City: Bengaluru

A sacred fig tree used as a place of worship. Pic: currentconservation.org It is a common sight to see a tree protruding onto a pavement, often onto the street and sometimes even acting as a divider in the centre of the road. These are trees that have survived the axe-happy city-planning authorities just by their nature of being classified culturally as Sacred Trees. Divya Gopal, Harini Nagendra elaborate on the importance of these trees and the reasons they have survived the onslaught of development in the city, in an article, Sacred trees in the urban landscape of Bangalore, India, published…

Be careful of your belongings if you live in Bengaluru. If you lose your expensive phones, gadgets and other valuable items, that is solely your fault and the Bangalore Police will add to your worry by giving you an earful of why you must no use such expensive items. Clearly in HSR layout police station that is the message that is running around.  And what is even worse, they claim to be doing all the work in the country. “Anything that happens anywhere in India all of them land up at the HSR Layout Police Station. I am going to…

This article intends to understand how discarded vegetables and fruits in supermarkets of Bengaluru can be provided to cattle rather than letting them wastefully rot to become a breeding ground for diseases in rainy days. Common vendor and big marts inefficiently handle vegetables/ fruits rather than utilising them better. They don't know how it can be prevented from rotting. Many a times they simply sell the rotting stuff at lower costs to consumers who can't afford higher prices. In most big retail marts, fruits like apples are often concealed by covering them with labels/stickers, by applying wax at the places…

Cyclists have been a part of the commuter fabric for decades now, from the milkman, newspaper boy, postman, students and others. Though there is no record of the exact number of cyclists commuting to work, the last couple of years have seen a new wave of bicycle riders earning the city of Bengaluru the title — “Cycle Capital of India.” The cycling activities in the city include weekend long distance cycling, adventure cycling, awareness creation etc. Many of these riders have become full-fledged commuter cyclists. There has been a change in perception and acceptance of this small but significant group.…

"This time, every street, every lane of Bangalore will demand nothing less than complete justice. We have identified 23 centres in Bangalore. You need to step out this Saturday, 2nd of August between 8-9pm, take your friends, relatives, neighbours, everyone you know to your nearest Candle March centre and light a candle and demand justice. This time WE would be the ones giving out deadlines to give out the TRUE version of the case and arrest all the culprits within that date. They miss the deadline, one more march. WE won't stop." This is the introduction of the Candle March…

In Bengaluru, vehicular pollution and dust are the major contributors to air pollution, and as listed earlier in this series, they cause several health and environmental problems. While the dust is mostly from construction activities, the air currents and constant vehicular motion keep the pollutants in circulation all the time. There is no single solution to mitigate air pollution given the number of government agencies involved and the heterogenous mix of vehicle users and commuters. In this article, we look at the role individual road users play. On an average, 6734 BMTC buses ferry 49,50,000 passengers in 79677 bus trips…

    Bengaluru this week  July 31st 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   City news that matters >> Pro-Kannada activists have called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh today, to protest against the recent spate of sexual crimes against women and children. >> Strongholds of pro-Kannada activism like Malleshwaram and Gandhibazar are witnessing heavy protests. >> BMTC bus services did not suffer in the morning though passengers were few. Essential services did not suffer. >> Home Minister has ordered that strict action be taken against those who damage public/private property and disturb the harmony. >> Two more…

Bangalore parents have woken up to increasingly depressing days as incident after incident of child sexual abuse (CSA) gets reported in the city. There have been numerous suggestions on social media to tackle CSA, ranging from the naïve to the critical. 1. Password: In the naïve category is a popular forwarded post from an organization called Kids Time that advises teaching your child a password; if a stranger asks the child to accompany him/her, the child asks for the password and scares away the potential abuser.Password trick being circulated on social media. Will it work? This solution is very naive…

This is a sign that citizens are beginning to use IT Act section 66A to hit back people posting hurtful and offensive remarks online, in response to their own articulations. V R Bhat, a Kannada columnist in Bengaluru, and active user of Facebook found himself on the receiving end of 66A this week, when someone he offended used the infamous IT Act’s 66A clause on him. The above comment in Kannada, put on Facebook by V R Bhat has attracted a complaint against him under section 66A of IT Act. when the tagged person and others filed a complaint under…

A distant view of Biligudda (white hill) across a river. Behind white hill is Karigudda (black hill). Pic:Christopher Martin Lopaze The day after my one-day guided bike tour to rural Bengaluru, my forearms were slightly sunburned, my palms were tender—my fingers were spared fortunately—and my legs and behind were sore; temporary souvenirs I’ve now lost. But the experience is one I shall not forget. I booked a guided bike tour because I wanted to leave the city behind, and see the countryside. Only one other rider, Ray, was on the tour. The total trip distance was about 35 km.  A…