City: Bengaluru

The unprecedented price rise in recent months of virtually every essential commodity is forcing poor families in Bangalore to rethink their cooking and food habits. People like Afeena for instance, a resident of Byapanhally who has been doing housekeeping work in Bengaluru for the past 15 years to help support her husband, an autorickshw driver and two children. The average income of her family is Rs 18,000-20,000 a month. “Cooking oil has become very expensive at Rs 200-250 per kg,” says Afeena. “So instead of buying one kilogram, I now buy small quantities of Rs 10-15 which lasts just a…

I often get asked why I’m obsessed with ward committees and keep on promoting them despite so many challenges and setbacks. I am indeed obsessed and here’s why. We are still evolving democracy. We can’t just vote for the best candidate and expect him/her to represent us and make things work. Getting elected doesn’t seem to have much to do with the ability to govern. Of all the issues we face in our cities, many of them relate to local governance and not so much about international affairs or policymaking that require deeper engagement and very few have the means…

Two migrant laborers drown Two migrant contractual labourers who were working for a BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) project near Bangalore University, drowned during heavy rains on Tuesday. The incident occurred when water from a drain flooded an underground pipeline they were working in. They had gone 20 feet inside the pipe for welding work. A probe is underway. Locals said that the roads were dug up for more than a year and no safety equipment or signboards were used. Source: Indian Express Read More: Bengaluru’s Labour Stands present a highly exploitative and informal hiring market Heavy rains…

Bengaluru generates 6000 tons of garbage per day from various entities. BBMP as the local government and the nodal agency in charge of solid waste management, has categorised waste generators into bulk and non-bulk categories. According to estimates, over 1500 tons of waste is generated by Bulk Generators (BGs). Classification of Bulk Generators Bulk Generators have been classified into three categories, as per BBMP’s circular JC(SWM)/PRF/e-17410/2021-22 dated 30th Mar 2022: ResidentialInstitutionalCommercialApartments, Multi dwelling units, gated communities housing greater than 100 Units.Academic institutions, government departments and undertakings, religious institutions, hospitals, hospitality industry, Corporates, etc.All commercial entities which generate on an average…

If one makes an early morning tour of areas like Lingarajapuram, Chikka Banaswadi, Kullapa Circle, Papareddy Palya, Kurubarahalli, Rajagopal Nagar, Peenya and Dasarahalli, they are likely to see groups of workers carrying construction tools and lunch boxes waiting on the roads and side streets, their eyes eagerly scanning the road  for contractors who will hire them as daily wage labourers. These spaces where the workers congregate every morning are known as Labour Stands and are an ubiquitous sight in many Indian cities. Many such labour stands exist in Bengaluru, yet few outside the world of contractors know about them. How do…

Lakshmi, a resident of Chikka Banaswadi in Bangalore, and the 30 other families who live there, have no access to water. Lakshmi buys nine plastic pots of water every day from shops nearby paying Rs 2 per pot. Even if each pot holds 20 litres, nine pots give Lakshmi, her husband and two children, just 180 litres of water per day for drinking, bathing, washing dishes, etc., whereas the Centre's Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recommends daily water supply of 135 litres per capita in urban areas. Lakshmi, who lives in a slum in Chikka Banaswadi, spends Rs 18…

Peak traffic on the busiest section of Tannery Road in East Bengaluru occurs around 6 pm. The heavy traffic makes driving through this narrowest stretch of the road time consuming — taking about six minutes to cover a mere 500 metres. Small shops line one side of this street which earlier was 40 feet wide but has now been reduced to a little less than 20 feet. The other side has the now familiar blue barricades of Metro construction. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has had to demolish a water tank, gas agency and a few other shops…

With Bengaluru expanding, its peripheral areas like Sarjapur and Attibele, which were once villages, are now experiencing suburbanisation. Suburbanisation has enhanced the need for good roads and related infrastructure in these areas. Plus housing demand here is leading to a change in land-use patterns and expanding urban sprawl. One of the primary effects of this process is traffic congestion.  This area falls under the jurisdiction of the Attibele Town Municipal authority, with Attibele junction being the most congested on the Sarjapur-Attibele Road. It is the meeting point of seven roads from different directions, connecting different parts of this region to…

City records second-coldest day in May in past 50 years Thursday, May 12th, was the second-coldest day recorded in May in Bengaluru in the last 50 years. On The maximum temperature on the day was 23°C, way lesser than the normal of 34°C. The minimum temperature was 19.5°C. The coldest day in May in the last 50 years was on May 14th, 1972, when the maximum temperature stood at 22.2°C. A senior IMD official attributed the weather change to Cyclone Asani, adding that temperatures would rise again after May 14th. Source: Deccan Herald Hailstorm, heavy rainfall On Sunday, southern and…

“Nee Hodha Marudina” (The day after you left), an Ambedkarite song played in the background while the protesters arranged the tarpaulin mats for fellow workers. It was April 29, and they were marking the 150th day of the Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) workers’ protest in front of one of the gates of the ITI premises at Doorvani Nagar, Bengaluru.   The ITI is one of the city’s oldest public sector units. The PSU is primarily engaged in the manufacturing telecommunication equipment, laying fibre optic cables for defence purposes in remote border locations as well as the processing of security and surveillance…