City: Bengaluru

Garbage, sewage and construction debris are eating up Bengaluru's Chunchaghatta lake situated in the Konankunte ward, adjacent to Eshwar Layout in southern JP Nagar.  A Citizen Matters inquiry has become a wake-up call to the authorities this month, but it remains to be seen what happens next. According to according to BBMP records, the lake is spread over 14 acres. Birds flocking the lake despite garbage and construction debris being dumped. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi Sujatha, 39, a domestic worker, lives on the banks of the lake, says that she has tried telling her neighbours to not dump their garbage…

A working group constituted by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's ABIDe task force submitted its recomendations on rules for implementing RTE (Right To Education) in Karnataka to the government on February 3. A major change that the group proposed to the government's own original draft was to make the selection of unaided schools for RTE based on unmet demand in local areas. ABIDe as recommended removing provisions that make RTE mandatory for all unaided schools. ABIDe has also recommended removing restrictions regarding fees, admission procedures etc., on unaided schools.  ABIDe Working Group presenting RTE draft to Primary and Secondary Education…

February 23rd , Wednesday, will mark one year since the Carlton Towers fire tragedy, a tragedy which changed the lives of 9 families forever and where over 60 were injured, some of whom are still recovering. It was soon after the tragedy that ‘Beyond Carlton', a people's initiative for fire safety was formed in Bangalore. The Group includes family members of those who passed away, survivors of the tragedy and concerned citizens of Bangalore, who have come together to honour the memory of the lives lost in this avoidable tragedy, to ensure that justice is served to the perpetrators of…

The work for tar road began, in December 2009. As part of that, the work for drains along the road, though started from scratch, has been going on in rounds, changing the course of the drain thrice. The work came to a halt with out proper cover for drains. Lack of proper planning before starting the work was quite apparent. A short drain running across of the road, opened for clearing the blockage because of debris and wasn't covered since then, has been big trouble for all the passing vehicles, especially four wheelers, and pedestrians when it rains, at nights,…

Citizens Action Forum (CAF), a federation of Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) in Bangalore, held a meeting on Saturday February 19, at the Central College Senate Hall at which three issues were tabled for discussion – the move  by BBMP to hike property tax by 15 per cent, water supply, and  the garbage problem. CAF meeting. From L: M S Mukunda, B N Vijaykumar, Manjunath, Lalithabai, Ashwathnarayana, Venkat Raju and Govindraju. Pic: Meera K. A full house saw representatives of RWA and concerned citizens voice their opinions on these issues to seek responses from ward representatives and MLAs. What remained at…

With 7 Khoon Maaf, director Vishal Bhardwaj returns for the second time to another Ruskin Bond short story Susanna's Seven Husbands. His first was Blue Umbrella. The film is at one level a woman's search for love. Bhardwaj makes this journey through the mind of Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka Chopra) - a woman who lives the world not in black and white, but in all its accompanying shades of grey. She veers at the precipice between sanity and insanity, almost willing herself back from the edge just as she threatens to veer over. This should have made for a promising…

Move over cricket and football, children and adults of Springfield apartments on Sarjapur Road have a new sport to try their hands on. The apartment conclave has recently installed indoor rock climbing wall in the premises. The 30 feet wall has holds arranged asymmetrically which climbers use to grip and climb. Rajat Bhargava, who is in charge of outdoor activities at Springfield says, "I wanted to introduce some unique out door activity and sport climbing seemed to be a good choice as it is an adventure sport." Outback India, which promotes adventure sports, set up the wall and have assigned…

Seven years after BDA laid out the first plan of Phase I of PRR (Peripheral Ring Road), the project is nowhere close to taking off, due to land acquisition issues. After many changes in length, alignment and cost made over the years, BDA - the executing agency for the project - gave the final alignment in 2007. BDA now plans to hold a meeting with the Chief Minister to discuss compensation for land acquisition. "We cannot acquire land or float tenders without arriving on a formula for compensation. This will be discussed in the meeting with CM," says BDA PRO…

Citizen Action Forum (CAF), a federation of Residents Welfare Associations in Bangalore, is starting a campaign to highlight what it calls “misplaced priorities of BBMP, BWSSB and the state government” and to propose a plan to resolve critical issues plaguing the city. CAF POSITIONSTAXES: BBMP should not increase property tax rates. It should first widen the tax base and increase the revenues from sources like rental income from BBMP properties, licensing fees, taxes on hoardings etc. It is estimated that only 40% of the properties are paying taxes amounting to Rs 900 Crores. BBMP should also demand 8% of the…

The collapse of a wall in a construction site in CK Palya off Bannerghatta road on February 2, which killed five labourers and injured four, has once again proved how easily government sanctions can be obtained for any poor-quality building. A Citizen Matters investigation has shown that the lives of Parbhu Yadav, 40, Sanjith Sharma, 25, Raju Podar, 60, Jugesh Thathi, 40, and Raja, 60, all from Biharm could have been saved. Preliminary observations after the tragedy had already indicated flaws in construction including poor quality of cement mix, poor foundation and lack of cement pillars to support the nearly…