City: Bengaluru

A US-based non-governmental organisation and a Bengaluru-based engineering firm have prepared a Vision Plan for restoration and regeneration of lakes in Bengaluru. The Vision plan titled ‘Better Lakes, Better Bangalore’ advocates a “sustainable water supply plan for Bangalore.” Curiously, many of the stakeholders mentioned in the report have denied involvement in preparing the report. Bengaluru-based engineering consultant firm Invicus Engineering, along with San Francisco-based non-profit organisation working towards water sustainability—Sherwood Institute and an engineering firm based in San Francisco, Carollo Engineering, had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the BDA on November 6th 2012 to provide a Vision Plan for…

  Caregivers, housekeepers, maids, nannies, cooks or domestic help - call them by any name, domestic workers in the country are still in the fringes. Why, one may ask? The phrase ‘domestic work’ conjures images of household work associated domesticity – the one of cleaning and caring, and hence relationships that exist within this frame remain in the shadows. There has always been a gendered stigma attached to domestic work especially in India, and the work is always viewed through the lens of power and authority, submission and suppression Of memsahib, her maid and India’s colonial past “This can be…

Elderly people need security. Pic: Abhishek Angad Our nation is facing a crisis in ageing as we attempt to understand and prepare to meet the needs of millions of older adults, current and future. Public and private sectors are engaged in a dialogue to address the needs of a diverse ageing population; to promote their dignity and independence, and expand opportunities for current and future generations of older persons. In India, over 90 million people are above 60 years of age. This is about 7.4% of the total population. The fear is that by 2021 it is estimated to grow…

The High Court of Karnataka took serious exception to the absence of BBMP Administrator M N Vijay Bhaskar from the court proceedings during the hearing of a batch of solid waste management PILs on Friday. The Special Bench constituted by the High Court comprising of Justice N Kumar and B V Nagarathna refused to accept submissions from the petitioners during Friday’s hearing, owing to the absence of the BBMP Administrator in the court. “During the last hearing in April, the court had given one and a half months time to the newly appointed BBMP Administrator and the Commissioner to study…

The Bruhat Bangalore Beedhi Vyaapaari Sanghatanegala Okkoota is (Federation of Street Vendor Unions of Bangalore) is calling for a protest rally and a bundh on street vending on Monday, June 15th. The protest march is scheduled for 10 am from City railway station to Freedom Park. Thousands of vendors are expected to participate from all eight zones of BBMP. This come in the light of the spate of evictions of street vendors by Bangalore’s police (Law and Order and Traffic) and BBMP officials. While the UPA-2  has brought in the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation of Street Vending)…

B.PAC organised the release of CLPR report on the functioning of Special Fast Track Courts in Bengaluru with respect to sexual abuse of women and children on June 13th. This was followed by a panel discussion on issues and recommendation for effective functioning of these special courts.  B.PAC under its B.SAFE initiative - The Billion Eyes Campaign, in association with Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) organised a panel discussion on the issue of Special Courts for women and children.   Out of the 93 Fast Track Courts set up in Karnataka in the year 2000, only 39 courts were…

KCDC is accepting more garbage than it can handle, due to  pressure from the BBMP and the High Court. Pic: Akshatha M The Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) which was recently mired in a controversy over sale of burnt garbage packed in bags meant for vermicompost, is in trouble yet again. This time the problem lies in the inability of the firm to process the existing waste. Unprocessed garbage dumped in a large quantity in the KCDC yard is emanating stench causing discomfort to workers at the unit and residents of the neighbouring areas. Ramakrishna K, a resident of Somasundarapalya…

Touts stopping non-KA registered vehicles opposite Kadugodi police station on June 8th 2015. Pic: Karthikeyan Dear Sir, I am torn. All through my life, I was the lone person in my circle of friends who had faith in the government. I was the only one who staunchly defended the government. I was the only one who said that governments don’t lie. I was ridiculed. I was chided. I was considered odd. Yet, I soldiered on. Then something happened. Some of my friends pointed out to me that the RTO, Karnataka was clamping down upon out-of-state cars. They said that the…

Bags filled with burnt and sieved garbage. You can also see the burning garbage. Pic: Shared by a citizen It has been 10 days since the issue of burning garbage near Choodasandra and filling it in vermicompost bags under the label of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) came to light. The action taken on the issue is little, and the individuals/organisations involved in the fraud remain unidentified. Citizen Matters had published a detailed report on how a few workers were burning city garbage in an open site at Choodasandra off Sarjapur Road in Bengaluru, and filling it in bags bearing…

  Bengaluru this week June 11th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     Here are the top stories from Bengaluru for this week: Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) which questioned the SEZ coming up on Bellandur lakebed through a PIL has withdrawn the case from High Court, with liberty to refile the case after the National Green Tribunal verdict. The High Court earlier dismissed the PIL filed by Environment Support Group (ESG) on road widening. Following a Supreme Court directive, the Transport Commissioner has a sent a proposal to the State government calling…