City: Bengaluru

Bengaluru observed the National Cerebral Palsy Day on October 3rd by organizing a walkathon of children living with cerebral palsy, their parents, doctors and rehabilitation professionals. The walkathon, flagged off by Governor HR Bharadwaj, started from Raj Bhavan and culminated at Rotary International Building. Initiated by the Spastics Society and other NGOs working with differently abled children, the walkathom supporters and volunteers from across genres and ages. Social media played a major role in bringing these supporters together. I got to know about the walk through a friend's tweet. It was a well organised, short walkathon for the special children.…

p>In a series on environment-friendly initiatives, Citizen Matters introduces you to individuals and communities who are working hard to encourage sensible disposal of garbage. The first of the series takes you through the gates of an apartment complex in the southern part of the city, in JP Nagar. One block, Mayflower, in Brigade Millenium, hit upon the idea way back in 2008, to do something about the waste that was being generated. The drive, however, didn't convince all the residents. Only 30 out of 220 households are currently segregating their waste, while remaining still depend entirely on the BBMP garbage…

A new option to get your auto woes addressed is holding out promise for Bengaluru, thanks to the Transport Department's initial enthusiasm to respond. Auto Watch, an initiative by the technology platform Kiirti, is co-ordinating with the Transport Department to address the grievances of auto commuters. The complaints that the public reported have been forwarded to the concerned RTOs for action. Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has instructed officials to ensure that each RTO should seize five autos against which there are complaints. The action taken by the RTOs will be updated in the site soon. Kiirti is an initiative by…

Most of us Bangaloreans consume eggs, whether as fried eggs or in cakes. But did you know where the egg on your plate comes from? From a factory or a farm? India is among the top five poultry producers in the world today; we did about 45 billion eggs in 2009, from 200 million caged hens. Life for the hen in an industrial poultry farm is inhuman, to put it mildly. Treated as mere egg-producing machines, these hens get less than an A4 sheet of space to live their entire lives; are fed with steroids in order to make them…

Around the time that the BBMP was deciding to include the menace of stray dogs in its agenda, on August 31st, 10-year-old Sameer was waiting for an injection in the series he has had to take, after being bitten badly by a dog outside his home in Jayanagar 4th T block. In the days since hearing about his injury, I have been counting dogs on our city streets, and am horrified that in a metropolis boasting about reaching for "world class status" we have  1.4 lakh strays (at last count - 2009) and  21,900 dog bite cases  (officially registered) in…

Five days after an ABIDe-led committee was constituted to discuss Karnataka's draft rules for implementing the national Right to Education (RTE) Act, it has already received several suggestions from senior educationists and NGOs. To propose a way through the confusion regarding the implementation of the RTE Act the chief minister's task force for Bengaluru, ABIDe (Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force), formed a working group on September 23. The group plans to collect suggestions from the public and hold discussions with parents, teachers, NGOs, school associations and other stakeholders to discuss the draft rules proposed by the state…

Ahead of the judgement at the Lucknow High Court, regarding disputed property in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), steps have been taken here in Bengaluru to keep a check on the law and order situation. While the state government has declared that schools and colleges will not function for two days, September 30th and October 1st, many private companies have chosen either declare a holiday or work half-day. Prohibitory orders have been clamped on the city, with effect from 6 am today till 6 am on October 3rd. This means public functions cannot be held and groups of five or more people…

A complaint regarding tampered water meter has arisen in Jayanagar 4th T block. David S R, a resident of the area, noticed the issue of steep hike in his BWSSB's water bill around three years back. "The bill would come to Rs.4000 a month sometimes. Whenever I visited the local BWSSB office, I would be sent back saying that the case would be investigated, but nothing was done", he said. The Water Meter. Pic: David S R. During David's many visits over the past few years, he alleges that the officials not only demanded bribes, but also said that the…

According to BBMP's second quarter status report for JNNURM projects, 2009-10, the sanctioned cost was Rs 24.86 crores, with BBMP putting up 50% of the funds. The tender was awarded in March 2008, with the project scheduled to complete in January 2009 as per the Detailed Project Report. In the same report, BBMP gives reason for delay as:  "Sital conditions (faced hard rock which has to be blasted), traffic diversion are the reasons for delay. And another major problem is land acquisition." The Deccan Herald reported on September 13th about the Kadirenahalli underpass getting ready to be opened. It said…

Most of us are so self-centred, we take all the people providing us various services, for granted. One such group is the group of Pourakarmikas or municipal sweepers. Think what would happen if these people went on strike! Think of the garbage that many citizens throw on the road, into empty sites and at corners of pavements. Non-segregated, stinking garbage. Plastic bags torn up by street dogs and garbage strewn all over. Yet, we do not spare a thought for these poor workers performing a thankless task, and often abuse them. In an effort to sensitise the next generation to…