City: Bengaluru

It is that time of the year when some fellow Bengalureans will together paint the town red. Or yellow, purple, orange, pink, violet; name it and you’ll see the colour. Those Bengalureans are our beloved trees, getting into bloom, making namma Bengaluru look vibrant and pretty. It was a nippy and chirpy Saturday morning, with the White-cheeked Barbets calling tirelessly. Being a ‘true South Indian’, I had to complete my ritual of one cup of strong filter coffee, even at the risk of getting late. I still managed to reach in time for Neralu’s opening activity, Katte Parichaya by Kiran Keswani and team…

Hundreds of citizens came together on the weekend of February 7th and 8th to celebrate the garden city’s  glorious natural heritage at many locations, including NGMA, KR Rao park and Dodamavalli Katte. Citizens of all ages participated enthusiastically in tree walks, listened to talks by naturalists and artists, and appreciated the movies, performances and street plays. Citizens came together to  celebrate the garden city’s  glorious natural heritage. On  Saturday February 14th, the festivities will move to Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park, with a host of art activities and cultural performances that bring a grand closure to the NERALU tree. List of activities planned…

Padme Float at the mirror pool at NGMA The first phase of Neralu, the three-day Urban Tree Festival, concluded at NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art) Bengaluru, on Sunday Fenruary 8th. Citizens of all ages participated enthusiastically in tree walks, listened to talks by naturalists and artists, and appreciated the movies, performances and street plays. At Neralu, children experienced the world of trees through animated storytelling sessions, tree journaling, and sketching workshops. The tree walk conducted for young adults from Samarthanam Trust for The Disabled emphasised the different ways in which trees can be perceived. Other highlights of the Tree…

3.30 am, KR Market complex. Seethamma, in her sixties, is busy dealing with her customers, with a huge pile of jasmine and marigold in front of her. She has been selling flowers for the past 40 years, commuting all the way from Doddaballapur every day. Her customers are street-side vendors who sell stringed flowers by the mola or make garlands out of it. Even as dawn is hours away, Krishna Rajendra Market (KR Market), also known as City Market, is already bustling with activity. Flower and vegetable vendors visit the market in the wee hours of the morning, to offload…

On January 14th in Bengaluru, Hebbal dipped to the minimum temperature of the day at 6.04 am, Electronic City felt the minimum temperature at 6.18 am. Vidyaranyapura recorded the lowest temperature at 6.24 am, and Jayanagar as late as 7.10 am. Despite Hebbal being located only 16 km from Jayanagar, there was a significant difference of 1 hour 6 minutes when both areas recorded minimum temperature. The same is true for rain too. It doesn't rain in Whitefield, when it does in Jayanagar. So the preparedness is different for Whitefield and Jayanagar for a rainy day predicted by Meteorological Department.…

Clean air is in short supply near Kadugodi area in Whitefield, where apartments and villas cost crores of rupees. Reason: indiscriminate burning of low value plastic in open fields. If you walk through the narrow road in Khajisonenahalli near Kadugodi in Northeast Bengaluru, you will be greeted with heaps of garbage and smoke emanating by the side of the road. Dry waste of all types, including plastic materials, clothes, mattresses, chappals is piled up, and a few workers were seen manually segregating waste, on the day this reporter visited the spot. Smoke emanates from the segregation site. Pic: Akshatha M…

On February 7th, BMTC celebrated the 61st edition of Bus day at Yelahanka. Five BMTC buses have been equipped with alarms that can be used by women and children, in case they feel threatened or harassment while on the bus.  Two new Chakra services were also introduced to provide better connectivity within Yelahanka. The event was attended by Transport Minister, Ramalinga Reddy, SR Vishwanth, MLA of Yelahanka, H Nabhiraja Jain, BMTC Chairman, VS Aradhya, Vice-Chairman of BMTC and Dr Ekroop Caur, the Managing Director of BMTC. Installation of alarms to make travel safer for women  Since a large number of…

In India, thousands of men and women are affected by sexual violence every year. In 2014, a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund revealed that 77 percent of young girls between 15 and 19 years of age were affected by rape, forced sexual intercourse, and physical abuse by partners. In Bengaluru alone, there has been an alarming increase in the number of cases of child sexual assault.  DURGA (Dare to Understand behaviour, Respond appropriately and Guard ourselves Ably) is a unique citizen’s initiative to help young women and girls harness important life skills to deter crime. By creating…

At the public hearing conducted by Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on February 6th, several civic groups objected to BESCOM's proposed hike for electricity tariff for the financial year 2016. BESCOM had earlier filed an application proposing a tariff hike of 80 paisa per unit across all consumer categories. B.PAC represented by TV Mohandas Pai, Vice President, Dr Hari Parameshwar, Head of Regulatory affairs and Revathy Ashok, CEO and Managing Trustee, and Aam Aadmi Party - Karnataka (AAP), represented by Ravi Krishna Reddy and Shanthala Damle, submitted their objections to KERC. Eliminate cross-subsidy variation; government should bear cost for farmers:…

After close to four years of doing Mallathahalli to Bellandur in Bengaluru, and enduring much travails with BMTC’s 500K, my commute changed, for the worse. The workplace shifted to Mahadevapura and there was a whole new paradigm of traffic jams and pile-ups to deal with. I put my money on the bus route 333T, a Volvo service which runs from the BDA complex in Nagarabhavi to ITPL, cutting through the heart of the city, via Okalipuram, Majestic, Old Airport Road and then Marathahalli Bridge. I would get down at the bridge and hitch my way towards Mahadevapura in the perennial…