City: Bengaluru

As 2015 has drawn to an end, it would be worthwhile for the government to reflect and learn from the issues that the citizens raised their voices about this year. The tech-savvy residents of various regions of Bengaluru increasingly took to public protests this year to voice their discontent with the myriad infrastructure problems that beset their neighbourhoods. These problems are symptomatic of the underlying issues arising out of a myopic vision and a deficit (sometimes bordering on absence) of governance. As long as the state government and the city’s administrators remain mired in a cycle of firefighting, band-aid fixes…

A fortnight ago, a kitten belonging to Aditi Surendra, a city-based graphic designer, passed away. Unsure of how to dispose of the body, Aditi sought help from her friends on how to dispose of the dead body. With no satisfying inputs forthcoming, she had to bury the kitten near the railway tracks, so that some other animal could feed on it. There is a BBMP animal crematorium in Magadi Road. When asked whether she knew about it, Aditi said she was not aware of the facility. “Plus, the kitten died early morning and we couldn’t drive until the next day.…

ರಸ್ತೆಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರೋ ಎಸೆದುಹೋದ ಪ್ಲಾಸ್ಟಿಕ್ ಕವರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನೀಟಾಗಿ ಸುತ್ತಿಟ್ಟ ಕಸ ಕಂಡರೆ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಮೈಯುರಿ. ಸ್ವಚ್ಛಭಾರತದ ಕನಸಿಗೆ ಹೀಗೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕಲ್ಲು ಹಾಕುತ್ತಾರಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಕೋಪ.ಅದರ ಫೋಟೋ ತೆಗೆದು ಕಸ ಹಾಕಿದವರಿಗೆ ನಾಕು ಉಗಿದು ಫೇಸ್ ಬುಕ್ಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಪ್ಲೋಡ್ ಮಾಡಿ ರೋಷ ತೀರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡರೆ ಮುಗಿಯಿತು. ನಾಳೆ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ದಿನ, ತಲೆಕೆಡಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬೇರೇನಾದರೂ ಇದ್ದೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.ತಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ತುಂಬಿದ ಕಸವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ನೋಡಿ ಬೇಸರವಾಗಿ ಇದನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ಏನಾದರೂ ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆನ್ನುವವರಿಗಾಗಿ ಈ ಲೇಖನ. ಅಸಲು ಈ ಕಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವುದಾದರೂ ಏನು? ಕಸದ ವಿಧಗಳು ಹಲವಾರು. ಆದರೆ ದಿನನಿತ್ಯ ನಾವು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸುವುದು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮೂರು ವಿಧ - ಹಸಿ ಕಸ, ಒಣ ಕಸ, ಅಪಾಯಕಾರಿ ಕಸ. ಹಸಿ ಕಸ – ಇದು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸಸ್ಯಜನ್ಯ ಅಥವಾ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಜನ್ಯ. ಹಸಿ ಕಸದ ಪಂಗಡಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದ ಪದಾರ್ಥಗಳ ಮಣ್ಣಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಣ್ಣಾಗಿ ಹೋಗುವ ಸಾವಯವ ಪದಾರ್ಥಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಅಂದರೆ, ನೀವು ಅದನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಟು ಒಂದು ತಿಂಗಳು ಬಿಟ್ಟು…

Bengaluru has over 200 churches and some of them date to even a couple of centuries old. Locals and tourists alike are drawn to these majestic old houses of prayer. While some seek it to find solace, some others pay a visit to simply take in the grandeur of these buildings. And come Christmas, one can be sure to find these churches lit up, thronging with crowds who have come to attend mass or just to take in the spirit of the festival. There are several organisations like INTACH, Bengaluru Walks, Unhurried, Bengaluru By Foot and others that take you…

November 30. Sindhu Naik, a resident of North Bengaluru, got a notice from her apartment community: “A drive being conducted this Saturday (5th Dec) & Sun (6th Dec) from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for the verification of the Aadhar card. Ms. Kumari S. from the Registrar General of Citizen Registration will be visiting our complex for this purpose. Please keep your Aadhar cards handy at this time.” She asked her friends and others, but did not get any clarity on what the issue was about. Citizen Matters tried asking Unique Identity Authority of India, but the officials in the…

United Technologies Corporation on December 19th today announced the 12 winners of India’s first ever Neighbourhood Improvement Partnership Challenge (NIP), an initiative of UTC’s Citizens for the City Program. The winning projects and support teams will collectively receive a total amount of nearly Rs one crore. The 12 winners will implement projects in the areas of mobility, waste management, public safety, autonomous building, water quality and rejuvenation of public spaces. Chris Rao, VP and Country Head, UTC Aerospace Systems and Goldie Srivastava, Director - Communication, United Technologies India along with the 12 winning teams who will collectively receive a total…

Here's a small quiz: Who are the following individuals and what's common among them? Latha Krishna Rao, P B Ramamurthy, Gaurav Gupta, M S Ravishankar, Anjum Parvez, T M Vijay Bhaskar Someone who has been following public affairs in Karnataka would know that they are all IAS officers of the Karnataka cadre. But very few people are likely to know that they all held the position of Chairperson of the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) from 2007 to present. So that is six officers over a period of eight years, which gives an average of about 16 months…

With 6,500 buses in its fleet, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) carries 50 lakh people per day in Bengaluru. BMTC is one service, that whether you like it or hate it, you cannot ignore it. While BMTC bus service is appreciated as well as criticised by public, its Managing Director Ekroop Caur talks to Citizen Matters about the future plans for BMTC, challenges ahead and ways of meeting people’s demand. BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur At a time when private bus aggregators have made it to the bus service sector in Bengaluru, what initiative has BMTC taken to improve its…

Khata is the record maintained in the Corporation office on the ownership right of a property owner in the BBMP area. Obtaining this after a person has acquired the title to a property has become a nightmare in Bengaluru, with endless delays, pervasive corruption and official apathy. Every person who has acquired a title to property in Bengaluru by any means, usually by purchase, but also by inheritance, gift or any other method, is harassed by BBMP officials, their middlemen and agents when (s)he tries to get the khata. This document is required for all transactions relating to loan to…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in association with BBMP on December 21st organised a workshop, Women Leaders for a Better Tomorrow - the imprint of women leaders in political leadership. Leading ladies of the BBMP Council. Pic: B.PAC “This is a historic moment in Bengaluru’s history”, said Revathy Ashok, CEO and Managing Trustee, B.PAC. “BBMP has more than 52% of women elected members and we thought this is the right moment to celebrate this win and to inspire our corporators with mind-blowing stories of several women political luminaries of Karnataka such as Leeladevi R Prasad and BT Lalita Nayak, she…