City: Bengaluru

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…

Bengaluru may not be the Indian city with the most number of trees, but it certainly has a wide diversity of flowering and avenue trees. Our city also has many species that attain enormous size or height, such as the Akasha Mallige, Silver Oak, Aruacarias, Rain Trees and the African Tulip. Some of these giants simply arrest our senses by their sheer size and majestic bearing as they stand guard over street corners, traffic islands or small lanes. What makes many of them unique is that they are rarely found in cities, and would be more at home in jungles.…

40% progress in road-cum-Metro rail flyover The BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) has made 40% progress in the road-cum-Metro rail flyover on the 3.2 km stretch between Ragigudda, JP Nagar and Central Silk Board on Marenahalli Road. This section is part of the Bommasandra - RV Road line in Phase 2 of Namma Metro. BMRCL says that the most complex activity was the launching and fixing of wings to the spine segment of the road flyover, which is now completed. This is the first road-cum-rail flyover in the city. The Rs 330 crore structure has a four-lane flyover at…

Apprehension loomed large in the mind of homemaker Geetha Dhananjaya, when she first accompanied the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) to their night rounds in Kumaraswamy Layout, in mid-September. Now however, the 45-year old, sporting a salwar kameez, says she has become a regular at the night rounds. Geetha is part of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee (NWC) of the city police. “Being a homemaker, I was not used to being around cops though all of them were women. So initially I had agreed to accompany them with a bit of reluctance,” Geetha says. Geetha is among the 45 NWC members at…

The third edition of Janaagraha’s annual Bengaluru Civic Fest, held in association with Cisco, showcased how Gen Z is taking initiative to bring change in society. The one-day fest was held at the Bangalore International Centre, Domlur. It was a culmination of the IChangeMyCity Challenge, organised from August to December 2019, in which students were tasked with identifying a civic issue that affects their neighbourhood and to come up with an innovative solution to address it. Over 14,000 students from Classes VI to XII across India participated in the challenge through the IChangeMyCity Challenge portal, co-created by Cisco. Twenty-five teams,…

As the rejuvenation of Bellandur and Varthur lakes is underway, the NGO Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) has written an open letter to the state government, requesting course correction. The expert committee on lake rejuvenation had recommended that both the lakes be desilted, but BET's letter points out that it'd take 53 years to remove the toxic silt-cum-slush in Bellandur lakebed, and 20 years for Varthur lakebed! This is because toxic waste has flown into the two lakes, unimpeded, for the last 50 years. BET's calculations are based on a recent study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). More importantly, the…

It seems like Bengaluru is sitting on a powder keg. Recently the state Transport Department revealed that a staggering 50,000 vehicles were registered every month in the city, on average, in 2019. The public transport (PT) system here - Metro and buses - is hampered by the lack of seamless connectivity. This in turn forces commuters to use private cars, two-wheelers and private buses, along with intermediate public transport (IPT) like autos and cabs. The increasing number of private vehicles have led to traffic congestion, increased travel time and air pollution. Despite introducing Metro and procuring more buses, Indian cities…