Three-month deadline for Bengaluru weddings to stop using plastic
BBMP issued a notice on September 7th to marriage halls or kalyan mantapas, instructing them to stop using plastic material for functions, listing out all the alternative steps that may be taken to curb the plastic menace. The notice said that plate banks of steel, ceramic and melamine cutlery should be accumulated along with massive dishwashers to minimize wastage of water and maximise hygiene.
Other recommendations include RO purifiers to supply drinking water, colour coded dustbins for segregation, avoidance of banana leaves that make segregation of wet-waste difficult, and setting up of composting plants with the section to process sanitary waste. Most importantly, the managements must only tie-up with empanelled vendors approved by the BBMP for waste disposal.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said that heavy fines will be levied if they find violations after three months. Ultimately, it could result in the filing of a case as BBMP rules must be observed according to trade licenses issued. The BBMP’s Expert Comittee on Solid Waste Management has also been trying to get paper cups on the list of banned items.
Source: Bangalore Mirror | The Hindu
Stray dog menace back to bite Bengalureans again
Eleven-year-old Praveen, a student of the sixth standard in Vibhutipura village within the limits of Mahadevapura Constituency was mauled by a pack of stray dogs on August 29th. Within two days he succumbed to his injuries and died on September 1st after failed attempts to revive him in Manipal Hospital, following multiple organ failure and septic shock.
The HAL police swung into action when the mother of the deceased child, Murugamma, filed an FIR under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) and Section 338 ( causing grievous hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others). The bereaved mother called upon BBMP officials to take stringent measures to prevent such incidents in the future. Two officials of the BBMP’s Animal Husbandry Department and a contractor were booked on the charges.
In Yelahanka zone, Sarvodaya Animal Birth Control Centre was inspected when a team of officials, led by Joint Director (Animal Husbandry) G Anand, paid an unannounced visit. A show cause notice was issued upon discovery of expired medicines, dangerous needles and animals made to live inside butterfly nets.
In a similar incident within the same week, a fourteen year old boy and a UKG-going child, both students of St. Mira’s school, were attacked by a dog in Gubbanna Layout in Rajajinagar 6th block, along with the child’s grandmother and two other unidentified adult women.
The BBMP Commissioner has admitted that they have not conducted a census of stray dogs since 2012. While the BBMP claims to have sterilized 3.86 lakh stray dogs, they say that the dog population on the streets seemed to have risen instead of dwindling, as they had expected. Offering citizens some hope, Mayor Sampath Raj said that they will look into zone-wise identification, and try to rehabilitate the animals to prevent such cases from occuring in the future.
Source: The Hindu | The New Indian Express | The Times of India
A huge advertisement hoarding erected on a rajakaluve in Koramangala. Pic: Akshatha M (From archives)
Advertising agencies stand up to ban on outdoor advertising
Advertising agencies have petitioned the Karnataka High Court seeking action against the resolution passed by BBMP on August 6th banning outdoor advertising for one year. While hearing the litigation, a single judge bench consisting of Justice Narendar passed an interim order telling BBMP officials to act with restraint until a final decision was taken.
The court, however, is still deciding on the appropriate authority to hear the petition.The judge asked the Judicial Registrar whether this matter should be presented to a single judge bench or to the divisional bench in-charge of monitoring the removal of illegal hoardings in accordance with the ban.
The companies have claimed that the hoardings were erected in accordance with the by-laws approved by the Palike in 2016, and is also negatively affecting their livelihoods.
Source: The Hindu | The Deccan Herald
Bengaluru yet to submit clean air plan to the Centre
Bengaluru is one of the cities that have not yet complied with the Centre’s direction to submit action plans for the implementation of the National Clean Air-Programme (NCAP) released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) this year. NGO Greenpeace India, which had filed an RTI query to identify the cities that had done so, has discovered that 14 cities in south India have not yet presented their plans. Apart from Bengaluru, the list includes Davangere, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad in Karnataka.
The MoEFCC introduced the concept of the National Clean Air-Programme (NCAP) India that is elaborated in 62 pages in this document. The aim of the programme is to offer recommendations on the existing initiatives taken on by local or state governments to tackle air-pollution in cities, while introducing new mechanisms and technology to control pollution in a short span of time.
Meanwhile, IISC scientists are working on an invention of nanosensors that can be attached to a single microchip and inserted inside mobile phones, to monitor real time air-pollution levels. The project has received funding from Intel, a leading manufacturer of microchips. As a backup, the team might also develop a newly-designed hand-held device to accommodate the technology. The low cost device would be able to monitor four major pollutants: carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide.
Source: Deccan Chronicle| The Times of India | Down to Earth
[Compiled by Seema Prasad]