City: Bengaluru

Ranka Colony road, off Bannerghatta road, is a good example of the city's horrendous infrastructure. There are at least ten apartments, with around 2000 flats, along the road. This road has been in poor condition since the last 10 years. Rainwater would enter apartments, rising up to seven feet high, damaging parked vehicles and entrapping residents. Over the years BBMP has dug the road many times, but never fixed it. BBMP again dug up the road last year, which has only caused more trouble. A 1600-m storm water pipeline is being laid along the service lane from Bannerghatta main road…

There was a major fire in Kleen Pack, a plastic factory off Bannerghatta Road, early morning on January 30th. I was leaving for my morning walk along with my wife at 5 am on the day, when I noticed black smoke rising up in the sky. Abandoning our walk, we rushed to the direction of smoke to check what was happening. A lot of plastic/synthetic raw materials were stored in the factory's premises and these were on fire.The factory manufactures plastic bags and is located along Arekere Bannerghatta road that leads to L&T South City.By the time we reached, the…

Book lovers in Koramangala are in for some treat as some of the book stores are offering discounts. Kannada, Malayalam and English books of different genres are up for grabs. Here are some book stores that have offers. DC Books store. Pic: Deepthi M S Landmark is having a 'Buy 2 get 1 free' offer on selected books. Books ranging from fiction, non- fiction, Best sellers, Children's books, Harry Potter series, Twilight series are available under this offer. The offer also extends to books by author Robin Sharma. Landmark Ltd., The Forum, 21 Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 029…

BWSSB is carrying out work of laying sewage pipelines near the Wipro junction in Koramangala, 1st block. The beginning of 1st main road, Koramangala, near the Wipro junction has been dug up for this. The entry to this road is blocked. This road will be blocked for a week from now."It takes time as a lot of other civic amenity lines are in the way," says the Assistant Engineer, BWSSB, who is in charge of the work.           Earthmovers at work. Pic: Deepthi M S More work is planned to take place in and around the Wipro Junction, which may…

Bengaluru will finally have its own literary weekend. Lekhana comes to the city between February 10-12. The event has been organized by Toto Funds the Arts (TFA), Sangam House (an international writers’ residency program), DeshaKaala (a journal for arts and letters in Kannada) and Reading Hour (a print magazine for Indian creative writing), in partnership with the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). “The City" is the theme this year. With panel discussions, readings, performances and an event bookstore, it promises to be an intersection space for the city’s varied writers, literary cultures and languages. C K Meena, Chairperson, TFA says…

Susheela, a vegetable vendor at Gandhi Bazaar who was thrown out on Jan 23rd, is one of those who was allowed to return on February 9th by city councillor P N Sadashiva. Pic: Vijayalakshmi P. After being thrown out by BBMP on January 23rd, vendors of Gandhi Bazaar, Basavanagudi have set up shops again on February 9th. "Yesterday the police constables chased us, but today they allowed us. But how about compensation?", asks Venkatappa, a 35-year-old florist. The vendors allege that the BBMP never gave them any notice.The trader's association of Gandhi Bazaar had a list which was used by…

If kite flying has ever caught your fancy, ‘Gaalipata Time' maybe a good place to start. Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen Matters are organising this community event on Sunday, February 12th.  Time: 9 am - 3 pm, February 12thVenue: Koramangala 3rd block playground, next to Post Office, 12th main, 3rd block. Kite expert and former state award winner Sabir Hussian will guide those participating in kite flying. "There will be some 50 varieties of kites for sale and exhibition at the event. In additional to traditional kites, there will be designer kites with bird and animal patterns. Kites will be…

In the commoditised world, if you don't like the price of a shirt or even a car, you can shop around to your hearts content.Schooling though is a different cup of tea altogether. It is an investment parents make for their children, and certainly no commodity. So when private unaided schools increase fees regularly, parents will simply not automatically move out in a hurry. Switching costs time, energy, money and stress on children. Some parents straightaway suspect that they are being exploited because they're not about to change schools at the drop of a hat. In market economics, this is…

Around two months back, our apartment association got a notice from the Rajaji Nagar regional office of the state Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). The notice said that we had to pay Rs 1.2 lakh as STP operation fee for six years, starting from January 2007. Ours is a 165-unit apartment in Kundanahalli.When we went to pay this amount, KSPCB officials said that we had to pay an additional Rs 45,000 (Rs 7,500 annually for the six years) for an environment audit report. This was to be paid to an agency that conducts surveys. When we enquired about the audit report…

"Our department will take this as a challenge, support us, we will make the process more easily" says Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dr P S Harsha (south east division). DCP Harsha addressing the HSR layout residents. Pic: Vijayalakshmi P Federation of HSR Layout Residents Welfare Association on 28 Janaury, conducted an interaction session with the police officials at HSR club. The topic of discussion was mainly crime and traffic problems. "I am ashamed about the theft that happened in the at 6th sector where many IPS officers and commissioner reside , still the cases are not solved. Why?" asked Dr.…