City: Bengaluru

Srinivasa Mahal, Winner of the 2015 award in the Private (Residential) category. Pic: INTACH INTACH has invited nominations from you for the Second Annual INTACH Heritage Awards, given to Bengaluru's heritage buildings. Citizens can nominate the heritage buildings that they think deserve an award -- the beautiful ones that make you sigh, the charming ones that you think gave Bengaluru its unique charm, the hoary old ones that tell stories of our past. These awards help to showcase Bengaluru's heritage, and to keep heritage in the public eye, so do take a moment to nominate a building! Awards will be given…

This is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count  (February 12th to 15th). I wanted to get away and do some serious birding away from the immediate backyard this weekend. I set out this morning to explore my usual neighbourhood haunts — Kaikondrahalli and Kasavanahalli lakes. This week turned up a lower species count than last week – the terns, in particular, were missing at both lakes. Backyard birding, it seems, turns up some pleasant surprises. Indian Spot-billed Ducks and a single Northern Pintail drake (centre) at Kaikondrahalli Lake. Pic: Bijoy Venugopal Kaikondrahalli lake I was at Kaikondrahalli by 6.15 am and it was a lot…

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) conducted an interaction programme on e-waste management in Peenya Industrial Area, in association with M/s.Auma India Pvt Ltd. A press note from KSPCB says that the programme was organised in order to create an awareness, among the industrial stakeholders, to practice reuse, recycling and recovering of e-waste, without damaging the environment. 80 participants from various industries of Peenya Industrial Area participated in the event. Lakshman, Chairman of KSPCB inagurated the event and delivered an inaugural address. He explained that all advancement in information technology and communications’ has stimulated the economy and improved the living…

  Bengaluru this week February 11th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     Mobility is our theme for the week; we have several articles covering various aspects of commuting in Bengaluru, from why BMTC and BMRCL should not be allowed to monopolise, to shuttle aggregator ZipGo’s ongoing tussle with the Transport Department. Also, in light of the recent incident at Vibgyor school in Whitefield, we tell you what precautions you can take and what you should do when you come into contact with wildlife in the city. All this and more… This…

We have seen a multitude of opinions about Bengaluru’s transport — from introducing commuter rail, to allowing private players to creating a proper Unified Transport Authority to Bengaluru's city transport issues. Each argument has its own merit, but it is for the government to act in responsible, planned manner, to provide efficient transport solutions. Have your say, with a quick survey. And share your views on the matter with the government, by taking action, with the views that you support. Ask the govt to allow private shuttle aggregators The Government and BMTC feel that ZipGo will rob BMTC’s business, because…

The situation in Vibgyor got out of hand only because there were so many people around because of which the leopard panicked. The recent incident at Vibgyor school, Marathahalli in Bengaluru, involving the rescue of a leopard which had strayed into the school premises, has once again brought up the topic of man-animal conflict in urban areas. The rescue mission which lasted ten hours, was traumatic for both the animal in question, as well as the several men who were injured during the course of the rescue. While the animal was captured and moved to a rescue centre, there are…

Dear Sir, Greetings from CIVIC Bangalore! You have promised the citizens of Bengaluru that you will solve the garbage problem at the earliest. Attached please find recent photos that were taken of garbage being littered in government office campuses in the heart of Bengaluru where the highest officials of government sit. The first picture was taken in the campus of the MS Building, where many Secretaries to government sit. The second was taken in the campus of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan where State-level officials of the Education Department sit. The High Court has issued a directive that all government offices…

The ZipGo app says no services are operating at the moment. On demand AC shuttle maxicab aggregator ZipGo has launched a change.org petition asking people to support its services, which have been suspended citing the lack of licence due to technical reasons. Citizen Matters had earlier reported that the ZipGo has started plying its maxicabs in some routes. Through the ZipGo app, users could search for routes, book seats, pay beforehand, spot the location of the bus etc. We had also reported that the Transport Department was not in favour of ZipGo’s operations, as the rules of the government do…

Common Purpose, sponsored by Comic Relief, is running an online crowd sourcing challenge to explore how we can increase civic engagement in Bengaluru. The Common Purpose Challenge, which is also running in Manchester, United Kingdom is asking residents of both cities to work together to generate new ideas that will increase civic engagement. The winning ideas will be presented to a distinguished panel led by Academy Award winner David Puttnam, and including Director General of Police, Karnataka, MN Reddi and Trustee of Bangalore Little Theatre, Vijay Padaki. The challenge is hosted online through Crowdicity, an innovative crowd sourcing platform. Residents…

Dear Government of Karnataka, Of late, there has been a lot of hand wringing over the traffic congestion. Various solutions are being proposed by citizens claiming to be experts, advisors and well wishers. Most of these solutions revolve around adding extra asphalt, at grade, overhead and underground. India's Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari summarised this predicament clearly when he said, in a recent event “I added 55 flyovers in Mumbai thinking it will solve traffic congestion, but it hasn’t solved anything”. Recently, however, there has been a growing realisation that Public Transport is the most efficient way forward. So the focus…