City: Bengaluru

Kochu Shankar, a resident of Banjara Layout in Horamavu, has not had to buy water from private tankers this year, unlike the majority of households in the layout. The rainwater harvesting (RWH) system at his home routes rainwater from the rooftop to the borewell, recharging it and ensuring a year-round water supply for the two-member family. Most residents in the layout have been buying water from private tankers over the past few months. Horamavu, part of the 110 villages added to Bengaluru city corporation limits in 2008, is not getting Kaveri water supply yet. Besides, with extensive digging of new…

Can Bengaluru be water resilient? Urban water researchers Rashmi Kulranjan and Shashank Palur from WELL labs have previously outlined how the city can reduce its dependence on Cauvery water, reuse groundwater and allow lakes to act as flood control systems. However, the first step to building water resilience is understanding the different sources of water in the city, how much water is used and how much remains. WELL labs released Bengaluru's first water balance in October this year, co-authored by Rashmi Kulranjan, Shashank Palur and Muhil Nesi. Here are the key insights from the report. Water management in Bengaluru Rashmi…

Uber Green starts electric vehicles You can book sustainable, eco-friendly rides through the cab-aggregator app, Uber Green, Uber's global flagship electric vehicle service. The first green vehicles were flagged off by IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge from Bengaluru Palace, during the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023. The feature is accessible in various parts, including the central part of the city. Uber Green may upgrade services to many geolocations. You can see the option on your app. It will help to support riders to opt for the energy-friendly EVs. The ‘all-electric’ service in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai, from June 2024 onwards, will be…

The desire of citizens for effective governance has enabled a stunning victory for the Congress, the current government in power. But are they in danger of losing the goodwill placed in them by the people?  For instance, the latest suggestion to allegedly ease the globally notorious traffic congestion in Bengaluru is to create double-decker flyovers along the proposed metro lines so that private vehicles go above the metro. If there is a metro along the route already, where is the need for a flyover above it? Is this not a reversal of the idea of elevated corridors, which was put on the back…

“Launching a roadmap for climate action is a strategically significant step for the state of Karnataka. Bengaluru will not only emerge as a lighthouse for other cities in Karnataka and India but will also serve as a global example of inclusive climate action. Over the next few years, the BCAP will be implemented as a multi-sectoral collaborative effort, drawing participation from various departments of the Government of Karnataka, civil society and the private sector.”DK Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) launched the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan (BCAP) on November 27th at…

I grew up in a home that didn't hate dogs but never really loved them either. I was consciously told to avoid dogs, always. And I followed that during the early part of my childhood, till I was 10-11 years old. However, this was to change. I was riding pillion on my uncle's Bullet motorcycle on CMH Road Indiranagar, in Bengaluru, for something early in the morning, about 4 am. Just as we entered CMH Road from Murphy Town (this is before the Metro era), the road was dark. A pack of street dogs started to chase the motorcycle. I…

Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has been on a drive towards automation over the past decade. More and more challans are being added on their website, and people are expected to find them and pay their dues. While this might give BTP a bit of breathing space to concentrate on more stringent violations, that does not seem to be what is happening. Here, I analyse BTP's shift towards automation over the years while looking at how that has affected safety on the roads. While automation suggests intelligent systems like cameras and detectors that can catch different types of violations, including overspeeding,…

Hosur Road and Sarjapura Road are two arterial roads, cutting across the important south-east suburbs of Bengaluru. Sarjapura Road has become strategically important over the last few years due to the exponential rise of the IT corridor on Outer Ring Road (ORR), which has propelled development on Sarjapura Road. This development has led to the consequence of traffic bottlenecks. At the crucial junction of these two roads is the junction of Hosur and Sarjapura Road at the St John’s hospital. This area is perennially congested due to the complexity of two adjacent traffic junctions: the Marigowda Road and Koramangala National…

For birdwatchers, naturalists or concerned citizens curious to know more about the wildlife in their neighbourhood lakes, parks, and gardens, a new tool offers an exciting opportunity. Mapping Your Neighbourhood Avifauna or MYNA, a data exploration tool, allows users to visualise birdlife in green spaces around their neighbourhoods. MYNA is a data exploration tool created by the State of India’s Birds team. The State of India’s Birds (SOIB) is a report that assesses the status of over 900 bird species in the country, using citizen science data. The data comes from hobby birdwatchers or citizen scientists, who record their observations…

Post-Diwali air still polluted There was a slight dip in the air pollution levels during the Diwali days (from November 12th to November 14th) this time compared to last year, according to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).  The average Air Quality Index (AQI) in the KSPCB station of Jayanagar on the first day was 214, a decline from 254 last year. On the second day, it was 248 (poor category), still better than 312 (very poor category) in 2022. The average AQI for the three days was 234, against last year’s 257.  The uptick was issued for 39 stations,…