City: Bengaluru

What is KASA MUKTHA? The Karnataka Chief Minister launched the initiative in 22 Wards on July 24, 2013 to solve Bangalore's 'garbage problem'. He promised a Kasa Muktha (Garbage-Free) Bengaluru in 6 months (by Jan 24, 2014). The 'garbage problem' is being addressed at 3 levels:a) Segregation of garbage – by the citizenb) Processing of segregated garbage – by the BBMPc) Elimination of BLACK SPOTS (or open garbage dumps) Why focus on BLACK SPOTS? This citizen-driven pilot focused only on eliminating Black Spots. The BLACK SPOT problem is not just a garbage problem – it affects public health, sanitation, pedestrian…

According to Jana Mahiti report prepared by Ipaidabribe.com in 2010, the number of bribery cases was the highest in the Department of Stamps and Registration. The report even listed the top corrupt Sub-Registrar’s offices in Bengaluru. However, the future might change for the better, as there is some hope in the air. When P Manivannan, Chief Project Officer, Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP), known to be a reformist, was given the additional charge of Inspector General of Registration, Department of Stamps and Registration, the online crowd interested in bringing about some real change got curious. Manivannan is one of…

Also read: Have STP and fire hydrant in your apartment? This is what BESCOM can charge In the past month, several apartment complexes on Sarjapur Road in Bengaluru received a notice from BESCOM asking for payment of additional security deposit. In one case, the notice specified that the existing deposit was Rs 47,120 and the calculated MMD (Months Minimum Deposit) was Rs 1,43,690, and therefore the difference of Rs 96,570 was needed to be paid to BESCOM to avoid disconnection. When this came to Citizen Matters’ notice, we decided to have a chat with BESCOM to find out what the…

The State Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment has assured that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority will be reconstituted within a month and clearances given to the mixed development project coming up between the Bellandur and Agara lakes would be reviewed. The assurance was given in the meeting conducted by Upa Lokayukta, Subhash Adi on Friday January 17th 2014. The Member Secretary of Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment, Ramachandran who was also a part of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, was summoned to the meeting, to investigate the alleged irregularities by Mantri Developers on the land between…

The Lalbagh Flower Show in Bengaluru needs no introduction really, but the January 2014 edition of the show is rather special. The flower show, currently in its 199th edition, is just one short of completing its bicentennial. That’s not all; this edition also marks the 50th year of the Horticulture Department. Over 200 varieties of flowers and vegetables are on display. The showcase also features huge floral structures in the shape of mushrooms, bananas, coconuts and more. With props that act as the eyes and lips, these structures make for a quirky spectacle. There is also a huge 18 foot…

Image Courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/TRRAIN The next time you walk into a cafeteria or a pizza store, watch out for something a little more noteworthy than your steaming pizza. A differently abled person could be working in the back area, and quite possibly with more élan than your usual order taker! Several food retail outlets in the city including Café Coffee Day, Dominos, Subway and McDonald’s, are increasingly hiring people with disability, particularly folks who are speech and hearing impaired, to build an inclusive environment at the workplace. Interestingly, fellow employees are more than welcoming to this trend. 'I don’t feel different…

The finals of the Bala Janaagraha civic festival is going to be conducted at Devraj Urs Auditorium, Millers Tank Bund Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru, on Saturday, January 18, 2014. A press note from Bala Janaagraha team gives more details: Bala Janaagraha is a uniquely designed, carefully thought out civic education program conducted for Grade VIII students of government, aided and private schools in Bangalore. Our vision is to transform today’s children into active citizens of tomorrow. The curriculum is different from the standard civic lessons taught in schools. In the curriculum designed by Bala Janaagraha the student becomes the primary…

People in Bengaluru can now heave a sigh of relief. According to draft rule notification of Akrama Sakrama, all buildings which are completed and have occupation certificate or PID Numbers issued shall be eligible for regularisation under these rules. Even other buildings are eligible, subjected to certain conditions. Akrama Sakrama application (application for regularisation of unauthorized developments) consists Part-I, Part-II and Part-III. Part-I: For the regularisation of plot in an un-authorised sub-divided land / layout. Part-II: For regularising the land use violations. Part-III: For the regularisation of unlawful buildings. Submit the completed application form with the documents required within three…

It is almost a year since the EWS Quarters slum was demolished and the residents ruthlessly thrown away from their homes. In spite of various protests and struggles against this inhuman slum demolition by slum dwellers, Dalit, Left, Student, Community based and other organisations for a year now, there hasn’t been a single response from the government on this issue. Even the new Congress government hasn’t responded to the five memorandums to the CM that the Forum against EWS Land Grab has submitted on this issue. The government in its callousness has not even bothered to hold talks on this issue and…