City: Bengaluru

A small but significant monetary gesture came from a concerned group of children from Indiranagar wanting to do something for their deprived counterparts of EWS. They approached ActionAid to doing something memorable for the deprived homeless children. Consequently, a children's summer camp 'Chinnara Loka' was planned for 28 May and 29 May, 2013.Around 35 children participated from the EWS homeless community. The two days were spent in singing, painting and games which were designed to bring out their talents. Ananth, cultural child rights activist facilitated this programme. ‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});We, the organisers were not surprised…

In Part I and Part II of the series, Citizen Matters had explained how the Manipal ETA Infotech is constructing a multi-crore project near Agara lake, consuming the wetland and lake drain, and how the authorities like Ministry of Environment and Forests have approved the project. Part III explains the traffic-related problems the project has brought in. Studies - including those submitted by the builder - show that the Sarjapur Road is going to be completely choked once the project by Manipal ETA Infotech comes up. The project will have parking facility for over 14,400 vehicles. The entire complex is…

Who doesn't love getting a chance to hear his/her own language, in a far-off place? Across the world today, niche radio markets have found a place, with some channels choosing to cater to non-native residents. Mauritius has Radio Plus Indiz that broadcasts in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tamil and Telugu from 1 pm to 3 pm every day. Radio Punjab focusses on the South-Asian population in Canada. There are Italian and Spanish radio stations in the USA. Citizen Matters, through this two-part series, tries to explore why Bangalore, though tagged as being ‘cosmopolitan,' doesn't have any space for the music of other…

Citizen Matters had earlier reported about a 72-acre SEZ-cum-township coming up in Agara village, near Koramangala 1st block. The project, named Manipal ETA Infotech, had got approval saying that BWSSB will meet its water needs. Citizen Matters had exposed that BWSSB’s NOC (No Objection Certificate) was only for a tiny area of the project, even though NOC is compulsory for the entire area. Also, the BWSSB said it did not even know about the project in its full size. The project site. Pic: Meera K. The project is a joint venture between Mantri Developers and Century Real Estate, with Century…

In Part I of this series, Citizen Matters blew the lid off the IISc report that revealed the encroachment of a major Rajakaluve by the SEZ project by Manipal ETA Infotech Pvt Ltd. This part will explain the random changes made by the BDA in the status of the project land, resulting in a change of status, from being a ‘valley zone' to an industrial area. The site has seen some rapid changes in the last decade. In ‘95, BDA had classified this land as largely residential and park area. In 2005, BDA started revising its master plan. In the…

A woman sits with her ten-month-old baby. It's lunch time. Even as the hot afternoon sun beats down on her face, she quickly covers the baby with her veil protecting him from the sun. A huge apartment complex is under construction. There are over 12 workers there, not to mention two toddlers of around two years running behind their mother. She has just finished eating and resuming her work. She shouts at them to stop yelling. They don't.Two youngsters aged 16-17 lose their grip over the cement bag they are carrying and it rips apart. There are two more couples,…

Who doesn't love getting a chance to hear his/her own language, in a far-off place? Across the world today, niche radio market has found its own place, some of the channels choosing to serve non-native residents. Mauritius has Radio Plus Indiz that broadcasts in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tamil and Telugu from 1 pm to 3 pm every day. Radio Punjab focusses on South-Asian population in Canada. There are Italian and Spanish radio stations in the USA.Citizen Matters, through this two-part series, tries to explore why Bangalore, though tagged as being ‘cosmopolitan' and having seven FM channels, doesn't have any space for…

Finally the waste from hotels seems to be finding a useful way of disposal. The Bruhat Bangalore Hotel Association (BBHA) and Nobel Exchange Environment Solutions (NEX), a company working on waste management solutions, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BBMP to develop a garbage treatment plant at Kannahali, 161 km away from the city, on 28 May 2013.At present 1,300 hotels are registered under the government-recognised hotels' association. Hotels, catering units and other food-related organisations come under the purview of BBHA. They generate almost 1000- 2000 tonnes of waste every day. Out of this, 250 tonnes will be sent to…

Pavan, a Bangalore-based sales professional in a company working as regional manager for India, needs to travel frequently to other cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. If he has to catch the early morning flight to Delhi, he needs to reach the airport at 5.15am, which is not easy. There are limited number of buses at that hour; waiting for them is not a wise thing. Pavan has an easy solution: Book a cab to the airport the previous day. Shekhar Mahadev, a software engineer working in Bangalore, says, “I have to keep making a lot of trips to…

Frail women carrying bricks or sand on their head and walking in the heat, sometimes with a small kid tagging along. Men in dusty, faded clothes with dry, rough hands smearing cement on the well-laid bricks or sprinkling water on a building that has just been cemented. This is a pretty common sight in a city like Bangalore that is ever-growing, ever-expanding and constantly in the process of being built or rebuilt. Building construction workers are growing in numbers every day, with constructions going on in any given road at any point in time. Labourers at work in the construction…