City: Bengaluru

The residents of Borewell Road in Whitefield are a worried lot. This once-peaceful, residential stretch is being targeted for road widening - for the second time in six years! This will result in many old homes and new apartments being demolished. Six years ago, the compound walls of homes were illegally razed and the road was widened on either side by 8 ft. All this, while the authorities claimed helpless to intervene and stop this act. Residents had to re-build their walls and repair their homes at their own expense. Now, six years later, this spectre has resurrected, to haunt…

Monsoon is at its best this year. Rivers and reservoirs are in spate, enhancing the beauty of waterfalls across the state manifold. Weekends are your chance to revel in the lap of nature and water, more so if the weekend is long. Citizen Matters lists some destinations that are not very far from Bangalore, where you can spend your weekends this monsoon. Google maps or GPS navigation would be your best friend for all these journeys, if you are driving on your own. A trip to Shivanasamudra will ensure you enjoy the beauty of the twin falls -Gaganachukki and Bharachukki…

A picture, it is said, is worth a thousand words. So it was, with reference to the recent inauguration of the ‘Kasa mukta’ (garbage free) initiative, at Freedom Park in mid-July. While several thousands of words have been written and spoken about garbage, and about the authorities’ failure in cleaning up the mess, one picture said it all, very eloquently. (The Hindu, 25 July). It showed a horrendous pile of used plates, hundreds of them, tossed on the ground at the Freedom Park, at the end of the meeting by the ‘invitees’ including VIPs. The participants could not care about…

A scene that steals your heart. Pic: Nikita MalusareThe 17-feet-high, 40-feet-wide vertical garden, with 5000 pots. Pic: Nikita MalusareFlowery carpets welcome you to the show! But no - you will not want to walk on them! Pic: Nikita MalusareVegetable grown in pots, put up by Horticulture Department. When are you going to set up your own vegetable garden? Pic: Nikita MalusareYes, that's an EGG PLANT! Pic: Nikita MalusareTake home some seeds, and grow a piece of Lalbagh at your own balcony.. Pic: Nikita MalusareThese water-rich plants are a gardener's delight.. Pic: Nikita MalusarepotTry figuring out what flowers are these! Pic:…

Haseena was attacked with acid in 1999. She lost her eyes forever, her body suffered severe damage, which stole her right to live like all of us. Her attacker spent only five years in jail, and has faded away from public memory. However, Haseena refused to go down in life. She took up a computer course and learnt to stand on her won feet. Now she’s employed, and helping other visually impaired become self-reliant. Haseena narrates her story to Citizen Matters. Over to Haseena. I was born and brought up in this beautiful city of Bangalore, where my parents and…

August 6 was World Organ Donation day - a day to celebrate the spirit of organ donation, the process of giving life to another human by donating an essential part of one’s body; to become useful even in one’s death, to leave behind something that will light up another life. How does one donate his/her organ? Well, except for kidneys, not while one is alive. Donating organs while alive, or transplanting organs of a live human is illegal. Transplantation of Human Organ Act - 1994 mandates that the organs be removed only from a dead body of a donor, with…

Muniratna interacting with SNNA members Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Muniratna met more than 350 property owners of the Sachidananda Nagara Lay Out in Rajarajeshwari Nagara, on August 4th 2013, Sunday morning. The meeting was arranged by Sachidnanada Nagara Nyayapara Andolana, (SNNA), a registered society, that is fighting to get khatas, building plans and layout facilities without paying a single penny as bribe to any of the public officials. SNNA movement started almost three years ago by a group of determined site owners who opposed paying bribes, and got the khatas and all other statutory papers from BBMP through Lokayukta, RTI and…

Inclusiveness’ is the word for namma literary extravaganza, the Bangalore Literature Festival, to be held from September 27 to 29 this year at Jayamahal Palace. There are authors appealing to both the commoners and cognoscenti, English as well as bhasha readers, while technology is being used to democratise and promote. Vikram Sampath, author, musician, archivist, team leader in an IT firm and one of the co-founders of the festival, points out that BLF’s inclusive, tech-savvy personality is reflective of the city. Here’s an interview with Vikram Sampath, where he reveals his plans for the literature festival. Vikram Sampath talks about…

Nazia Hanifa, 31, a resident of Jayanagar, is frustrated about her career. The reason: she wanted to be a scientist, but did not get a suitable job after completing her Masters in Microbiology. After working for six years in a multinational company without any promotions, she quit her job earlier this year to be a homemaker. She is now considering taking up a course on business analysis, so that she can restart her career. Nazia says that if she had got the right advice in her college to take up right courses and subjects, things would have been different. “If…

Doctors inspecting a child in D J Halli Pic courtesy:Jan Arogya Andolan Karnataka (JAAK) A team of doctors, students and activists gathered in DJ Halli on 4 August, 2013, to assess the extent of widespread malnutrition among the population. Following news reports about the death of five-and-a-half year old Meghala due to pneumonia compounded by severe malnutrition, the team decided to hold multiple public meetings in various gullies of DJ Halli off Modi Road, to understand the problem through interacting with the residents. Doctors in the team also checked children who were malnourished or suffering from related illnesses. A number…