City: Bengaluru

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When 80-year-old Rukmini Amma fell and broke her leg at her home in Rajajinagar, her husband, 86-year-old Srikantan, called their neighbours for help. Neighbours helped Rukmini Amma get admitted to hospital, and informed her son who lives in Pune, and daughter who’s in Canada. Both rushed home, and helped her get the best treatment and surgery, and brought her back home. When it was time for them to go back, they weighed their options. Finally they brought a new person home - 55-year-old Kuppamma, a trained geriatric care personnel, who…

In the last few years, citizen-led movements in Bengaluru have garnered major headlines for various success stories as they took on governments and made the administration work a little more effectively. But the tradition of community groups working towards making their city a better place is an old one in Malleshwaram. Rekha Chari of Malleshwaram Swambhimana Initiative (MSI) and Suchitra Deep of Malleshwaram Social chatted with Citizen Matters on a Facebook Live, on the journey of the two groups, the hurdles of running a community group at a time when neighbours aren't aware of each other and the various mediums…

Private vehicle growth has choked cities and caused massive loss in productivity. With a growing population, moving to mass transport is the only way to avoid further congestion. But there are inconveniences in choosing public transport. One is the need to make multiple changes which means the transition needs to be smooth. Second, Public Transport never drops you at your doorstep. There is always a last mile which would have to be covered by walk or some other mode. Let’s for a moment assume this last mile segment is solved; as a choice architect, what can the state do to…

There are cubes and cylinders here. But this is no maths class. There are bugs and a big scorpion too, yet this is no forest. Buddha and Christ almost facing each other, not in any place of worship though. This is Bengaluru’s most famous cake show, that happens at St Joseph’s Grounds every year, in this season. If you are a Bengalurean or have been here for a couple of Christmas seasons now, chances are that you would have visited this show. It was sheer chance that saw me near the gates of St. Joseph's School on a Thursday evening…

Today is observed as National Consumers Day. If you are reading this, you are a literate, educated citizen with internet connection for accessing  information via Google. But does ‘educated’ always mean ‘aware’? Check this. In Bengaluru, there are several medical shops and pharmacies that offer a discount for senior citizens. A comprehensive list of such shops, clinics and hospitals around the city, listed area-wise, is available at Nightingales Elders Enrichment Centre (NEEC) in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. Many elders know about this centre, they even attend regular events there, but some don’t know that there exists such a list of discounts available.…

Right To Education (RTE) helpline (1800 4253 4567) was launched recently by the  Social Welfare Department of Karnataka, which allows one to lodge complaints and get information on the Act. The Executive Director of the Child Rights Trust, Vasudeva Sharma, spoke to RadioActive about how the helpline could be used effectively. Vasudeva Sharma explained that the RTE Act had been introduced way back in 2009 in Karnataka, and a lot of calls used to be received by the Child Rights Trust members on their personal numbers seeking clarifications. Even though there were no instructions available regarding RTE at that time,…

Big money for Bengaluru Karnataka State cabinet sanctioned an amount of 8038 crores for next three years, for various development works in Bengaluru. As of now, about 1200 crores have been sanctioned for whitetopping, while rejuvenation of Bellandur lake got Rs 350 crores. Meanwhile BBMP continues to burn money on projects that have no explanation, like an unused library and a quarters that doesn’t belong to BBMP. The Court Commissioners appointed by the High Court pointed out to the substandard quality of BBMP’s understanding of engineering, in its report. The High Court rapped the BBMP. In other news, BBMP has…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship How many people in Bengaluru use Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Company (BMTC) buses, which are perceived to be the lifeline of the city, everyday? BMTC figures say the ridership is 51 lakh. This means BMTC, with its 6650 buses, sells 51 lakh tickets daily from the 70,892 trips it undertakes. Each bus undertakes an average of 5-6 round trips per day. There are demands for increasing BMTC buses. But will more buses help? Look at the city’s roads - the traffic crawls at such a low speed that even walking can…

The Knights of Cubbon Bark, (Cubbon Park Canines Volunteers) have organised the second annual Santa BowWow FunTrain at 9 am-10.30 am on Sunday, December 23, 2018. After the excellent response last year, the festival is back with a bang. It is designed to help children get along with dogs in a safer and happier manner. The Knights of Cubbon Bark, (Cubbon Park Canines Volunteers) decided after an unfortunate child-dog interaction, where a frightened dog inadvertently injured a young boy, that it was important to create a safe and fun platform to help children and adults figure out ways to happily…

Dear H D Kumaraswamy, Do you have children or grandchildren? The reason I ask is this: What future are we really gifting them? Have you got any idea what the specialists at the United Nations Climate change, COP conventions are deliberating these days? Let me offer you a flavor: They are debating which countries will take the upcoming waves of Climate Change Refugees. ie, when Maldives goes under the sea, who will receive the wave of refugees that will flee? When Bangladesh is fully under sea, who will receive those millions? These make it look distant. But then what I…