City: Bengaluru

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…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship Laly Randolf, an activist from Kasavanahalli, was holding a small social event, and wanted to rent steel tumblers. She called a plate bank called Hasiru Mithra Cutlery in HSR Layout, and rented what was needed. She wanted to keep the garbage generated as minimal as possible. Garbage dumps are a common sight in Bengaluru. If it is not piled up in empty sites or landfills, it is seen in mounds at street corners. This is not just due to poor management by the authorities in charge, but also because of…

Death by food poisoning is back in the news in Karnataka. As of the last report 13 people have died and over 130 people fell ill by consuming the prasad that was served at a temple in Chamarajanagar. This comes just two days after 87  students took ill after finding lizard in their midday meal scheme. And the chief minister’s answer to this is to issue a circular, by the Religious and Endowments or Muzrai department of Karnataka, which states that all food served in temples, including those to be donated by private individuals, should be tested before being distributed…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When 78-year-old Shyamala (name changed) had a heart attack in the middle of the night, there was no one around to help. Shyamala was widowed, and had no children. “She was wailing from pain all night, but no one heard her. At around 5 am, neighbours came over, and Shyamala had to crawl up to the door to open it,” says Shyamala’s former neighbour G Ramachandra. Shyamala’s condition was critical, and the neighbours took her to a hospital where she was operated on. But afterwards, Shyamala was worried of living…

Mohammad Khan lived in an informal slum near Bellandur lakebed, making a living collecting and segregating waste. When Citizen Matters covered his story five years ago, we found many families who lived off waste, playing a necessary role in the waste management ecosystem. They traversed the neighbourhoods of Sarjapur Road, HSR Layout and Jakkasandra with bicycles stacked with recyclable waste from across the area. Informal squatter settlements with the ubiquitous blue tent dwellings are often at risk of eviction. Recently, about 5000 migrant labourers living in makeshift sheds in Thubarahalli were threatened by the police and asked to vacate, after local…

When you heard on November 22 that effluents from an exploded boiler's sugar factory entered River Shimsha, did you hear some alarm bells too? There were some fears that the potassium-laced river waters would enter River Cauvery near Shivanasamudra, which would pollute the Bengaluru water supply network. Would they have come true? "The city's water supply would not be affected. The polluted waters would get diluted by the time it reaches the city," explained Vishwanath Srikantaiah, an expert on water-related issues. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board officials were camping on the site and sending the water samples for testing. K.L.…