City: Bengaluru

Last week, we covered the issue of many parents in Bengaluru protesting against the private schools hiking fees, which they say has doubled in last 4-5 years. But, is there another side to the story? Citizen Matters spoke to a few school managements and teachers. What are the costs involved in running a school? "It’s not just the maintenance expenses that the school managements have to bear, but the initial establishment cost too," says Dr M Srinivasan, Founder and Chairman of GEAR International School. For instance, he says, if a person had to buy two acres of land in a prime…

I needed that drink after just an hour out in the sun on Saturday morning near the Puttenahalli Lake, at Nataraj Layout in JP Nagar. More labour under what looked like a deceptively dull sky that morning and it quietly saps you. At that point, all resolutions incinerate instantly and the body rejects what appears like salad, fresh though it may be. Instead, the body wants to chill on a mat, or even better, on a seat with liquid much stronger. And voila! Nothing like the kind consideration of my fellow nationals in the thoughtful accompaniment of the glass with…

Let us first analyse what is Khaatha. It is just an account number allotted to property owners by BBMP so that property tax paid by them is credited to that particular owner's 'account'. It is in no way different from a Bank Khaatha (account in English). It is directly derived from the earlier Property identifcation number like Survey number or previous Khaatha number. After allotting Khaatha, BBMP Officials move further to assess the property tax which is dependant on the area (how developed the area of the property is), and sq ft area of the relative property. It is also…

BMTC is issuing the Students concessional pass for the year 2016-17 on a staggered time table to facilitate smooth and hassle-free issue of passes to the student community. The passes are now being issued for primary, secondary and high school students from 4th June, 2016 onwards.    43 pass counters spread across the city listed below will issue the passes. The counters will function from 8 am to 5 pm on all working days and remain close on Sundays and General Holidays. Pass Issue centers: Kempegowda Bus Station, Shivajinagar Bus Station, Kalyannagar Bus Station, Kengeri TTMC, Vijayanagar TTMC, Yeshwanthpura TTMC, Jayanagar…

The city faces urban floods every year, in rainy season. Here are the numbers you will need to get help, to clear the floods, to clear the fallen trees and to catch the reptiles that lose base and start scouting around in your locality. BBMP Control room numbers Centre nameNumberIPP Centre22660000BBMP office22221188, 22975595South Zone26566362East Zone22975803West Zone23561692Dasarahalli28393688, 22975904Yelahanka22975936Bommanahalli25732447, 25735642Mahadevapura28512300/01Rajarajeshwari Nagar28601851, 28600954 The names and numbers of snake catchers / BBMP wildlife volunteers Sl.  Name Zone Phone No 1Sharath Babu R West 98801088012Druvakumar R South 98862864613Surya Kumar M South 98451252314Mahesh Kumar Bommanahalli 99169689595Shashikumar M South 98450204986Arjun M South 99026004427Yatish U South 99166764208Akshay Kumar M South 98457355199Adil Arif Dasarahalli 988051082410Sreeram V South 966301500011Sanjeev P South 974208433512Vijayababu S South 997248799113Guru South 994515982914Deepak S West 988617939615Nagabhushan Mahadevapura 934124048216Shivaraj S R.R. Nagara 984412378817Spoorthy P East 984453003318Kumar R.R. Nagara 990279471119Saleem Hameed East 998621001520Abhishek S Byatarayanapura 963205050321Arun Kumar Byatarayanapura 900871956822Mohan K Dasarahalli 984508090323Manjunath P Bommanahalli 994523933724Rajesh Kumar M West 903611100725Jayaraj…

This is an excerpt introducing the book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the past, present and future, written by Harini Nagendra, a Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India. The book is scheduled to be released on June 10th, 2016, at 6.30 pm at Alliance Francaise, Bengaluru. My office is in the peri-urban fringe of Bengaluru. From a place that was fairly rural, in ecology, lifestyle and livelihoods, this area has transformed almost literally in front of my eyes in the past decade into a mess of congested traffic, garbage dumps, slums cheek by jowl with apartment blocks,…

June 5th is just around the corner — it’s that time of the year when you hear the word ‘environment’ often. The World Environment Day (WED) is here again. While the environment activists and citizens are ready to commemorate the environment day by planting saplings, cleaning the neighbourhood and by organising awareness programmes, let’s be aware that this year’s environment day is dedicated to the vulnerable wildlife population. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has designated WED 2016 as a fight against illegal trade in wildlife. Therefore, the 2016 WED theme is “Go Wild for Life - Zero tolerance for…

Fig. 3.5.1: East View of Bangalore in 1792 AD by Robert Hyde Colebrooke, British Library, Shelfmark - WD4461 Courtesy: Yashaswini Sharma Were there waterways inside Lal Bagh once upon a time? How did the famous garden get the unique design? How did the famous glass house came to be in it? This chapter from a book on Bangalore's early history — Bangalore - the early city - AD 1537-1799, authored by Yashaswini Sharma, an architect from Bengaluru, to be released on June 4, 2016, at the British Council, Bangalore, provides some insights. Exclusive images collected from archives make it an…

One doesn’t have to visit distant forests or wildlife sanctuaries in order to find the beauties of Nature… a visit to the local park will do just as well. Here’s what I did on a recent morning visit to Lalbagh. First of all, I soaked in the morning sun, and the freshness of the air. I then walked along the lake, and I found these Black-crowned Night Herons, looking, hopefully, for a fish breakfast. There were so many flowers still blooming, even though Bengaluru has been at its hottest. Here are the Gulmohar blooms, setting the park afire. Here are…

This week’s highlight: Decoding illegal hoardings in Bengaluru A huge advertisement hoarding erected on a rajakaluve in Koramangala. Pic: Akshatha M Ever wondered why the hoardings that are not licensed are not removed in Bengaluru? It's because the BBMP has no proper policy for removal of hoardings. The terms are different each time, which is why the removal of illegal hoardings has become impossible. Here's the story on the enforcement mafia. Also read: Advertising hoardings worth crores actually get no revenues to BBMP. Data: Part I of Mathai’s reports on illegal hoardings in BBMP, obtained via RTI. Fee hike in…