City: Bengaluru

Some areas in Bengaluru faced power cut in the last few days, even when the Energy Department of Karnataka submitted to the High Court that the state has surplus power. However the reason is the pre-monsoon maintenance work being carried out by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM). KPTCL is carrying out its annual major works around the city. The capital city will continue to have a few power cuts in some areas. Pic for representational purpose only. Courtesy: Reuters In the past eight days, AECS Layout in Whitefield was badly hit by…

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered an interim stay on the mega-project coming up on the land between Bellandur and Agara lakes, in Bengaluru. This was in response to a petition filed by The Forward Foundation, Bangalore, Praja RAAG, Bangalore and Bangalore Environment Trust. The stay order issued on April 16, 2014, states that “the Tribunal is satisfied that there is a substantial question connected to and concerned with environment which has got to be enquired into.” It observes that “the construction activities are carried on in an extent of 13,50,455 m2 in an area of 80 acres in…

Low cost community leaf litter composting pilot project ready to take off in Malleshwaram. Pic: Shree D N Bangalore’s first low cost community leaf litter composting unit was inaugurated in Malleshwaram on April 24, 2014. Set in a roadside park on 8th Main Road before Yashwanthpur Circle, the project is a replication of an already-running model conceptualised by Ravi Kaushik, a resident of Malleshwaram, in his own frontyard. The project aims to compost the leaves that fall in a particular season in Bangalore. Come winter, the roads of Malleshwaram that have a good tree cover are filled with variety of…

It is everyone's dream to own a home and live in it. In rapidly urbanising Indian cities, especially Bangalore, without the right homework, chasing that dream can result in far more stress than expected. A range of documents is needed at various stages to proceed with a property deal. Regulations, rules, documents, and a maze of procedures can stump you or complicate matters if you are not well prepared. Many of us are unfamiliar with what is required until we actually face such a situation. We are also prone to commit mistakes if we do not ask the right questions…

A mail from Leo Saldanha, Convenor of Environment Support Group, says: As you are aware, we have challenged the widening of roads in Bangalore by BBMP as being illegal. This matter is being heard by the High Court this week. When we filed the PIL in 2008, BBMP had proposed to widen 91 roads, a list they later expanded to include as many as 216 roads. When the PIL is heard on Friday (25th April), we will have to file a memo about the status of road widening on the original list of 91 roads.  As these are spread across…

Voting percentage for Bangalore was 56.47, 55.7 and 55.69 for Bengaluru North, Central and South respectively, while the state average was 67.28%, in parliamentary elections. What does this project? While everybody is cribbing about Bangalore’s voter percentage and “urban voters’ apathy,” it may not be what it looks like. For example, have you seen anyone around you who did not vote? If not, who are these 44 people out of 100 who did not vote in Bangalore? Don’t you think there is more to the voting percentage story? In 2010, Citizen Matters had written about the reality behind voter turnout…

File pic. Courtesy: Jayakrishnan On 21st April 2014, the Counsels of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) placed before the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna a compilation of tree planting activities in Bangalore. The document claims that during the years 2007-2013, the forest wing of the BBMP has planted 10,75,388 trees in the city and that on an average (across 6 years) 63.5% of the saplings have survived. The document was supplied as part of the suo moto proceedings initiated by the High Court in Writ Petition 7288/2011, responding to concerns over…

A religious procession en-route to Dharmarayaswamy Temple. Pic: Deepika Nagabhushan As a recent resident of New Thippasandra, Venkatweshwara Colony which is adjacent to the 515 colony, I had assumed that this being Bangalore, inadequacies would be dealt with swiftly. However, about 2 weeks back (April 8th 2014), when the public utility services shut down for godly processions, with power-cuts at ungodly hours, made me feel like a helpless citizen. Our colony experienced a power-cut of 5 hours during the day and yet another for a further 3 hours, from 3 am to 6 am in the morning. Not even the…

The best insights on ugly Indian behaviour come from sanitation workers – they are at the receiving end every day of their working lives. X had just been to Singapore. He was appalled at how filthy the Indian neighbourhood – Little India – was, somehow proving to him that even in a dictatorial enforcement-driven system like Singapore, the ugly Indian shows his true colours. He distinctly recalled seeing large dumpsters at street corners, even in Little India. Maybe he was missing something here – Bangalore wanted to be as clean as Singapore, but did not want to use dumpsters at…