bangalore

BWSSB's decision to charge higher water charges only from those who live in apartment communities but not from those who live in single family homes makes no sense, nor is it actually executable. There is a tendency in the agencies to impose higher expectations on those in apartment communities, and even this is done selectively (we are seeing this in SWM also, having to fight against such discrimination). Moreover, those who think up such things are always careful to exempt communities like LIC quarters and BSNL quarters and KEB quarters, because these are not 'private' apartment communities.I agree that BWSSB…

The Governor has once again returned the Sakrama Bill. In any event, given the court case that is going on, any attempt by the government to circumvent the court was bound to land in trouble, so there's not much point in the Governor also getting embroiled in it. Let's face it - this Bill should be killed. It's a bad idea, always has been. But more than that, we should now be thinking about a scarier proposition - we have reached the stage in our politics where it is difficult to do good things because our representatives are being elected…

My friend Nitin Vyas has this experience to relate: "At9.00am on 22nd May on Kanakpura road, close to Thalgatpura Police station. KSRTC bus no. KA 42F 040 ran in to my car from behind. The rear  of my car was completely damaged . (The estimated cost of repairs is Rs 1 lakh.) The bus drove away from the scene as I took my car to the side of the road.. I went to Thalagatpura Police station at 9.15 am to file an FIR against the bus driver. Arun Thimme  Gowda was in charge of registering complaints. He did not respond…

We all know about chicory; that roasted chicory seeds are powdered, andadded to coffee powder, to increase the strength of the decoction. However, the Chicory plant is a very pretty one!   <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/9015769793/" title="DSC09538 by mohandep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3752/9015769793_79a6d22281_c.jpg" width="800" height="477" alt="DSC09538"></a>   That's the flower of a Chicory plant...almost makes one want to start planting it in one's garden! In some parts of the world, Chicory is just a roadside weed.

Hello. Effective June 2013, Citizen Matters gets a new look and also a new engine and wheels underneath the stuff you see, read, and contribute to! We’ve made a number of changes. If you are wondering about this, read further. Otherwise, just continue using the site, nothing to worry. Most important changes A more spaced-out design. You can now login to CM using you Google, Facebook or LinkedIn social media accounts. We hope this make it easier for you to share articles, pictures, comments, discussions with your fellow citizens of Bangalore. The site will load faster than before and can…

It's the beginning of a new year in schools across the south of India, and once again, I see a massive, and avoidable, wastage occurring...that of brown paper.Every year, children go to a new class or form, and they have to buy a set of new text books and note books. We do not have any concept of using the text books that the students used the previous year. (That's a massive wastage right there, but since text books sometimes change, parents prefer to buy each year.)Each printer and publisher of a school text book obviously goes to great lengths…

BBMP has taken up the rejuvenation of upstream lakes in the chain of seven lakes, of which Kaikondrahalli Lake is located just before Soulkere. A few months ago, the contractors had started to dewater the upstream lakes, which meant the sewage water present in these lakes had to be pumped out. Unfortunately diversion pipes were not in place at Kaikondarahalli lake so this polluted water was getting into our rejuvenated lake. So dewatering work was suspended to build the channels, and later the election code of conduct delayed the work further. With dewatering work restarted, we suddenly found that the…

Summertime always brings fond childhood memories of summer vacations, lazing around with a good book, ice creams and yummy mangoes. With the temperatures already soaring, looks like we will be having one long and hot summer. Luckily there are some great summer foods and beverages that can help in keeping you cool. Here are some of the foods to include this summer: Pic: Marisa DeMeglio from NYC USA via wikimedia commons Water: Dehydration is a common problem during summers and this may be one of the reasons why you feel tired and drained out for no apparent reason during summers.…

A group of ecologists and experts including Dr M B Krishna, have come up with a report called"Ruining the ecology of Hesaraghatta Lake - the role of bird photographers. From the report's introduction:"The Hesaraghatta lake bed is facing another assault. Parts of the lake bed have become barren and have been laid waste due to heavy vehicular movement on the lake bed. In this case most of the damage is due to nature photographers chasing migratory birds using cars and SUVs."A rapid assessment of the impacts caused by nature photographers driving on the dry Hesaraghatta lake bed reveals a wide…

It's a very unusual development in the annals of democracy in India - for the first time, a deliberate political action group, with a specific agenda to be pursued through its activities, is being formed — the Bangalore Political Action CommitteePACs are nothing new around the world. In the US alone, there are thousands of PACs, each committed to its agenda. In India so far, we've had industry associations, which are in some ways PACs, but apart from this there aren't very many. The usual organising themes for PACs - labour, environment, health, education, etc. - have not year coalesced…