bangalore journal

The 18-year-old landmark restaurant Udupi Garden on 2nd cross, 16th main, BTM II stage,  has been demolished for renovation. People who did not know about the renovation work were surprised and wondered if their favourite restaurant is closing down. Since the restaurant had water leakage issues during rains, it is being renovated on customers' request. Rs 2.5 crores is cost of the complete renovation. The renewed restaurant will include a party hall on the upper floor, an AC hall and seating arrangements on the ground floor. Facilities like lunch delivery service will also be included. Udupi garden under renovation. Pic:…

Koramangala 1st block, 1st cross, has sewage water overflowing on the roads. The overflow leaves an unbearable stench. This problem has been persisting for over four months now. Residents believe that garbage dumped inside the sewage drains by the restaurants around and the nearby Sulabh public toilet, is causing it to overflow. BWSSB says the pipeline carrying the sewage is too narrow to carry the load and the problem is being examined. Dr. Malini Jayasurya, a resident, says, "we have complained several times to BWSSB. They come, charge money, clean up and go. The next day, situation is the same."…

Debt-ridden BBMP is unable to retrieve Rs 12,68,030 from National Public School (NPS), Koramangala, for the 7,166 sqft of land it leased.A Right to Information(RTI) reply, sought by MVK Anil kumar and RTI activist from Koramangala, indicates that NPS at Ejipura Ward, near NGV has possession of more than 7000 square feet of BBMP's land but till date the rent has not been paid. Nearby the school land, there is a strip of land measuring 7166.66 square feet. This land has twin 3 meters underlying sewage pipeline laid by BWSSB. NPS wanted to take up the maintenance of this land…

Anil Kumar, 63 is an RTI activist. A former employee of Indian Telephone Industries in the marketing department, Kumar, today cracks open the government red tape for a better society.Kumar moved to Ejipura in 1994 when it had no roads, no drains and no proper electricity. He filed RTIs to find the reasons behind these pending works. The RTIs of this nature often result in work being completed, because officials were wary of explaining the reasons behind the delay. Anil Kumar, the RTI activist. Pic: Abhishek Angad Kumar believes that the thrust on Sec 4(1)(b) of the act i.e voluntary…

Sheikh Shariff is seven, Rukhsana is 10 and Sameera is all of 12. The siblings show up every morning outside Dhanwantri Park in JP Nagar, 2nd Phase to sell fresh vegetables. This is their summer job.They live in an asbestos roof house nearby. Their father Mehboob Basha, earns a meagre Rs 4000 a month, working as a gardener. Their mother Fatima Begum who also works as gardener in the nearby senior citizen's park earns Rs 3000 a month. School fees for all three children is a burden on the family. The children help out by selling vegetables during their summer…

Music lovers eagerly await the concerts by Sampagodu Vighnaraja, a disciple of his father Vidwan Sampagodu D Suryanarayana Bhat. Sampagodu Vighnaraja. Pic Sampagodu He is currently teaching music at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ananya Sabhangana, Malleswaram has arranged a vocal concert by him on 11th May at 6.30 pm. Ananya is organising SANGATI Music Festival from 9th of May wherein youth artists will be honoured with Ananya Puraskara. The highlights are: 9th May: Flute Recital by Vid. N Rajakamal 10th May: Vocal Recital Vidushi G Chandanabala Kalyan 11th May: Vocal Recital Vidwan Vighnaraja S Sampangodu 12th May: Veena Recital by Vidwan…

In the previous article we discussed about handling pests in general. Here are a few examples shared to show how pests can perhaps be dealt with, without the use of chemicals and dangerous pesticides. Powdery Mildew Caused by fungi, the leaves in this case develop cloudy whitish spots are a common problem faced by several terrace gardeners. Starting out as a few spores on the leaves, powdery mildew quickly spreads, ultimately yellowing the leaves and causing leaf drop. It stunts plant growth, distorts the flowers and fruits and weakens the plant in general. Spores never stop producing more spores, so…

On April 30, Chief Minister D Sadananda Gowda laid the foundation stone for Bengaluru's much contested Agara-St John's signal free corridor. A few Koramangala residents assembled and protested at the event, but were appeased by Gowda who promised to hold a discussion with them on 5th May. In December, CM had held a meeting with residents and BDA, but there was no outcome except that work was suspended for a short while. Chief Minister laid foundation stone for the four Koramangala junction works on April 30th. Pic: Navya P K In the meanwhile, two major institutions in Koramangala - St…

In what may come as small relief to disgruntled Bangaloreans, BDA says it has issued notice to the contractor building the Kadubessanahalli underpass on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The completed section of the underpass (south going) flooded due to overnight rains on Tuesday May 1st, throwing Wednesday morning's commute into a gridlock. The flooded Kadubeesanahalli underpass on May 2nd morning. This picture, taken by an as yet unnamed photographer made the rounds yesterday both on Facebook as well on email. R K Misra, ABIDe member and urban reforms campaigner posted on Facebook about the gridlock deploring the state of…

Three years after it’s launch, Bengaluru’s popular BIG-10 arterial route service is going upscale. Starting May 4th, BMTC is rolling out AC Volvo versions of BIG-10 along three routes, to complement the current non-AC services. Fourth of every month is observed as Bus Day in Bengaluru to encourage public transport. Starting May 4th, BIG-10 Volvo AC buses are going to run along Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road and HAL Airport Road/Whitefield Road.  G-3’s AC version, will run from Shivajinagar Bus Station to Electronic City and will be called AC-3.  Likewise, G-4’s AC version, running from Shivajinagar Bus Station to Bannerghatta National…