City: Bengaluru

      Bengaluru this week   Citizens and entrepreneurs fight over BBMP’s mistake Read more at: https://citizenmatters.in/articles/citizens-and-entrepreneurs-fight-over-bbmp-s-mistake?utm_source=copy Citizens and entrepreneurs fight over BBMP's mistake CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city! March 13th 2015 Dear , Greetings from Citizen Matters! As you already know, our fund-raising campaign is in progress. The campaign ends on March 31st, and all donations are exempt from tax under 80G. Thank much to those who contributed when we reached out to you on a few days ago. If you have not donated yet, please contribute now towards responsible journalism: Click…

154 Breakfast Club in Koramangala 3rd Block. Pic: Akshatha Rao “BBMP Commissioner, stop the arbitrary witch-hunt against citizens!” This is the plea put forward by some citizens of South Bengaluru. Mukund Kumar, a resident of Bellandur, has come up with the petition, which demands that the BBMP stop targeting citizens who stand up for what is right. The petition calls the action of the BBMP, of serving a notice to three residents of Koramangala asking them to submit the plan sanction documents for their residences, as a “targeted attack on an individual or individuals by the Government of any civilised…

Do they not look delightful Perched upon the wire, Chatting together Against the sky? When I see the same birds Through the twisted wire Of bird-cages, penned up... I ask..why? (Picture of Munias in a bird cage from the FB page of Gopakumar Namboothiri, with his permission) Why can we not just admire? The flower set upon the bush Or smiling from its tree? Why do we need to cage and tie down beings That look so much better, when they are free? The first photo was taken on Bannerghatta Road, near the Police Station; the second in a house…

After attending six meetings of a Federation of RWAs over, I thought I’d scream if I heard  the word “segregate” one more time. Nonetheless, I decided to attend their  monthly meeting  in February. And I did end up screaming—even before I got to this meeting at Sanjaynagar’s RMV Club where residents of ward nos. 18, 19 and 100 meet regularly. On the way, I passed by the road along ISRO’s east wall (where Ramesh Dutt, secretary of the Federation, and Kala Sunder, an active  member, live) and saw two pourakarmikas pushing their garbage carts and converging on an eyesore-of-a-dump, and…

Very early every morning, from the west, I would hear Sri Thirumale’s voice. He would have washed some clothes and would be putting these up to dry on the bamboo poles hung horizontally from the ceiling. All the while, he would be reciting something. One day, while I was in class 2, I found myself sitting in front of Aththi as she taught me the first shloka of the Sri Venkatesha Suprabhaatam (or just ‘Suprabhaatam’ as it is even now known). How this came about, I don’t remember. This is what Sri Thirumale used to recite every morning. After some…

From Sureshbhai Patel, who was left paralysed due to excessive physical force from overzealous policemen in the USA for being a “coloured” human being walking on the streets of a xenophobic town, to Nirbhaya who was brutally raped in a moving bus in New Delhi, it is apparent there is an erosion of the basic and universal values that we perhaps tend to take for granted. It is left to us to salvage this state of anomie by inculcating in children universal values such as respect, compassion, treating people the way one wants to be treated and helping those who…

With less than two months for the BBMP council term to end and election season to commence, the one-man committee formed by the government to probe financial irregularities in the BBMP has submitted its report. The report has the potential to become a weapon for the State government to dissolve the BBMP council and postpone the election. On February 19th 2015, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a one-man committee headed by IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Kataria to probe into various irregularities in the BBMP. The committee which investigated into the matter has now submitted its report to the government. Speaking…

      Bengaluru this week   <!-- -->   Here's what happened in the city last week: Bengaluru is about to get a modern abattoir near Ramanagara. HC has dismissed a plea from residents that opposed the proposed slaughterhouse for animals. This is expected to minimise pollution and waste disposal issues. Electronic City has got many new direct buses from other parts of the city, routed through NICE Road. BMTC has started women-only buses between Central Silk Board and Electronics City during peak hours, which could be extended to other routes based on feedback. BBMP’s vigilance committee has found…

Most of the buildings in Bangalore have bye-law violations - some minor, others major. Pic: Shree D N Two days after the State government announcing the implementation of Akrama Sakrama scheme, there are all indications the issue will yet again face legal hurdles. Mangaluru-based Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development has already filed a fresh petition in the High Court of Karnataka questioning the implementation of Akrama Sakrama. Bengaluru-based Citizens Action Forum too has decided to file a separate petition. Vidya Dinker, Convener of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, who is the main petitioner in the case dismissed on February 3rd,…

The three-member committee formed by the State government to look into the Restructuring of BBMP will hold a series of meetings with Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) and Non-government Organisations, community-based organisations, apartment owners’ associations and other citiens, to give their suggestions and inputs on the ongoing restructuring exercise. The government has formed the three member committee headed by former chief secretary B S Patil, with Siddaiah and V Ravichandar as its members. The committee has been entrusted with the task of studying the impact of restructuring BBMP and chalk out the ways in which the city can be governed more…