City: Bengaluru

The fully functional water treatment system. Pic: Akshatha M Arjun Ravi Kumar, a builder, once visited T-Zed, an apartment-cum-villa community that treats and reuses all its waste water. There he met Srinivasan Sekar, who as part of the Management Committee there, worked on the water system design. He recalls, "Sekhar offered me a glass of tap water saying that it is generated from sewage, initially I was a bit reluctant to drink it but when I did, (I realised) it was as good as any bottled water. " Arjun lives in an apartment that his firm built - Surbacon Maple,…

Dear reader, Wish you a very happy new year from all of us at Citizen Matters - Oorvani Foundation! It was a sad start to the new year, with the reports of molestation in several parts of Bengaluru. What do you think about the debate around molestation incidents? We would like to hear from you! This week’s highlight NICE road land acquisition saga Framers in Gonipura, Thippur and Sigehalli villages grow ragi, maize, dal, peanuts and veggies in their fertile agriculture land. Pic: Akshatha M Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) was supposed to connect two cities seamlessly. NICE Road, the part…

Villagers of Gonipura, Thippur and Sigehalli near Bidadi are largely dependent on farming for their livelihood. Pic: Akshatha M Krishnappa, a small farmer in his late 60s, vividly remembers the day 18 years ago, when he first received a government notice which said his five-acre agricultural land was notified for a road and township project. The notice came as a shocker to him as well as his fellow-villagers in Thippur, a quiet rural suburb near Bidadi located in Bengaluru South taluk. Little did Krishnappa and the villagers know about this mega project that would one day put their lives in…

Oblesh speaks about how the necessity of sanitation created the task of manual scavenging, and how the affluent class used to define a lower caste to undertake this task of manual scavenging. This necessity perpetrated the exploitation of the castes that has spanned generations. And that this is still practiced today, even though the original necessity of sanitation has been mostly been addressed by modern toilets. He says it is important to have proper sanitation infrastructure in place so that the necessity is meet, this task of manual scavenging will no longer be relevant and die away by itself.  

Nearly every citizen of Bangalore has heard of the current state of two of Bangalore’s biggest lakes - the Varthur and Bellandur lakes. The main reasons for the pollution of these lakes are the untreated sewage and industrial effluents that are constantly flowing into the lake.  Map source: All you need to know about Bellandur lake and its problems. Though we all know that these lakes are in bad shape, many of us may not be aware of the extent of  pollution. Check these shocking pictures. VARTHUR LAKE   The froth that we usually see at the top surface of…

Orion Mall. Pic: Shree D N Around August 2016, as BBMP began its storm water drain encroachment clearance work following flooding in various parts of the city, a case involving a high profile encroacher came to light. The alleged encroacher was Brigade Group. A survey report submitted by the Land Records Joint Director to the Commissioner of Survey, Settlement and Land Records on September 2nd, estimated that the Brigade Gateway that houses Orion Mall in Yeshwanthpur was constructed on 3.4 acre of B Kharab land which was meant for a storm water drain (SWD). In the concluding words of his…

On Dec. 23, 2016, I conducted a “Walk-n-Talk” for the residents of the campus at Indian Institute of Managament, Bangalore (IIMB). Pic: Deepa Mohan Prof Shainesh, who is the Dean of Administration, and a keen birder himself, opened up the campus for two bird census events in Feb and Nov 2016, and he wanted to ensure that the residents on the campus also got to know more about the flora and avifauna in the place where they live. Group before setting off for the walk. Pic: Deepa Mohan Dr. Selvarajan Rajeswaran, who is doing a doctoral program at IIMB, was…

Listen to Chetan, where he speaks about his understanding of gender and sexuality, on being a heterosexual and living his life in an hetero normative society, transphobia in films, need for queer literature in India, the need to support the rights of the LGBTQIA community... these are his inspiration to be a supporter of the community.    

We couldn’t help sharing this curated list of stories we published in 2016 - so here we are, with special year-end edition of the newsletter! These are the stories that make us what we are; these are the stories you would love to indulge in, to get a 360 degree view of an issue. Let us know which one you liked the best! The messed-up storm water drain encroachment clearance drive 2016 saw unprecedented action by the revenue department, where many buildings encroaching storm water drains were razed down. Many of these buildings had authorised plan sanction from BBMP. How…

Maheshwari talks about how she got into collecting waste hair, picking up waste hair from streets and also by going house to house, bartering for waste hair with small household items and also offering money. She and her fellow workers buy hair by weight, collecting small quantities and over time, sell in bulk. Did you know that grey hair have a lesser rate than black hair? Maheshwari also upcycles waste hair by making wigs from this collected hair.