintained. In a suo motu PIL (WP No. 7288/2011) filed by former justice D V Justice Shylendra Kumar for  mass tree felling in Jayamahal Palace road in 2011 for widening the road, BBMP Advocate Subramanya R informed the court that the afforestation tenders for this year have already been awarded. Amicus curiae Vaishali Hegde pointed that the agreements that are already signed for this…

Residents of HSR Layout and surroundings n Bengaluru objected to the construction of sewage treatment plant (STP) on Agara lake bed, proposed by Lake Development Authority and supported by the MLA of Bommanahalli, Satish Reddy. Agara lake is situated off Sarjapur Road, and is not a part of any lake chain. A public meeting was conducted by Lake Development Authority (LDA) to inform people about their plan to rejuvenate Agara lake with treated water on the lines of Jakkur lake. However, the members of the Agara Lake Protection and Management Committee (ALPMC) were apprehensive about this plan. The agenda of…

As an immediate remedy for daily wet waste generated in Bengaluru, Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Department of Karnataka (UDD) D Satya Murty submitted to the High Court of Karnataka (HC) on Thursday, June 26, 2014, that portable processing units with the capacity of 50 tonnes will soon be installed in 15 to 20 wards. However, the bench comprising Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N Kumar observed that processing units in 15 to 20 wards will not be sufficient when Bangalore has 198 wards. Murty submitted to the court that the government is keen on solving the garbage problem…

You are in a newly constructed large apartment community or in an individual house, and you don’t know where to send your garbage. Throwing it on to the streets is illegal, and you are a nice person who wouldn’t do it. You have a solution now : igotgarbage.com (IGG). An initiative of Information Technology company Mindtree, in association with Hasirudala, Saahas Zero Waste, Daily Dump and other stakeholders who manage IT city’s waste, IGG connects the waste collectors who dispose it responsibly, to waste generators who want to see their waste managed responsibly. Prashant Mehra, project manager of IGG does…

The Karnataka government introduced provision for self declaration in many services by various departments recently. The scheme is expected to be implemented in most departments by mid-July. However, here is the hitch: the mechanism to check the truthfulness of the statement made in the declaration is not foolproof yet. This calls for more transparency from the government, in order to prevent corruption. The first department to fall in line is the Revenue Department. An official from the Department of Administrative Reforms says, “Revenue department has already introduced this initiative with citizens getting most of the certificates (caste, income, profession etc),…

The real reason behind BBMP not being able to maintain trees planted in Namma Bengaluru is this. As the Amicus Curiae in the Tree Felling case told the High Court of Karnataka (HC) on June 23rd, 2014, that less than 50% of the budget allocated for Forest Wing for various activities is released by Bruhat Bengauru Mahanagara Palike. This was just one of the many issues pointed out to the court on BBMP Forest Wing’s ineffectiveness. In a hearing held on the suo motu PIL (WP No. 7288/2011) filed by former Justice D V Justice Shylendra Kumar against mass tree felling…

Who has forgotten the incident that took place recently, in which a man burgled in to a paying guest facility and raped a 25-year-old techie? Naturally everyone is worried about the safety of their own PG facilities. When something goes wrong, police are the ones to protect people. But here’s the shocker for you: Bengaluru police doesn’t have a list of paying guest facilities in the city. And the city administration body, BBMP too doesn’t have a list of authorised PGs readily available online. In one of the reports, police officers said that it was not for the first time…

  High Court of Karnataka (HC) asked Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to be careful while choosing the lowest bidders while awarding tenders for biomining at Mandur, as many of them have failed in the past. On June 18 2014, HC Green Bench Division comprising of Justice N Kumar and B V Nagarathna passed a series of orders in the SWM PIL filed in 2012 after the villagers of Mavallipura  and Mandur stopped dumping of garbage. HC accepted the suggestions of  the Expert Committee on Solid Waste Management made on June 13, 2014, to adopt the method of biomining to clear…

Expert Committee on Solid Waste Management submitted to the High Court in Bengaluru that a simple and the only solution to solve Mandur problem effectively was to screen the dump, recover the useful materials and dispose the organic and inert waste, through a process called biomining. On Friday (June 13th 2014) the Green Bench of High Court of Karnataka, comprising Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N Kumar received the suggestions by the Expert Committee, on how to dispose the existing dump, the measures to be taken by the BBMP among others. A copy of the suggestions ia available with…

A small portion of the garbage pile in Mandur landfill. Pic: Shree D N The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has withheld the payment of more than three crores to Srinivas Gayathri Resources Recovery Limited (SGRRL), the only processing unit at one of the garbage dumping yards at Mandur, that supposedly had the capacity to process 600 tonnes of waste per day. This resulted in the company shutting down its operations three months ago, claims Srinivas Reddy, the Operations Manager of the plant at Mandur, located near to Hoskote Highway on the north-eastern outskirts of Bengaluru. What waste management firm says:BBMP…