City: Bengaluru

KCDC plant located on the banks of Somasundarapalya lake in HSR Layout, is causing pollution much to the discomfort of residents. Pic: Anis Pandela A Facebook page created by a group of HSR Layout residents reads “Right to Breathe - Control KCDC from becoming life threatening.” This page aims at garnering public support for a protest that the residents have planned to stage in front of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) unit at Somasundarapalya on October 31st. Protests are not new for the residents of Somasundarapalya, Mangammanapalya and HSR Layout. They had staged at least three protests last year alone,…

Anything in plenty loses its value. Anything–even human life! That’s why when we read of treacherous genocide of thousands of innocent people somewhere away from our vicinity, the intensity of the sorrow that we feel is short-lived—we are able to carry on with our lives quite normally. We know, as individuals we can do jolly little to change anything on this planet.  Is that wholly true? I went to Calgary in Canada recently to spend time with my son and daughter-in-law. The wonderful roads, neat and even footpaths and walking trails and the marvelous traffic sense of the drivers of…

  Bengaluru this week October 15th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     In this edition, read the second story in our new series, Insights into Bengaluru: Why bank loans aren't meant for the poor. Following the two sexual assault cases last week we have a feature on what companies need to do to keep their night-shift employees safe, and an open letter to working women in the city from the CEO of ELCITA. We also have several guides: how you can retrieve stolen items from the police after a theft, how…

Jewellery stolen from Davanam Jewellers recovered by Bengaluru police. Pic: Bengaluru City Police A woman in Bengaluru lost her golden ‘Vanki’ (armlet) and she lodged a police complaint. Police caught the thief and recovered the armlet. The cop who was in-charge of that station developed a secret desire to retain the valuable Vanki. Next day when the complainant (theft victim) arrived at the station to collect her Vanki, she was shown a pestle instead of the armlet. The policeman cleverly played with homophones and replaced ‘Vanki’ with a ‘Onake’ (rice pounder / pestle). He convinced the complainant that the item…

DWCC at RR Nagar managed by RISE Foundation is defunct now after some individuals forcefully closed its doors claiming ownership of the land. Pic: Veena Rajappa Nine months ago when the second dry waste collection centre (DWCC) was opened at Rajarajeshwari Nagar ward in Bengaluru, people of this ward had all reasons to cheer. For, it was the only ward which boasted of having two functional dry waste collection centres in BBMP limits. Establishing this centre took a lot of hardships. After fighting several hurdles and suffering inordinate delays, the centre was finally established in a full-fledged manner. It became…

Citizen Matters previously brought to you a series of articles on Rainwater harvesting that included information on how best to go about incorporating best management practices of tapping the resource of rainwater within your own community. An earlier piece answered some basic questions about Solar Power in India. In a continuation of that series, this piece explains in simple terms how people can introduce solar power as an additional or alternate source of energy in their homes. Bangalore's daily power demand is about 2300 Mega Watts (MW), about one-third of the state's total power consumption. The average 2/3 bedroom home…

What typically happens when you go to a pharmacy? You show the prescription, buy the medicines that you need, check the MRP, pay for it, collect the bill and leave. Sounds simple enough right? Not always... Here’s an example of why you need to be doubly careful when you purchase medicines. File pic.  When Rajeev Gupta (name changed on request) bought a nasal spray from a pharmacy, little did he know that checking the above mentioned were not the only things he should have done. When he finally opened the bottle a home, to his surprise, he found it empty.…

This is Akshayanagar Layout, situated off Bannerghatta Road (Note: Akshayanagar is also the name of another layout situated in Ramamurthy Nagar, Bangalore). Sandwiched between Hulimavu Lake on one side and Begur Lake on the other, Akshayanagar is an upcoming locality with several residential projects under construction currently. Owing to its proximity to Bannerghatta Road, Electronic City and Jigani, it is a much sort after locality by Bangalore’s techie population. Akshayanagar Layout can be accessed from Bannerghatta Road via the BDA 80 feet road (one of the many access points), which joins the Hulimavu-Begur Road, and further connects to the Yelenahalli…

The first part of the series LOANS FOR URBAN POOR IN BENGALURU explained how the urban poor living in the slums of Bengaluru get trapped in the circle of borrowing, paying interest and re-borrowing. In this part, the author explores the reason behind the same—why banks do not help the poor—how complicated the process is. Sunil, a slum dweller in Swatantrapalya, wants to buy an auto. He needs a loan badly. Not keen on lending money from local moneylenders for extra interest, he wants to secure a bank loan. However, he doesn’t have any collateral security to offer to the…

The relatives were visiting from the Tamil country. It was May 1967. The exact dates slip my memory. (They do say that memory is the second thing to go. I don’t remember what the first thing is. Oh, come on! It’s a tried and tested gag!) In those Good Old Days (when nostalgia was much better than now), booking a train ticket was rather an accomplishment. You had go to the railway station (SBC in our case), get a blank form to fill in, fill it in, and then stand in a queue. Remember that story you were told about…