City: Bengaluru

https://youtu.be/onqbOrwibpI Credit: Naveeen Thomas Prasad Silk Board. Marathahalli. Outer Ring Road. What comes to your mind? Awful traffic jams, long commute and whatnot. Most of us avoid this route as much as possible, but many office-goers have no option. Recently, Naveen Thomas Prasad, an IT employee, noticed something beautiful on his way back from work -  Tabebuia Rosea trees in full bloom, lined up on the ORR between Marathahalli and Silk Board Junction. He decided to capture it on camera. On capturing the pink bloom!? Naveen says he’s always been spellbound by nature’s scenic beauty and how it can heal the…

Whitefield, ORR, Bellandur and surrounding areas are set for a water crisis, as the District Administration of Bengaluru (Rural) has come down heavily on tanker water suppliers for extracting groundwater from farmland. BESCOM has disconnected power supply to tanker operators’ borewells. Bengaluru Khasagi Neeru Sarabarajudhaarara Sangha, an association of private tanker-water suppliers, has called for a strike starting 16 March. This would affect residents, especially those in apartments, who depend on tanker supply for their daily water needs as they have limited or no supply from BWSSB. Tanker water supply to Mahadevapura and East Bangalore areas has become short by…

As much as Rs, 8344 crore was announced for Bengaluru’s development in the latest state Budget presented by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on March 5. Here’s the catch: It is a carry-over of the previous year’s Budget – with an outlay of Rs 8015 crore for Bengaluru --presented by then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. What’s more, it bears a new name. The former’s grants came under the `Chief Minister’s Nava Bengaluru Kriya Scheme’ while Yediyurappa’s allocations for Bengaluru comes under the `Chief Minister’s Nava Nagarottana Scheme’. There are more similarities: From solid waste management to transport, mobility, water supply,…

Bengaluru recently topped the TomTom Traffic Index 2019, that ranked 416 global cities on traffic congestion. Mumbai (4th position), Pune (5th) and Delhi (8th) were the other Indian cities that featured in the top 10. Countless memes and jokes on Bengaluru’s notorious traffic and roads - most recently the ‘astronaut walking on moon’ video - have been doing the rounds. Why is the city unable to solve its traffic mess despite its countless planning documents and experts? Only 7% land in Bengaluru is used for road infrastructure Bengaluru is a ring-radial patterned city similar to Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The…

Five COVID-19 cases reported so far Five COVID-19 cases were reported in Bengaluru as of Thursday. The first case, confirmed on March 9, was that of a 46-year-old IT employee who had travelled from US via Dubai. His wife (47), daughter (13), and a 50-year-old man were added to the list the next day. The fifth case, reported on Thursday, was that of a 26-year-old who returned from Greece. All five patients have all been quarantined in the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD). They are responding well to treatment and are recovering, said RGICD Director C Nagaraj.…

It was almost mid-morning on Tuesday, when Manjunath, a sugarcane juice vendor, had three unexpected visitors. Lanyards hanging from their necks, their ID cards were concealed in their pockets. However their sharp dressing - long-sleeved shirts and dark pants - was a giveaway to the 40-year-old vendor. He realised they were not ones to take a sip of ‘pressed juice’ from his makeshift outlet near Koramangala grounds. Manjunath says, “One was speaking on his phone, two others seemed to be checking the sugarcane juice vending machine, steel vessels, sieve, stored juice extracts. One of them made some notes in a…

The BMTC has more often than not followed the KSRTC in increasing fares. With the latter recently increasing fares, chances of the former considering a revision is a possibility. While that suspense continues, a study by the city-based think-tank Fields of View demonstrates exactly why it makes sense -- economically and environmentally -- to reduce bus fares. The study -- ‘Scenario based analysis of change in fares for public transport, ridership, congestion and emissions in Bangalore’ -- demonstrates through different scenarios (bus fare being the primary variable) just how much Bengaluru could gain, or lose, from BMTC’s decisions.The authors of…

In the last few days, cholera cases have been reported from across the city, and there are fears about a large-scale outbreak. Let us quickly understand certain basics of the disease, how it affects us, what we can do to safeguard our health and life, and be an agent of change to control the spread of the disease. Let us look at the facts first. Every year, cholera infects 1.3 to 4 million people globally, and claims the lives of 21,000 to 1.43 lakh people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). What makes it so virulent as to turn into…

On March 2, women from several walks of life assembled at Jayanagar’s Kittur Rani Chennamma stadium and used their art to oppose sexual violence against women and gendered minorities. Organised by several women’s and civil rights organisations, the ‘Aman Chowk’ or Peace Square meet, was in line with One Billion Rising (OBR), a UN campaign aimed at stifling sexual violence against women. There were workshops, dance and musical performances, poetry recitals, conversations and artwork. Amid exhibitions depicting women rising against injustice, there was an 'aman ki razi' or harmony quilt that was being meticulously stitched by women. This was followed…

The Honourable National Green Tribunal (NGT) of India, constituted under the NGT Act of 2010, bases all its directions and judgements on three basic tenets: Sustainable development Precautionary principle Polluter pays These tenets are considered the bedrock of jurisprudence in cases relating to the environment. I have absolutely no quarrel with any of these guiding principles. I have a question, however, on how the Hon. NGT defines and decides who the real polluter is, in case of dysfunctional sewage treatment plants (STPs) in apartments. Based on NGT's directions, the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been issuing notices to apartments for running…