City: Bengaluru

Many lakes in Bengaluru, such as Kaikondrahalli, Kasavanahalli and Kalkere lakes, have foamed before. But the quantity of foam in Varthur and Bellandur lakes are alarmingly high.  In our previous article, we saw that fire occurs in Bellandur and Varthur lakes mainly because about 40% of the city's sewage is discharged into the catchment areas of these lakes. Apart from sewage, industrial effluents and solid waste are also dumped into these lakes. In some circumstances, this can cause the formation of foam. Foam in both Bellandur and Varthur lakes usually form during the pre-monsoon and monsoon season, when there are heavy…

As schools struggle to adapt to the new classrooms, it is the children who are paying the price Pic: Sandeep J Gupta It is a strange question for five-year-old Arya to ask his mother - “How many meetings do I have today?”.  But we live in strange times and my friend’s son still cannot wrap his mind around the fact that he is expected to sit in front of a computer from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm for his classes or what he calls "meetings". His mother, Anitha Anand, a physiotherapist, doesn’t have answers either. And she is not the only…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. This series is pubished in collaboration with Radio Active's #BengaluruMoving campaign. In this first part of the series, a transport expert shares his ideas.] Before we look into ‘post-COVID’ Bengaluru, we need to look back at how our transport system was in pre-COVID Bengaluru. We were facing extreme growth in: Vehicular traffic (both in terms of number of vehicles and vehicle kilometers travelled) and congestion on city roadsTraffic accidents and fatalities, especially of vulnerable road users High levels of exhaust emissions including…

For asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients with varying degrees of deep pockets and a healthy aversion to hospitals, there’s an alternative: Many private hospitals and business-starved hotels have joined hands to make isolation not just palatable, but even a bit posh. The initiative comes at a rather grim time for the city: the pandemic rampages while a beleaguered infrastructure is struggling to keep up. The new treatment option, authorities hope, will free up precious healthcare resources for the truly needy. After months of bucking the national trend, especially in comparison with other Metros, COVID-19 positive cases in Bengaluru have…

Home quarantine is often not possible in low-income settlements. Pic: Raghav Indra The state government and BBMP have been prescribing preventive measures ever since COVID-19 cases started to be reported in Bengaluru. But for the city's low-income communities, these are nearly impossible to follow. For example, you can't wash your hands regularly if you don't have regular piped water supply, or practise social distancing in a densely-populated slum. As the city's health system is overwhelmed, those living in slums are left without basic support. Residents who had come in contact with COVID-positive persons are unable to even self-quarantine due to…

Over 33,000 trees to be felled for PRR The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) admits that the construction of the eight-lane PRR (Peripheral Ring Road) would require the felling of 33,838 trees. For about four years, BDA had argued that only 200 trees would be cut, based on an erroneous Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) rejected the report based on a submission by the Horticulture and Forest Department. Meanwhile, an EIA draft report estimates that 3,541 trees will be affected by the metro link between KR Puram and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The report says that…

Recently, the state government and BBMP decided to allow apartment RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) in Bengaluru to set up their own in-situ COVID Care Centres (CCCs). CCCs are facilities where COVID patients with mild or no symptoms can be isolated and monitored. The idea was to relieve the burden on the healthcare system as the city's daily COVID count rose to the thousands. Though the government has released guidelines on community CCCs, setting these up remains a difficult task, requiring RWAs to arrange hard-to-obtain medical equipment and expertise. What are the nuances for setting up a COVID facility for apartments?…

The Covid-19 crisis has forced many institutions to up their game and work round the clock. Their resilience and efficiency in crisis management has been thoroughly tested over the past few months. The police is one such institution that has been in the forefront. Pushed as it was, into the frontlines of an unfamiliar task – policing a contagion – the institution received as much flak as praise, in varying degree. Relief volunteers who plunged into food and ration distribution, fund-raising and working with migrant labourers, were possibly at a vantage point to assess the role of the police at the…

When Bengaluru schools started online classes in June, many opposed it citing the lack of laptop access for large sections of students, health concerns etc. Soon after, the state government banned online classes for primary school children altogether. Shukla Bose, Founder and CEO of the non-profit Parikrma Humanity Foundation, however opposed the government ban on classes, even though her own students come from deprived backgrounds. Parikrma Foundation's schools cater to over 1800 students from slums across Bengaluru, with the aim of providing quality education and helping the children break out of poverty. At the time the government banned online classes,…

Manjunath Prasad has been appointed as BBMP Commissioner. Pic Credit: KPLCL Manjunath Prasad back as BBMP Commissioner On Saturday, state government removed B H Anil Kumar from the post of BBMP Commissioner, and appointed N Manjunath Prasad instead. Manjunath Prasad has served as BBMP Commissioner previously. He has proposed divisional management of COVID-19 instead of the current practice of zonal management. As per the plan, a KAS official would be in charge of each of the 27 divisions in the city, with control rooms and adequate resources. They would also be tasked with ramping up ambulances and manpower. Source: The…