City: Bengaluru

Translated by Mukund Gowda ಅನೇಕ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಸಿಲ್ಕ್ ಬೋರ್ಡ್ ಮತ್ತು ಕೆ.ಆರ್.ಪುರಂ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಬಿಎಂಟಿಸಿ ಬಸ್ ಚಾಲನೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ರಾಮು ಬಿ.ಪಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಕಳೆದ ನವೆಂಬರ್ 1 ರಿಂದ ಜಾರಿಯಾದ ಬಸ್ ಆದ್ಯತೆ ಪಥ ನಿರಾಳತೆ ನೀಡಿದೆ. "ಮೊದಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಈ ಮಾರ್ಗ ಮಧ್ಯದ ಸಂಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ 75 ನಿಮಿಷ ಬೇಕಿತ್ತು , ಕಳೆದ ಮೂರು ತಿಂಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇದು 45-50 ನಿಮಿಷಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿದಿದೆ." ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುವ ಇವರು "ಬಸ್ ಆದ್ಯತೆ ಪಥ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಜಾರಿಯಾದರೆ,‌ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಸಮಯ ಉಳಿಯುವುದು" ಎಂದು ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  ಇದೇ ಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಸ್ ಚಲಾಯಿಸುವ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬ ಚಾಲಕ ಸಂಜಪ್ಪ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಬಸ್ ಆದ್ಯತೆ ಪಥ ಮಾನಸಿಕ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿ ನೀಡಿದೆ. "ಮೊದಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಜನರು ಬೇಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿಯಿಂದ  ಅಪಾಯಕಾರಿಯಾಗಿ ವಾಹನ‌ ಓಡಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಒತ್ತಡ ಇತ್ತು, ಇದೀಗ ನಮಗೆಂದೇ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಪಥ ಇರುವುದರಿಂದ ಬಸ್ ಚಲಾಯಿಸುವುದು ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿದೆ" ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಾರಿಗೆಗೆ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಪಥ ನೀಡಿರುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂತಸ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಎಲ್ಲಾ ವಾಹನ ಸವಾರರು…

Cubbon Park was created as a 100-acre park in 1870 by Major General Richard Sankey. It was originally named Meade Park after the acting Commissioner of Mysuru in that year, John Meade. It was later named Cubbon Park, after Sir Mark Cubbon, a more illustrious successor to Meade.  Cubbon Park now covers close to 300 acres, making it the largest park in the city. A favourite with morning walkers and joggers in the heart of Bengaluru, it is in the news for a redevelopment project worth Rs 40 crore. As part of the smart city project, the redevelopment of the…

Last week, Amulya Leona, 19, a journalism student, was arrested and charged with sedition for sloganeering "Pakistan Zindabad" at a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the city. In January, another student Nalini B was charged with sedition in Mysore, after she held up a placard that said "Free Kashmir". But do such slogans or placards really qualify as sedition? As a law student I was introduced to ‘sedition’ while reading Gandhi’s statement during what is known as The Great Trial of 1922. In his concluding remarks, Gandhi invites the judge to convict him of sedition, with the…

It has been a decade since the Carlton Towers fire tragedy on 23 February, 2010. On Saturday, Beyond Carlton, a citizens' initiative that was formed after the incident, organised a fire safety awareness programme at the National Gallery of Modern Art to pay tribute to the nine lives lost -  Akhil Uday, Benzie Kumar, Fayaz Pasha, Madan Purohit, Rajesh Subramanian, Savitha R, Siddhartha Padam, Sunil Iyer, and Surabhi Joshi. As part of a series of events to create awareness and prevent fire accidents, we, at Beyond Carlton, had also launched a social media campaign #IamAFireChamp. On behalf of Beyond Carlton,…

SAP offices closed after H1N1 cases  After a couple of employees in the German software group SAP were tested positive for the H1N1 virus in Bengaluru, sources in the Indian arm of the company said Thursday that they had shut down all national offices for sanitisation. SAP India offices in Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Mumbai have been temporarily closed and employees have been asked to work from home. As per WHO (World Health Organisation), H1N1 symptoms include fever, chills and sore throat, like seasonal influenza. However, it is characterised by higher fatality rates among healthy young adults, as well as greater…

PublicEye, an app that allows citizens to report traffic violations, is seeing a steady growth in the number of complaints as well as resolution of the same. The app was launched in September 2015, jointly by Bengaluru Traffic Police(BTP) and Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship Democracy. From the time of its launch, PublicEye has aggregated a total of 1.26 lakh app downloads with 24,222 active users. It has received a total of 3.28 lakh complaints, of which 2.27 lakh complaints have been effectively resolved in the last four years. Last year, 2019, recorded the highest complaint uploads, with a 150% increase…

During the solar eclipse on December 26, the solar power generated in Karnataka dropped sharply for an hour. At the time, over 18% of the state’s power demand was being met through solar energy. Currently, the Bangalore Metropolitan Area Zone (BMAZ) draws around 20% of the state’s energy. Given this, much of Bengaluru’s energy demand can potentially be accommodated by solar power alone (Bengaluru gets power from the same grid that supplies to the entire state). With the commercial operation of the world’s largest solar park (2050 MW) at Pavagada in Tumkur district recently, Karnataka now has the highest capacity…

How often have we thought about how safe our food is or how sustainable our food practices are? What regulations exist to make our food secure? Who is enforcing these regulations, and how efficiently? Everyday food is often laced with pesticide residues, as shown by the crippling attack of arthritis in over 300 people in Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts. In another instance, excessive levels of poisonous fungi were found in flour sold in parts of Karnataka. The fungi could cause a range of disorders - from jaundice to gastrointestinal bleeding. Besides, India already faces a triple burden of malnutrition due…

The present state government has announced a series of measures to improve bus services – enhancing the bus fleet, reducing fares, introducing bus lanes and so on. The bus lanes have had a good start, but the other announcements are yet to be implemented. We, at the advocacy group BBPV (Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike), expect that the government will allot money to BMTC in the budget, so that that they can implement the announced decisions. In the context of the upcoming budget, BBPV conducted a survey to reach out to people in the city (both bus commuters and non-bus commuters)…

On a hot afternoon, Sachin (name changed on request) stands in the centre of a busy junction in the heart of the city. He’s wearing the iconic white uniform, a hat and black leather shoes. He also has two Mi AirPOP PM2.5 Anti-Pollution masks, which he wears during peak hours. “I can’t keep wearing the mask continuously for 8 hours, I can’t use the whistle and it’s uncomfortable”, he says. Traffic teems past him on both sides of the road, as he uses hand-signalling to direct vehicles.  He has been standing since 7 a.m. in the morning and will continue…