Articles by Shree D N

Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda all set to present Railway budget. Pic courtesy: facebook.com/RailMinIndia D V Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Railways, also the Member of Parliament elected from Bangalore North, gifted the city of Bengaluru many trains that will boost suburban connectivity. The move has cheered up the advocates of Commuter Railway in Bangalore. In his maiden Union Railway Budget, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda announced a list of five Jansadharan trains, 5 premium trains, 6 AC express trains, 27 express trains, 8 passenger trains, 2 MEMU services and 5 DEMU services. Among these, Bangalore and surrounding areas got the following trains:…

Heaps of garbage piled in Mandur. Pic: Shree D N If you see the above scene in Mandur that is the ugly backyard of namma Bengaluru, what strikes you as the most important waste category? Most of what you see is plastic. This is the reality that you see even in the garbage dump near your home. Well, what’s wrong with that? Plastic bags make carrying everything simple, with their light weight and ease of use. After use, just throw them, and they’re out of sight and mind. Easy, isn’t it? But then, here are some issues for you to…

When a resident of Whitefield in Bengaluru, Anjali Saini, asked the road diggers on the streets of Whitefield to show the permission by the BBMP, she never knew what it will lead to. What she was shown was a permission given to Vodafone by BBMP, which had many pages filled with various clauses. She found many violations to the terms mentioned in the letter. There was neither any barrricade, nor any warning lights or signage in the spot where the work was progressing. There was no indication of when the work would begin or close. The excess excavated mud which…

Having to commute by bus from Malleshwaram to Citizen Matters office - on Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru, has been a true eye-opener to me. The major learning has been this: Own a vehicle, and learn to drive, even if you would be adding to the mess already on the road, against your consciousness. Sarjapur Road is an "upscale," developing area where you see a lot of tech companies and residential apartments coming up. However, if you love to take on the challenge of walking on the road amidst vehicles, yet manage to be alive, the stretch on Sarjapur main road, from…

It is literally the neglected backyard of Bengaluru. When you enter the ill-fated village of Mandur, the pungent smell of rotting garbage fills your nostrils. You will have to bear it, till you leave the village. When the winds are strong, the smell too becomes strong. The village is just a kilometre or so from the dumpyard. When we went inside Mandur past the police security on the main road, the sight of death welcomed us — villagers had gathered around the dead body of a resident, Narayana Rao, in front of his house, despite the curfew imposed. Rao had…

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will form a committee to investigate the A khatas issued by its officials for revenue sites across Bengaluru. BBMP took this step in the wake of complaints by many corporators on A khatas being issued by BBMP officials for revenue sites or revenue pockets, for a hefty bribe, allegedly between Rs 50,000 to 5 lakh, depending on the size of the plot. On May 28, 2014, BBMP Council Meeting saw high decibel discussions, when BJP Corporator from Kacharakanahalli ward, Padmanabha Reddy, took up the issue. He showed the documents and khata certificates issued recently to…

Voters have given their verdict. BJP has once again made a clean sweep in Bengaluru, repeating the 2009 Parliamentary election pattern. However, there are some differences this time. We take a look at the numbers: Bangalore South Ananth Kumar won the seat for the sixth time comfortably, with a margin of over 2.2 lakhs (56.9% of total polled votes). Nandan Nilekani got a sizeable number of votes (36.4% of the total polled votes), but it wasn’t enough to propel him to victory. The takeaway is this: The competition was fierce and limited to BJP and Congress, with very few votes…

As the city gears up to welcome new Members of Parliament, we take a peek at the statistics and poll predictions to see how has Bangalore voted in the past, and who might win the race in Bangalore this time. Our focus is on the three urban constituencies - Bangalore South, North and Central. 2009 - the honeymoon effect In 2009, the state was being governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the scams hadn’t hit the government yet. Bangalore’s 28 constituencies had 18 BJP MLAs. The sense of euphoria and what the experts call “the honeymoon effect” swept…

Well - it’s time for some reflection on our part, while you are done with voting and busy with daily work. We trust you are the kind who will vote for a good candidate, not a traditional voter who will cling to a particular party all through your life. That’s why we put in hard work to compile a lot of data for you to decide which candidate is what. Let us confess: We are a small team. We don’t have the kind of manpower to chase each one of these candidates - still we feel we did our best.…

Low cost community leaf litter composting pilot project ready to take off in Malleshwaram. Pic: Shree D N Bangalore’s first low cost community leaf litter composting unit was inaugurated in Malleshwaram on April 24, 2014. Set in a roadside park on 8th Main Road before Yashwanthpur Circle, the project is a replication of an already-running model conceptualised by Ravi Kaushik, a resident of Malleshwaram, in his own frontyard. The project aims to compost the leaves that fall in a particular season in Bangalore. Come winter, the roads of Malleshwaram that have a good tree cover are filled with variety of…