City: Bengaluru

It is literally the neglected backyard of Bengaluru. When you enter the ill-fated village of Mandur, the pungent smell of rotting garbage fills your nostrils. You will have to bear it, till you leave the village. When the winds are strong, the smell too becomes strong. The village is just a kilometre or so from the dumpyard. When we went inside Mandur past the police security on the main road, the sight of death welcomed us — villagers had gathered around the dead body of a resident, Narayana Rao, in front of his house, despite the curfew imposed. Rao had…

  In mid 2013, deeply troubled by the wasted condition of their beloved city, when a group of concerned citizens got together to decode the garbage matrix, little did they expect that less than a year down the line, they would have so much cause for celebration. Their experiment in segregation at source developed into a winning formula, garnering unprecedented popularity as it moved on. Today, this simple formula has translated into saving over 291 trees, 1.4 lakh units of electricity, 1174 liters of fuel and 617 cubic meters of landfill area. Think of how Bangalore could be transformed if…

Pic courtesy: BPAC The Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) inaugurated the second batch of its flagship program- B.CLIP (B.PAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program) amidst the presence of Bangalore’s citizens, intellectuals and political representatives. The inauguration of the second batch of B.CLIP solidifies B.PAC’s commitment in ensuring the creation of a talented and capable pool of leaders for the city. The B.PAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program (B.CLIP) is a 9-month Leadership Training Program that seeks to inspire, equip and mobilize aspiring citizens to engage in the political process leading up to the municipal corporation elections and help improve city governance. The…

A small portion of the garbage pile in Mandur landfill. Pic: Shree D N The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has withheld the payment of more than three crores to Srinivas Gayathri Resources Recovery Limited (SGRRL), the only processing unit at one of the garbage dumping yards at Mandur, that supposedly had the capacity to process 600 tonnes of waste per day. This resulted in the company shutting down its operations three months ago, claims Srinivas Reddy, the Operations Manager of the plant at Mandur, located near to Hoskote Highway on the north-eastern outskirts of Bengaluru. What waste management firm says:BBMP…

View of the Somanathapura temple from the porch entrance. Pic: Wikimedia Commons The temple at Somanathapura took 58 years to build with 500 sculptors ceaselessly working on it. A true work of art, the Gods come alive in the stones of Somanathapura.  The stone figurines speak to you, be it is the ornately carved temple ceilings, the intricately carved pillars or the heavily sculpted star shaped Trikuta style temple of Somanathapura.  Somanathapura as the name suggests, is not a Shiva temple; it is a famous Hoysala styled Keshava temple. A brief history The temple was constructed in 1268 AD by commander…

Part 1 of Chapter 11: Steal Proofing Part 2 continues... These are the realities of the Indian street that are often ignored by city planners and those who want a better city. Seemingly simple things that work overseas (like trash cans) don’t work well in India. McDonald’s tried its best on Brigade Road, Bangalore – and installed some 30 large fibre-glass dustbins, costing about Rs 2,000 ($40) each, and branded with their Golden Arches logo. They lasted barely a few weeks. Some were vandalized, some caught fire from tossed cigarette butts, many were stolen, and soon none were left. Many…

Police using force against the protesters. Pic courtesy: Sweta Daga Karnataka Slum Clearance Board (KSCB) invited a flood of protest on June 4th 2014, when it sent the police force to evict the slumdwellers of Jai Bhuvaneshwari Nagar in Bangalore, inspite of a High Court order that stayed the eviction in the past. Two JCBs and 150 police officials were seen hovering around the Bhuvaneshwari Nagar slum near Rajiv Gandhi Chest Disease Hospital, NIMHANS, at around 8 am on June 4th. At 9 am, they started evicting people. Electricity connection was cut by the police officials. Slum dwellers, members of  Jai…

What better way to celebrate the arrival of the south-west monsoon in Bangalore, than commemorating World Environment Day (WED)? Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day is an international day celebrated on June 5th every year, to raise awareness and encourage action for the environment. World-over events such as clean-up campaigns, tree planting drives, recycling drives, awareness campaigns, film screenings and the like are conducted. Though each of these events are but a blip on the global radar, they contribute towards a bigger movement.  Why should you be a part of WED? The United Nations designated…

Bangalore saw thunderstorms early this week. Pic: Shree D N In the past month, the weather in namma Bengaluru has taken several dramatic turns. Only a few weeks ago, folks in the city were commenting on how hot Bangalore had become, and how horrible it was to step out during the day. People who have been in the city long enough to truly appreciate the weather were nostalgic about the wonderful weather in the mornings, the lovely showers in the evenings and the marvelously pleasant nights. A week ago Bangalore was witness to something akin to thunderstorms with wind speeds…

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has instructed Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) not to let sewage into the lakes, drains, rivers and wells of Bengaluru, in the backdrop of numerous complaints from the public. The letter to BWSSB had been issued on March 30, 2014. However, a press note from KSPCB says that as nothing was done so far, KSPCB is releasing the matter to the notice of the media. The press release issued by the KSPCB says that KSPCB Chairman Vaman Acharya has instructed the BWSSB not to let municipal waste to the water sources. Houses,…