bangalore journal

A swanky, new, maroon coloured car drove down from Madhavan Park towards the Jayanagar shopping complex in south Bangalore one recent morning, as I was walking along that stretch. This car had a set of large, cute-looking, black-and-white puppies painted on its side. A man who was driving past in another car, pointed to the  puppies painted on the maroon car and  exclaimed to his wife sitting beside him, as I stood waiting to cross the road,  "Look at that -" and while he was pointing he failed to notice the cyclist who was riding past on his right, and…

Travel in air-conditioned (AC) buses in Bangalore reminds me of the early days of plane travel where the atmosphere was quite rarefied. People usually dressed for the occasion, prim and proper. The chatter of railway journeys was absent (even now it is the same). As for the AC buses in Bangalore, it is not that people boarding these buses dress up for the occasion but it is just that normally they are better-dressed than the ones traveling in ordinary buses. The only sound you hear in AC buses is either that of the AC or the conductor! The AC buses…

The recently concluded two-day national seminar on Organic Terrace Gardening at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Alumni Association Convention Centre, Hebbal was in all respects a great meeting point and a good start to a process that seeks to become a nation-wide movement. One of the primary objectives of organising such a seminar was to ensure that organic terrace gardening spreads as a movement across the country, rather than merely as a hobby or passion for a select few. There was also a need felt to bring together like-minded practitioners, individuals and institutions on a common platform and use…

Has BBMP learnt a lesson or two from the Sampige Road-Malleswaram mess?  Why on earth does the BBMP keep sanctioning multi-storeyed apartment complexes flouting building Bye-laws/CDP norms?  We have a crowded narrow road of 9.5m wide in Ward No. 179 (Shakambarinagar) in JP Nagar Ist Phase.  The road has quite a few bottlenecks and the Traffic Police have barred entry of heavy traffic vehicles from 46th cross Jayanagar (Inner Ring Road) and from Indira Gandhi Circle on the other end.  Recently BBMP has sanctioned 250 high-end apartment buildings on an 8 acre land adjoining this narrow road.  The Comprehensive Development…

Eid Prayer at Jama Masjid, Bangalore, 2010. Muslims observed Eid-ul-Fithr, which is locally known as ‘Pernal’, offering special 'dua' (prayers), namaz and exchanging wishes, in Bangalore It is a tradition that all community members should distribute ‘Fithr Zakath’ (alms) to the poor on the day of Eid-ul-Fithr. ⊕

The Ambalipuralake rejuvenation work has progress very well, as mentioned earlier. Purple Heron at Ambalipura Lake. Pic: Rajesh Rao. Yesterday, Rajesh Rao, a resident of the adjoining Trinity Woods, spotted a Purple Heron, and says, "So nice to see the birds coming back!"Meanwhile, the grass has grown very rapidly in the lake, and apparently it can cause the lake to dry up by december if we just let them grow. Rao says if the deep end is cleared, new grass will not grow as there is two foot of standing water.So residents are planning to work this Sunday and clear…

Tuesday September 14th was Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) day in Bangalore. Drawn into severe scrutiny by citizens protesting the TDR scheme's use as compensation for roadwidening, the state government's Urban Development Department organised a workshop on the controversial scheme. Following that, in the evening Samaya TV, a Kannada 24x7 news channel, organised a live debate on the topic. (See inset box for a brief report on the debate). As was the concern of many citizen action groups, the government's day-long workshop turned out to be a mostly technical session on TDR's implementation. Bureaucrats from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat…

Of the 35 lakes in Mahadevpura assembly constituency in northeast Bengaluru, 23 have become dysfunctional, according to a report authored by urban ecologist Dr Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram (member of resident association federation of Bellandur) and Dr S Subramanya (Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences). The report classifies seven lakes as ‘extremely polluted', another seven as ‘heavily polluted, drying' and nine lakes as ‘completely dry'. Only 10 ten lakes are categorised as healthy while two are under restoration. Bengaluru-based Harini is also co-author of papers with US-based political scientist Elinor Ostrom, Nobel prize winner for Economics in 2009. Harini Nagendra,…

How many of us realise that they might be a bloodsucker at large in our gardens? Don't panic, this is just our Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) which most of us mistakenly call ‘chameleon'. During the breeding season the head, shoulders and parts of the foreleg of the males turns bright scarlet and this is how they have acquired this rather 'derogatory' name - Bloodsucker. The Chameleon is a totally different species, well-known for its ability to change colour to match its surroundings. The Common Garden Lizard. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa The Common Garden Lizard is the most common Agamid lizard…

The construction of a subway at the busy KR Market has been delayed by almost two years now. Local officials in the BBMP, BWSSB and the contractors carrying out the work, are passing the buck, blaming one another. Currently, work on the site has been held up due to a massive sewage pipe that needs to be removed. The subway construction near KR Market started way back in September 2006. Pic: Prabhu Mallikarjunan The Rs 6 crores project started in September 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in January 2009. Seventeen months have passed since, without much progress. The…