CITIZEN JOURNALISM

With the recent High Court order on April 24th that asked the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to constitute ward committees within a month, the decades-long efforts by the State Government and the BBMP to stall their constitution have come to an end. The 74th Constitutional Amendment (CA) or Nagarapalika Act was passed in 1992, exactly 25 years ago, to give “Power to the People” and bring in decentralisation, transparency, accountability and people’s participation in urban local bodies (ULBs). The State’s conformity legislation to implement the 74th CA was passed in 1994 through an amendment to the KMC Act. Formation…

Children frolic in a garbage truck parked alongside the Munnekolala slum. Pic: Shamala KS Bengaluru is a city bursting at its seams, and the consequences of rapid and untrammelled urbanisation are especially evident near its ephemeral boundaries. Tall condominiums under construction dot the landscape of areas along the eastern peripheries of the city, interspersed with patches of coconut groves that have somehow deferred their inevitable demise. These peri-urban areas which have mushroomed over the last decade, thanks to the city's burgeoning IT sector, are also characterised by a deficiency of public amenities or municipal services; mounds of untreated solid waste…

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) issued a notification in March 2016, mandating apartment complexes with 20 units or more, to install Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and dual-piping with retrospective effect. The absurdity of the notification can be summarised with three ‘I’s – it is illegal, impractical and illogical! Tertiary STP. Pic: Vikas Brahmavar Why is it illegal? Firstly, all the enforcement authorities like Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and Ministry of Environment have directed BWSSB to mandate new apartments with 50 units and more to implement STP with prospective effect. But…

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Karnataka and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression Karnataka released their joint fact-finding report on the garment workers strike of April 18 and 19 2016. The report, titled Thread and Tension- an account of the historic uprising of garment workers, was launched jointly by Rangamma from the BBMP Contract Powrakarmika Workers' Union, Bhagya from Garment and Textile Workers' Union (GATWU), Pushpa from the Stree Jaagruti Samiti (Domestic Workers' Rights Union), and Rukmini, an Anganwadi teacher. The report release was preceded by a panel discussion, moderated by Kavita Srinivas of PUCL, where the panelists spoke of…

When was the last time that you took your children to a public park, where they found other children to play with and a chance to engage in fun activities and learning experiences? When was it that your neighbourhood park was filled with the babble of children and their collective excitement and energy as they took part in events targeted at them in particular? As India urbanises, the open spaces in cities shrink, the people get busier and increasingly caught up in their frenetic lifestyles and the few parks that do exist become dull spaces, used occasionally by the early…

After walking up the stairs to Lahe Lahe, a place for performing arts and theatre at Indira Nagar, you are greeted by a spacious area full of lovely colours and a miniature garden. The atmosphere is casual and yet enthusiastic, with people all around engaged in conversation, or savouring at the delicious food stalls. Several slightly nervous but determined performers await their turn. An ordinary concert, one would think. Far from that. This is the result of a new concept called Jazba, which combines the need for a platform for young performers with raising awareness and to raise funds for…

It was August 2016. I chanced upon a Conservancy worker in Rail Nagar near Koyambedu segregating the 'waste' that was dumped into a plastic packet and suddenly found something like human excreta on her bare hands. I was shocked and asked how she got that. She said she had been asked by officers above her to separate the wet waste (mainly kitchen waste) and dry waste and put them into separate bins. I asked her whether the people who dump all their waste in one plastic bag would not segregate the different types of waste themselves if asked to, and…

Garbage it seems has become an unavoidable part of our lives. However, we can reduce the amount we generate. A few months ago, 11 of us, all part of the Grandma & Grandpa's International Early Learning Center's Leadership Development Series, were discussing cleanliness of cities and their waste problems, and decided to go on a walk around our neighbourhood to understand how clean it actually is. While walking we came across piles of garbage on the streets everywhere and overflowing from the bins! We were overwhelmed to see so much waste and this caused a switch to flick in all of us.…

I first met Faiza Aijaaz a month back. Her school in Hyderabad was one of the seven Minority Welfare Schools where our organisation was all set to start working. Faiza was one of the smallest girls in Grade 7, a class of girls aged between 11 and 13. Shy and reserved at first, Faiza turned out to be bright as a button. As a part of vetting the students and the school, our team was to have a short interaction with the girls. During this session – an activity that placed the spotlight on the various physical, emotional and societal…

Pic: Abhilash Matlapudi Pic: Abhilash Matlapudi A new school initiative is in the offing in Whitefield. Troubled by huge hikes in school fees, a few Whitefield parents under the name Citizens Gurukul have decided to setup a school. An account of their recent event by founder trustee Abhilash Matlapudi. When we have good intentions and stay committed, everything will fall in place. This was proven once again, during our 1st-ever Symposium event. We got speakers/panelists, venue, volunteers and required support to pull off a public event like this. It was a pleasant Saturday morning where about 50 parents predominantly from Whitefield and even from…