City: Bengaluru

Last Friday, 12 green activists protesting the tree cutting on Sankey road were arrested. Though the most of the trees were not saved, it sure brought back memories from two decades ago of a similar, but successful protest in 1991. A group of young men including Vinay Baindur, Mahesh Kumar, Sudhir Jayaram and Gururaja Budhya, were able to prevent a number of trees in Malleswaram from being felled. These young men petitioned the Governor, to save the trees. Three of them were detained by the police . Many in this group have gone on to play a major role in…

The two-day festival will have an eclectic mix of artistes both local and national. Residents of north-east Bengaluru will be treated to a classical music extravaganza with Whitefield Music Festival kicking off is first edition this Saturday, 9th July. The two day event, spread over the weekend will see a wide variety of performances from artistes at Jagriti Theatre in Whitefield. The event is being organised by Whitefield Music Circle, a group formed by residents of Whitefield. The concerts will be held between 4 - 8pm. Manoj Pai, one of the members says, "we felt that this side of the…

On 23rd June, early in the morning, Ward 179 (Shakambari Nagar) MLA B N Vijay Kumar, BBMP councillor for the ward, B Somashekhar with a group of some 15 people including engineers from BBMP, BWSSB and other civic agencies visited residents door to door. The ‘padayatre’, as it was termed was in its fourth day. They had earlier visited Jayanagar 5th block, 8th block and Shakambari Nagar 7th main previously. A resident talks about his grievances with the MLA, Councillor B Somashekhar is also present. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi. “Ella channagidiya antha vicharskond hogakk bandidivi” (We have come to ask if…

The urge to meet people we admire does cross our minds occasionally. By a small probability and quirk of fate when such a meeting does happen then happiness knows no bounds. I finally got a chance to meet one of my favourite writers Amitav Ghosh. Coincidentally, I was in the midst of enjoying ‘The Hungry Tide', lost in the jungles of Sunderbans. Being a voracious reader, Ghosh's writings have satiated me with the fictional world that he spins out with such eloquence. On learning about the book launch of Ghosh's critically acclaimed ‘River of Smoke' from the Ibis Trilogy, I…

The Sankey Road trees might have survived longer had the Mayor Sharadamma Ramanjaneya initiated a meeting of the Tree Authority of which she is the convener. But Shardamma is not aware of the Tree Authority for Bangalore. The authority is supposed to hear the public's complaints on tree felling. Citizens and organisations can appeal decisions by forest department officials such as the BBMP Tree Officer, permitting or disallowing cutting of trees in the city. One of the trees BBMP cut during the midnight operation on June 30th-July 1st. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi. The top forest official in BBMP limits, Deputy Conservator…

When I first heard about the magical properties of Aloe Vera, I was unprepared for the absolute bitter taste of the product which wouldn’t leave my mouth for at least 15 mins! I went ahead and swallowed it anyway, telling myself it is medicinal and good for so many of my medical problems. I am so glad I stuck with it. Today after one year of taking 50 ml of Aloe Vera on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, I can vouch for it. My aches and pains are reduced considerably, my skin is glowing and my hair…

Spirituality tells us of our life being a journey of soul through the sea of time, and our body being a mere vehicle which drives us through. In case of our worldly possession of a vehicle like a car, we ensure regular maintenance, regular servicing. Do we care similarly for our body? Diabetes is fast emerging as an epidemic. Bangalore incidentally, has second highest number of people afflicted with diabetes, according to a recent Indian studies. Hyderabad leads the list. Every 10 seconds, a person dies of diabetes related illness. Interestingly, 50% of diabetics are unaware of their condition. Also,…

While BMTC has started some good initiatives like introducing new routes and Bus Day, there was a huge blow to the corporation - rise in diesel rates by Rs 3 per litre. Immediately BMTC announced a bus fare increase - was this hike seriously necessary? Bus tickets. File pic. The diesel fares rose by Rs 3. An average BMTC bus gives about 4 km/litre and some new ones go up to  5 km/litre. That means an average increase of about 75 paise per kilometre. The number of passengers travelling in a bus averages 40-45, meaning there is absolutely just less…

Leo Saldanha of the city-based green NGO Environmental Support Group intervened in a move that partly led to dropping of charges against the protestors and activists arrested on July 1st during the Sankey Road episode. Protesters were objecting to cutting of 19 trees on Sankey Road for it's proposed widening from Bhashyam Circle to Malleshwaram 18th Cross. Victoria D'Souza, protester, was dragged along with the other women to the police van. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi. Saldanha spoke to city police commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji and questioned the decision of Circle Inspector of Vyalikaval station to slap charges on those arrested under…

A 63-year old former BBMP official M B Krishnamurthy, is one of over dozen people arrested so far at the Sankey Road protests. Krishnamurthy, a diabetic patient and self-confessed tree lover, spoke to Citizen Matters from Vyalikaval Police Station where he was detained along with green activists. Ironically, Krishnamurthy is from the same BBMP engineering department that is currently felling the trees for roadwidening.  Sankey Road tree felling ongoing on July 1st. Pic: Lakshmi Sharath. For the past two days Malleswaram citizens have expressed fury against the BBMP for pushing forward with its roadwidening plan along a section of Sankey…