bangalore journal

He refers to himself as a whistle-blower. At 70, his concern is for social justice "especially when local bodies are perpetrators". Meet S Vasudeva, a practicing advocate in the Karnataka High Court, who has filed a number of public interest litigations (PIL) on various issues concerning Bengaluru. 70-year-old S Vasudeva is an advocate with the Karnataka High Court. He has filed over 70 PILs in the city. Pic courtesy: S Vasudeva "Government is meant for welfare of people. If they fail to provide basic neccessities, then who will?", he asks passionately. It is because of this that he filed a…

Ever heard of a workplace only for individuals with disabilities? Yes, Swayam, a parent support group of the differently-abled adults opened its first sheltered work unit at 4th Block, Koramangala extension on April 1st. There seems to be no time to waste for this group of individuals with challenges as they have already got their first work order. Their first assignment is to decorate marada baganna sets for a wedding to be held in May. Reshmi, a Swayam member with Lalitha Bilgi. Pic credit: Swayam. “Swayam is not an NGO or a non-profit group,” clarifies Lalitha Bilgi, Parent Promoter of…

There are some advantages of being a mother in search of a decent summer camp. You keep your eyes and ears open and in the process discover things for yourself. For instance, had I not stared hard at the huge hoarding on Bannerghatta Road advertising horse riding lessons with that magic word ‘Summer Camp’ attached, I wouldn’t have discovered there was a stable right behind my house! Well almost behind, on Puttenahalli Main Road, JP Nagar 7th Phase to be precise. Having always wanted to ride with the wind in my hair and suchlike (yes, old age makes you confess…

I am a resident of a quiet neighbourhood at Vijaya Bank Layout, Bannerghatta road since 2007. Most of you might have heard about it. It is very popular for its Ayyappa Temple and its quiet environment. But this harmony was destroyed when I saw my home located in 1st Main road and several other houses  were marked by BBMP officials for the road widening project.I am not the only one , but several hundreds are suffering from the same problem. Most people here have used all their savings to buy this property which costs a fortune just because it has…

Simply put Urban Commons refers to spaces in a city that a broad spectrum of people use and depend upon. Agara Lake located south east of the city is one such space. Like most other lakes in the city, Agara is an irrigation tank that dates back to the 9th century. Apart from irrigation, and water supply the lake is also home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.D’Souza’s study is an attempt to understand the effect of urbanisation on what began as a solution to irrigation of agricultural lands in the area. Agara turned out to be the…

Unless you have been living under self-imposed exile, you have probably seen the ads. Bangalore's besieged by banners, hoardings, posters and mailers with your morning newspaper, announcing the vacation inevitable - The Summer Camp.Most camps start early April (April 5th) and continue till the end of the month. Some continue even in May. If you are reluctant to pack them almost as soon as the holidays begin, some also have batches starting from mid-April. Unless the camp aims to teach the child a specific new skill altogether and requires continued attendance, most camps give you the option of enrolling your…

As part of their wall painting projects, BBMP painted a compound wall of a 1 acre plot in BTM Layout with social and cultural awareness messages last month. Residents welfare & Cultural Association of BTM and Director of Central Library approached BBMP to get the compound wall painted in November 2009. The work started in February. It took more than four painters about a month to paint the compound wall.The plot located at 7th Main 9th cross BTM Layout belongs to Karnataka state Central Library. Nagesh, Director of the Central Library, based in Jayanagar says the proposal for a library…

According to a response given by BBMP to a Citizen Matters RTI application of 2009, four BBMP toilets are shown as having been approved for construction in JP Nagar way back in 2006-7. They are mentioned in the BBMP ward works list.At the cost of Rs 6.80 lakh per toilet, Rs 27.2 lakhs is the total cost for building all four. (A copy of the work order list is with Citizen Matters). In late March 2010, on a check by Citizen Matters, three of these toilets are missing (not constructed at the locations at all) and one is built and…

The electoral rolls of Bengaluru have now become a point of conflict with evidence showing they are in a mess. And both in the recent BBMP elections and last year's Parliamentary elections, Bangalore recorded a dismal 45 per cent voter 'turnout'.Not far from here, in the metropolitan city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a whopping 63 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Of the 32 lakh voters in the city, around 20 lakh citizens had gone out and voted. Whereas in Bangalore, of the 62 lakh voters, only about 27.5 lakh cast their vote in…

It was a short-lived campaign for the BBMP elections with little sound except for the occasional auto rickshaw blaring loud music and unintelligible squawks alternately. There were fortuitously none of the usual cut-outs, banners or buntings which end up ultimately as so much garbage. The only signs which indicated that a campaign was on, were the colourful pamphlets strewn on the roadside, muddied by the footprints of passers-by.After all the hype and excitement drummed up by the media, the State Election Commission says that only about 44 per cent of Bengalureans voted. But given that the electoral rolls are such…