City: Bengaluru

Why are lakes in Bengaluru polluted? Who is accountable? Karnataka government has recently constituted Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) to oversee the lake conservation. But there are many agencies in the city that are supposed to handle specific issues related to pollution.  But there is a problem. With multiple bodies looking after different systems, there is no accountability for any of them. When the crisis hits, they blame each other and get away, while the lakes emit fire and froth. Here is an explanation of which agency is responsible for what problem, as far as a lake is…

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Karnataka and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression Karnataka released their joint fact-finding report on the garment workers strike of April 18 and 19 2016. The report, titled Thread and Tension- an account of the historic uprising of garment workers, was launched jointly by Rangamma from the BBMP Contract Powrakarmika Workers' Union, Bhagya from Garment and Textile Workers' Union (GATWU), Pushpa from the Stree Jaagruti Samiti (Domestic Workers' Rights Union), and Rukmini, an Anganwadi teacher. The report release was preceded by a panel discussion, moderated by Kavita Srinivas of PUCL, where the panelists spoke of…

Pic: Shree D N The city government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has put out details of solid waste management (SWM) microplan for Bengaluru’s wards. With this public data, you can understand what is working in garbage collection and clearance and what is not, in your ward, and engage with fellow citizens and officials to resolve it. How to access the information: Go to the homepage of the BBMP website: bbmp.gov.in Choose the language and go to the department section on http://bbmp.gov.in/en/web/guest/home Select the Solid Waste Management section. (ಘನತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ section if in Kannada) Go to the download section - you…

There is hope; be a part of the change, to improve your neighbourhood. Pic: Shree D N BBMP elections were held in 2015. It’s been two years since then, and it feels like a long time ago. Perhaps you may have even forgotten who you voted for. It may also feel like your corporator has forgotten you. But the fact is, we still have three years to go for the next BBMP election, and the game is far from over - in fact it has only begun now! BBMP is responsible for many of the things that affect your daily…

April 24th was the Women's Political Empowerment Day. Is this cause limited to just a day? How do we actually make it happen? This graph shows the representation of women in municipality, assembly and parliament levels, from Bengaluru. What does it tell you? Womens' representation in Parliament, Assembly and BBMP levels in Bengaluru. Graph: Sahana Mohan Think about it - though there are no women MLAs or MPs, there are 101 women corporators in Bengaluru. The number of councillors rose to 101 because BBMP has 50% reservation for women, not because the political and electoral system believed in the cause.…

‘Nurture your green patch' is an initiative from Wipro to grow and harvest vegetables and other plants. It is an opportunity for employees to showcase and learn horticulture at the workplace. Supported by the Sustainability and Facilities team, the Community Garden is flourishing at the Electronic City (EC4) campus of Wipro. Living in urban spaces, we seem to be moving further away from natural environments. A large part of our lives is spent indoors staring at gadjets. Some of us are lucky to have found a favourite nature-spot around where we live and work to help us relax, unwind and…

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to constitute Ward Committees in Bengaluru within a month! Several earlier orders that asked the civic body to constitute the ward committees had not been conformed with. Ward committees are mandated as per Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, 1992. The direction came as part of a petition filed by Leo Saldanha and others, that said the BBMP is in violation of repeated directions from Karnataka High Court. Leo Saldanha, sharing this news over email, points out, "What would really help now is for public-spirited persons to step up and…

In the first part of the series on composting plant in HSR Layout, we shared the citizens’ view on Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant in Kudlu. In the second part, I talked about what I saw in the plant. In this last part, I’ll be getting into the intricacies of what is going on. Every time the residents arose in protest over the functioning of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant in Kudlu, the KCDC and the BBMP would temporarily mollify them with assurances. BBMP would talk of introducing solutions for odour control or shifting the waste elsewhere, and…