City: Bengaluru

She stands with folded hands near the dam. Ponnaiyar, Thenpennai, Dakshina Pinakini.... these are the names she personifies. Statue of Dakshina Pinakini in Bhoganandeeshwara temple. Pic: Vishwanath Srikantaiah At the ancient Bhoganandeeswara Temple, children listen to their teacher narrating the story of a spring that comes and fills the step-well. Here is where it all begins. In Kannada there is a saying—never ask about the origins of a sage and a river. Children listening to the story at the Bhoganandeeshwara temple premises. Pic: Vishwanath The city of Bengaluru has made it to international news because two of its lakes started…

A huge tree inside the Government high school compound in Malleshwaram. Pic: Shree D N Sanjeev is a musician by hobby and a researcher at Indian Institute of Science, that is full of variety of trees, but he knows the rest of Bengaluru is not a match to his campus and more trees need to be planted everywhere. Amogh Sharma is a native Bengalurean, now working in Chennai. He visits Bengaluru every weekend and feels Bengaluru needs more trees, but does not know what needs to be done for that to happen. Ajay is an engineer working in Bengaluru who…

Spearheading the World Environment Day (June 5th) celebrations, by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board is the Recyclathon Awards, an initiative aimed to award communities practicing sustainable waste management.  Conceived and conceptualised by Jain Group of Institution’s Radio Active CR 90.4 MHz, a community radio station, this program is conducted by the Solid Waste Management Roundtable (SWMRT). Award categories Citizens of Bengaluru are encouraged to take part by applying for the awards. Awards will give given in the following categories:  Outstanding College /University Recycling Program Outstanding Community Recycling Program - RWA Outstanding Community Recycling Program - Apartments [Categories: Less than…

Fifteen trafficked bonded labourers including four child bonded labourers, aged between five and eight, were rescued on May 11th 2016 by the Bangalore Urban District Administration and local Police assisted by International Justice Mission (IJM) from a brick kiln in Anekal, Bangalore Urban District. The victims belonging to five families were held in bondage at the kiln for three to seven years. Three infants were also rescued taking the total number of victims to 18. The victims rescued from the brick kiln in Anekal. Pic: IJM The supervisor of the brick kiln was arrested from the kiln and he has…

The newly formed Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG) has ruffled several feathers within the civil society. People from various quarters have denounced the new Action Group as “exclusively elitist,” full of elected representatives, bureaucrats and corporate honchos, with none to represent common citizens. The citizens who have seen several such independent or government-led groups or task forces in the past, are wary of the functioning of BBPAG. Task forces and committees are not at all new to Bengaluru. There have been several of them, including Bangalore Agenda Task Force, ABIDe, Kasturirangan Committee, BBMP Restructuring Committee. Each of them worked…

Before we get into our stories, two quick announcements. Citizen Matters now in Chennai… Any readers from Tamil Nadu gearing up to vote in the upcoming Elections? We have alpha launched our portal for Chennai, with all the news on the Elections. Who's contesting from where, what are political parties promising in their manifestos, how to find your polling booth… All this and more in the Chennai edition of Citizen Matters: chennai.citizenmatters.in. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Please share the news with your friends and family from Chennai! Help our 5 runners reach their target! You…

On account of operation of Metro East-West (Byappanahalli to Nayandahalli) corrider, a BMTC press note states that BMTC will operate the following feeder services from 16/05/2016 for the benefit of the passengers travelling in Metro. Sl. No Route No From To Route Total No of Buses Time  Freq. 1 SVR-MF-1 Swamy Vivekananda Metro Station Swamy Vivekanankanada Metro Station Byappanahalli,Mettro Station, Tin Factory, Hoodi, Garudacharpalya, ITPL, Sathyasai Hospital, Kundalahalli Gate, Marathahalli Bridge, Doddanekkundi Bridge, K R Puram Railway Station, Benniganahalli    8   15 Min 2 SVR-MF-1A Swamy Vivekananda Metro Station Swamy Vivekanankanada Metro Station Byappanahalli Metro Station, Benniganahalli, K R…

We have seen many vision groups earlier. Now it's time for an action group! While the Assembly election is just two years away, the State government has constituted Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG). Here is a quick look into the various vision groups/task forces that were formed in the past, why were they formed, what have they achieved and couldn’t. Also is the list of bigwigs who have made it to more than two groups. Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) was formed in 1999, when S M Krishna was the Chief Minister. It was…

Read: What exactly is wrong with BBPAG, and why are people protesting? In the backdrop of growing criticism over the formation of Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG), Citizen Matters spoke to some of the members of the Action Group. They spoke about their previous experiences in committees and the relevance of the Action Group over the constitutional body - Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD Biocon and President B.PAC I think every Vision Group has been able to drive change and achieve a few milestones. Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) did have a strong influence on the…