City: Bengaluru

In this series, individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In the seventh part of the series, a resident of Jakkur describes how her gated community supported those in need. On March 22, the day our Prime Minister called for Janta Curfew, we sensed the challenge ahead was not going to end anytime soon. The Janta Curfew gave a sneak peek into the potential problems during the long haul. It also made me ask - what can each individual do to minimise these problems?   Around that time, my husband…

Construction of a recharge well in progress. Pic: Biome In 2018, Raghuram C G, a software program manager at Adobe, got a recharge well dug in his plot in Vidyaranyapura. “Rainwater falling in the plot gets channelised into the recharge well. The 15-ft well is now filled up to 10-11 ft, and has around 2000 litres of water. I’ve been building a house in the plot, and water from the well is used for all construction needs.” Raghuram built the well after being inspired by ‘A Million Wells for Bengaluru’ movement. The design firm Biome Environmental Solutions, along with the…

Train services for migrants restarted, KSRTC services stopped On Thursday, state government gave directions to restart train services, following criticism of its earlier decision to cancel trains. On Tuesday, after a meeting with the representatives of the CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India) Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that the COVID situation was in control and hence economic activities had to be resumed. Trains were stopped to prevent migrant labourers from travelling back. With this, hundreds of migrant labourers from North Indian states began to walk towards their hometowns. Following public outrage against this, government then…

Karnataka sold over Rs. 45 Crore worth of alcohol on the first day of the re-opening of standalone liquor shops on May 4. The figure surprised many and photographs of people waiting in long queues did the rounds on social media. However, the shock and awe proved to be short-lived, as the state made Rs. 197 Crore in sales, marking a 337% spike from the first day. Bengaluru too experienced a similar rush. Just one store in the city, Tonique, reportedly made over Rs. 4 Crore - or close to 10% of the state's total in sales just on the…

Elected representatives have long been clamouring that the existing Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act of 1976 is unsuited for a huge metropolis like Bengaluru. Hence the state government has drafted an exclusive BBMP Bill. The Bill was placed before the Legislative Assembly  on March 24, without any pre-legislative disclosure in public domain which violated Section 4(1)(c) and (d) of the Right to Information Act. As per the Opposition's demand, the Bill was then sent to a Joint Select Committee that comprises members from various parties. Hopefully, the Committee will conduct consultations. Read the full text of the BBMP Bill hereDownload…

Locked Down and Hungry In the days following the lockdown, Gauramma’s kitchen in their small house in Whitefield’s Garudacharpalya, ran out of food. As irony would have it, she used to cook in other people’s homes before the lockdown. Hunger was imminent for her and her three children aged between 10 and 13 years.  Gauramma’s family arrived in Bengaluru two years ago. They knew nobody in the big city. And, when the lockdown was imposed, her husband, a taxi driver, was away in his home town Chitradurga.  “I hadn’t got my salary over the past month, and I didn’t have…

In this series, individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In the sixth part of the series, a resident of Vasanth Nagar describes the measures his RWA took. It was two days into the nationwide lockdown when Muniratna, a milkman, mentioned to one of our core team members, “Sir, what about daily wagers in the area? They can’t go anywhere, how will they survive?” Muniratna’s question got this VRWA core team member thinking. He and his family decided to initiate their own small pilot effort to test the waters…

RJ Usha from Radio Active 90.4 MHz speaks to Mohammed Imran, a worker from the Dry Waste Collection Centre (DWCC) at Ward No 123, on problems related to waste collection and segregation during lockdown. It's been over a month since the lockdown began, but Imran says that door-to-door waste collection has been going on as usual. Several workers at Imran's DWCC have been absent from work as they live in Bapuji Nagar ward which has been completely sealed off. Hence the collected waste is not being segregated on time. This, along with the difficulty in transporting waste from the DWCC,…

Anupama Provisions, Akbar Fruits and Vegetables, Kumar Mutton - let’s admit it,  not many of us can recount the names of the small retail shops right next to our homes. Standalone shops, vegetable and fruit stalls, some with carpet area of just 200 sq ft claiming to be mini-supermarkets. Never mind the obscure names of these shops or their enterprising abilities - when malls and supermarket chains in prime areas almost shuttered operations during COVID-19 lockdown, these corner shops became the go-to-outlets for the local residents to cater their daily needs. Unlike many other businesses, these shops which sell essentials…

Yesterday, a team of representatives from Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF) - a federation of apartment RWAs in the city - participated in a video-conference with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) officials. BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar, Special Commissioner (Health and Projects) Dr Ravi Surpur and Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Randeep Dev were present, along with representatives of various Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs).  Here are some key updates which were shared in the meeting: RWAs to stay alert and updated  As per the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on May 1, and subsequent orders…