bangalore journal

It has been two years and the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) attracts some unusual visitors - sparrows. They flutter about in the domestic lounge as passengers read the newspaper, work on their laptop or grab a bite. Bangalore-based ornithologist Dr Krishna M B says that it is because Devanahalli is an agricultural area. "Sparrows are grain-eaters but they are not field-oriented. Today they are found more in the outskirts and are not widely distributed", he says, explaining the possible reasons for this sudden influx in Bangalore's swanky airport.Sparrows at an eatery in the domestic lounge of the Bengaluru Airport. Pic:…

Residents of Bengaluru are now hiring private surveyors to measure their property, which is marked for road widening by BBMP. This is because the BBMP's Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) notices do not provide detailed information on how much land will be required for acquisition.In April this year, residents of Golden Corner Apartments on Sarjapur Road received a notice from the BBMP, informing them about acquisition of a portion of their property for road widening. The notice says the road is to be widened by 45 feet and that the Apartment Association should submit land records using the Transfer of…

As Bangloreans, we have gotten used to all forms of constructions making our daily life a little more dusty and occasionally annoying. I saw this building under construction at the UB City Complex, and for once the construction site looks quite stylish!Pic by RaviKaushik R⊕

In the special BBMP council session on water more than two weeks ago, Chickpet corporator A N Shivkumar (BJP) complained about the number of unauthorised water connections in his ward. He requested Mayor S K Nataraj (BJP) and BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy to look into the matter. Is the Cauvery water you use metered? Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal This complaint comes well in time as just last month on April 16th 2010, the state assembly* passed an amendment to the BWSSB Act, 1964. Section 108 (a) of this Act is with regard to theft of water which is a punishable…

In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application that was filed by RTI-activist M V K Anil Kumar, the state government's Department of Town and Country Planning responded to a question on what the procedure is to appoint various town planners in the town planning department, BDA, BBMP and other civic bodies.These rules are as per the Karnataka Town Planning Department Services (Recruitment) Rules, 1996. For the post of Director of Town Planning, the method of recruitment is only through promotion from the cadre of Joint Director of Town Planning. For this a person must possess a post-graduate degree…

Sixteen-year-old Hasina Begum, a student of Magadi Government Girls High School in Bengaluru is entering a crucial year in school, the tenth standard. This is just her third year in school. Hasina used to work as a domestic help before she was rescued by the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grassroots community development organisation. Underprivileged children who study at APSA's Kanasina Shale, located in LB Shastri Nagar. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal Hasina studied and prepared for her seventh standard exams at APSA's Dream School or Kanasina Shale, where formal education is imparted to child labourers and children from…

We residents of JP Nagar have seen articles pertaining to requests for BMTC services in the newspapers. During the "Know your Candidates" BBMP election debate organised by Citizen Matters, some participants also raised the same concern.I invite all like-minded residents of JP Nagar to come together and form a forum to jointly voice our concerns to BMTC. A large group will have strength and voice. Contact me at 9916781877.   ⊕

When I was growing up (admittedly a long time ago) summers always meant mangoes, visit to grand mothers' and unlimited play time. But today there is a structure to this blissful summer holidays. 9 am - bollywood dance, 10 am - swimming, 11 am - drawing class, 1 pm - origami class, 2 pm - TV time, 3 pm - classical dance, 4 pm to 6 pm play time. Grand mothers and mangoes struggle to fit into this schedule. This is as much about "structured fun" as it is about keeping children busy all day so the mothers can "relax",…

"Sketching is like yoga", says Smitha Shivaswamy in a very serious tone. Having been hanging around with this group of sketchers for a good part of a precious Sunday morning, I cannot but agree. I am talking about Pencil Jam, a sketching club whose members every Sunday to do what they like to do best, sketch. Sketching in progress. Pic: Srinivasulu Mallampooty. Smitha along with George Supreeth, and Prabha Mallya run an illustration firm called Pencil Sauce. They open up their Sundays to jam sessions, inviting anyone who is interested to try sketching.. They are just five sessions old, but…

There has been a sudden interest in this whole idea - before I got to wonder why - I read somewhere that BBMP has made rain water harvesting compulsory. I am glad I was able to attend this session on Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) by A R Shivakumar, Executive Secretary and Principal Investigator – RWH, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST). This was held at Mantri Classic Hall, ST Bed on May 15th.  Around 30 people attended the session.It was a very good session and BWSSB is willing to conduct such sessions on request. All you need to…