City: Bengaluru

After Citizen Matters expose on BBMP quietly shutting down the Technical Vigilance Cell's (TVC) call centre last year, very little has happened to remedy the situation. The cell that earlier used to accept complaints from the public directly regarding building violations, now monitors only public works as directed by the Commissioner. But Commissioner Siddaiah told Citizen Matters that he has appointed Technical Advisor B T Mohan Krishna to look into building violations. Complaints that the commissioner receives from the public will be forwarded to Krishna, he says. "He will co-ordinate with the TVC also for this," Siddaiah said. Krishna took…

Dr Shankara Prasad is one of the leaders of the Sachidananda Nagara Nyayapara Andolana. This group of 120 residents of Sachidananda Nagar layout in Rajarajeshwari Nagar won a hard - fought battle this week to get their khatas without paying bribes. The protests, which went on for several months, resulted in an order by BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah on November 8th to issue khatas to all residents. Pic: Navya P K. 58-year-old Prasad, though from Bangalore has spent nearly three decades traveling around the world, working as a consultant in the chip manufacturing industry. He completed his M Tech from IIT,…

We all know that our Bangalore is growing fast and civic authorities are planning a massive road-widening project across the city. But footpaths are either full of parked four wheelers or debris leftover by BBMP construction works. The narrow footpaths we have are already blocked at points by transformers, trees, piles of garbage and vehicles. Roads are meant for vehicular movement and footpaths for pedestrian walk. But you can see this reversed near main roads or traffic signals. We cannot name a specific area because this scene is seen all over Bangalore. I personally experienced this near Madiwala, BTM and…

It was with absolute shock and disgust that I read a news piece about the government's decision to introduce Kurkure in the midday meals offered at anganwadis in the State. The "justification" offered is that children these days are addicted to this spicy snack so this would be an incentive for them to attend the anganwadi. Have we forgotten why the Midday Meal was introduced less than a decade ago? Was it not meant to address child malnutrition, protect children from classroom hunger, and increase school enrolment and retention?  Am I mistaken about the Supreme Court directive (2001) that made…

ApartmentAdda, a leading provider of online residential complex management software is holding its second workshop for estate managers on November 18th at Brooke Fields, Bengaluru. Timing: 9.30 AM - 4.30 PM. The first workshop was held on 29th July 2010. There were presentations on sewage treatment plants, complaint Management, experiences of a new estate manager and liabilities of an estate Manager. Pic courtesy: Apartment Adda. The workshop will be a full-day event, and this time the focus is on financial efficiency in a residential association. It will cover areas that an estate manager needs to be the master of -…

"The Brigade Millennium enclave brought an impressive range of facilities within one secure, green, well-planned environment. ... The end result is a quality of life that few urban dwellers in India normally have the privilege of enjoying", so says Brigade Enterprises' website on the Brigade Millennium enclave in JP Nagar 7th Phase. Reality, however, is quite different. The main road of this enclave - Millennium Avenue - is no different from a public road - worse, in fact, with both Brigade and BBMP washing their hands off it, this has become a classic 'dhobi ka kutta'. The result - as…

After a two-year-long struggle against corrupt BBMP officials and a hostile Resident Welfare Association, residents of Sachidananda Nagar layout in Bengaluru are finally about to receive their khatas - without paying any bribe. Today, BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah issued a letter to the BBMP Additional Director (Rajarajeshwari zone) K M Ramachandrappa to issue khatas to the nearly 800 residents. The letter says that the decision was made after considering the Gandhigiri protests held by residents and a directive from the Lokayukta last week. Residents at BBMP office demanding khatas be issued. Pic: Loksatta. The battle for khatas started in 2001 for…

Having attended most of the performances of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2010, it's worth introspecting on the effort this festival has made to introduce different forms of folk theatre to the Bangalore audience. This year's theme was different from the normal staging of plays, and probably unique as a theatre festival presentation. The most impressive aspect of this was the huge effort that has been made to get folk theatre artists from not just our own State, but from as far afield as Assam and Manipur. Also, various forms...the singing or the "recital" forms such as the Pandavani from…

With holidays and the sparkle of Diwali in the air, we thought we'd keep a look out for films that make for good viewing with the family. So this week's recommendation is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole - a film directed by Zack Snyder (of 300 fame) in the fine tradition of Hollywood's computer-animated fantasies. The film tells the story of a young barn owl Soren, who travels across the universe to find the legendary alliance of owls known as the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole", and save the owl kingdoms. The film itself has familiar themes like courage,…

Bahujana hithaaya, bahujana sukhaaya - for the good and convenience of the largest number of people, is an old maxim adopted nationally as a motto for public policy. The administrators of Namma own ooru seem to have turned this rule upside down. Consider the following examples - To ensure a "signal free" passage to those going to the new airport, the flow of  traffic  at  Mekhri circle has been changed to force buses proceeding towards Bellary Road to take a sharp U turn after passing the BDA office and the Guttahalli stop. The diversion is such that buses slow down…