City: Bengaluru

Over the past three years, the Rosy Pastor (Madhusarika in Kannada) a migratory bird from Europe has chosen to enter Bangalore earlier than the previous years. For instance, in 2011, bird watchers in Bangalore reported spotting the species in early March. Again last year, the bird was reported to be spotted by mid February. Thereafter, in 2013, the bird made an appearance by mid January in Bangalore. Considering the difference in timings, the avian's early appearance could be linked to the impact of climate change on bird migration patterns.  The Rosy Pastor. Pic courtesy: Antony P UA recent article in…

As pedestrians we have been facing the problem of walking safely on Bangalore's roads using footpaths or pavements they are supposed to be meant for us. But, in reality, footpaths are the most dangerous places to set our foot on if at all we can do so. Most of the time, putting the foot down on the footpath has resulted in a sprained ankle or a broken foot. It is a common sight to see footpaths being reconstructed. Every time this takes place, the footpath is raised above the road level to almost a foot high in some places. It…

With the expected implementation of new Ward Committee Bye-laws/Rules drafted by the BBMP, the citizens can now question the ward committees on litter or garbage in their ward. The best part is, they can even move court if the complaints to the ward committee or the corporator do not solve the problem. Councillors had debated on whether BBMP should form Bengaluru-level ‘Bye-laws’ or state-level ‘Rules’, for ward committees. File Pic. The draft of the Byelaws/Rules for Ward Committees has been sent to the state government for approval. The final push for the formation of ward committees had come as a…

In early January, an NGO that focuses on reuse and recycling of clothes sent out an urgent appeal to people on their mailing list to contribute woollens and blankets for homeless people who were suffering the harshness of a prolonged winter. Quilt-making in progress. Pic: Lalana Zaveri What would most of us do, on receiving such an email? Possibly spare a thought for these poor people and then mark the mail unread with the intention of doing something about it at the earliest opportunity, or perhaps gather our spare blankets and woollens and set off in search of a collection…

The Lok Satta party headed by Jayaprakash Narayan is flexing its muscles in Bangalore as the state gets ready for elections in May. The party has named 15 candidates for MLA elections in the state, including a second list that was released on March 27th. Nine are contesting in Bangalore city itself, and the rest from other parts of Karnataka. Lok Satta has a reformist positioning in the Indian political sphere. It supports clean governance, setting up of a strong Lokpal, liberalising agriculture, closing of populist subsidies, FDI in retail, and so forth. Jayaprakash Narayan. Pic: Loksattaparty.org Jayaprakash Narayan, 57,…

Dear Friends and fellow Bangaloreans,Elections to our Assembly has been announced and it is time to bring in change. Mohandas Pai. File pic: Wikimedia commons. Every Bangalorean above the age of 18 would need to register, get his or her voter card and vote to create the Bangalore of our dreams. B.PAC and SmartVote have been running a campaign online, within company offices and campuses, college campuses and other places to get voter to register. Our volunteers are going all out to get 1 million new voters to register!The difficulties have been many. The EC-Karnataka has an antiquated IT portal…

A massive Rs 2,300 crores industrial project is coming up in Agara, adjacent to Koramangala, along Sarjapura Road, the first of its kind here. But it might be coming at a cost to the people staying nearby. The project, by Manipal ETA Infotech Pvt Ltd, is a township that includes an SEZ, retail outlets, hotels, office buildings, two residential apartments etc. The project is a joint venture between Century Real Estate and Mantri Builders - while Century is providing land, Mantri is taking care of the construction. A SEBI document of 2011 mentions Sushil Mantri as Chairman and Managing Director…

Devranjan is a tailor employed at a small shop on Brigade Road who gets paid Rs. 200 on a daily basis. He lives on Hosur Road and travels to Brigade Road every day for work, shelling out between Rs. 35-40 every day. As there are no direct buses to his place, he needs to switch between buses every day. This clearly shows that Devranjan spends at least 17 per cent of his monthly income on commuting to and from his workplace. He is one among the many who face the wrath of expensive public transport in Bangalore. Connectivity between buses…

Is Bangalore hosting way too many talks and seminars and not showing much action on ground? Many seem to think so. But Usha Rajagopalan's talk was infectious enough to get us all on our feet to go home and save water and our water bodies nearby. An interactive panel discussion, "Water Matters: 1.3 billion litres/day - Where do we go from here?" was organised by ‘The Alternative' on Friday, March 22, 2013 at Max Mueller Bhavan. The panelists included Usha Rajagopalan (A founding member of the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT)), Sekhar Raghavan, the first trustee of the Akash…

Earlier this month, I sent the following letter to the The Chief Justice of Karnataka regarding storm water drains, an issue that I have tried to take up with the concerned government authorities without much success. Remarks that the High Court (HC) of Karnataka made on storm water drains prompted me to write this.The Chief JusticeHigh Court of KarnatakaBangalore 560001 March 13, 2013KIND ATTN: The Honourable Judges of Karnataka High CourtSubject: STORM WATER DRAINS (SWD's) IN BANGALORE CITYI understand from the newspapers that the Honourable Court is seized with a matter concerning storm water drains in the city and has…