City: Bengaluru

Mandur - closed in November 2014. Bingipura - closed in  November 2015. Laxmipura - closed in November 2015. Mavallipura - closed in July 2012, reopened in July 2014, ready to close again! That is the story of landfills that help Bengaluru live in peace. With the closure of Terra Firma waste processing unit in Doddaballapur, the garbage crisis has started worsening in Bengaluru. According to BBMP officials, the waste which used to be transported to Terra Firma, is now being diverted to various processing units and to a new quarry at Bettahalli in North Bengaluru. “Around 500-600 tonnes of garbage…

Pic: Rajesh Shah Varthur and Bellandur lakes have been in the news over the past one year due to froth and fire. These lakes were last desilted in 1970. As part of the rejuvenation efforts, scientists from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and other experts have been recommending wet dredging to remove the silt and sludge. To estimate the amount of silt and sludge that have accumulated over the years, Prof. Ramachandra of IISc recommended a bathymetric survey. IISc and MEG Teams at KK English School Citizens who took into consideration the recommendations of teh scientists seriously, joined their hands…

Nobody wants to take mixed waste, yet Bengaluru is sitting on quite a huge quantity of it. Pic: Shree D N Heaps of unsegregated waste mixed with reject waste such as styrofoam plates and low value plastic lie unattended in the infamous backyard of Malleshwaram, that is 11th main. Some residents raised a hue and cry against Malleshwaram turning into a mini Mandur, even as the BBMP officials and contractors were figuring out how to handle the situation. This was the scene on 9th April, in Malleshwaram. It has been little over three months since the BBMP announced strict penalty…

On the March 13th, we went to Arekere Reserve Forest (aka Doresanipalya) and while there, we found this baby Black Kite, badly injured, upon the ground. It was so badly off that it could not even clamber to its feet as it lay there in the grass clutter. It was heart-rending to watch the poor little one look at us with terrified, mute appeal. But alas! Very often, one cannot follow up on one’s emotional impulse to intervene in wildlife... whether in urban or forest areas. In this case, the very fact that it was so immobile told me that…

  Bengaluru this week April  7th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     We’re glad to report that our Journalism Workshop went well. Around 40 citizens came forward to understand city issues and learn to use journalism to share their ideas and experiences. We also managed to raise some funds for the journalism published on Citizen Matters. But what really has us over the moon is that there are so many active citizens keen on doing their bit for a better Bengaluru. A big thanks to all the participants. Click here for…

Elevated road on Hosur road. Pic. source : skyscrapercity.com What's the problem? Work commute is taking a hit with traffic congestion on the roads increasing. Since the problem is on the road, the solution has been to increase it and remove perceived obstructions like signals, pedestrians etc from the line of sight of the car to increase speed. One can draw an analogy to an obese person taking on too much comfort food because it feels good and now he/she needs bigger pants. He/she fails to notice that this is potentially fatal in the long run with illness and diseases…

Malleshwaram market. Pic: Manu H S Heggodu Following the success of green festival celebrations like Ugadi and Bakrid in Yelahanka zone last year, the BBMP along with citizen groups has this year given a call for Green Ugadi celebrations across the city. The idea is to ensure that the wet waste generated during Ugadi does not get mixed up with dry waste and is collected and composted separately. To make this work, citizen volunteers are deployed in each ward who will take up the work of supervising and collecting wet waste in their respective wards. Interested to be a volunteer?…

Government of India has kept a major step towards sustainable waste management, by making it mandatory to segregate waste at source. According to a Press Information Bureau press note, the new waste management rules are stricter than the rules notified in the year 2000. Exerpts from the press note: The Environment Ministry has revised Solid Waste Management Rules after 16 years. Addressing a press conference to announce the revised Rules on April 5, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said that the Rules are now applicable beyond municipal areas and will extend to…

As Bangaloreans, if there is one thing that we love talking about, it is our traffic problems and lack of good infrastructure. The problem has become so bad, that we the citizens of Bangalore took to the streets in protest via Whitefield Rising and ORR-Sarjapur Rising. The result? The authorities took notice — small step, yes, but it worked. It is about time that the authorities fix these problems and work with the citizens who have come forward to collaborate with them... This is an opportunity not to be missed. At the same time, it is up to us as…