CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Defence Colony Cooperative Housing Society Ltd (DCCHSL) & Defence Colony Residents Association (DECORA) JOINT BRIEFING 1. The Defence Colony Cooperative Housing Society Ltd (DCCHSL) was formed by serving and retired Defence Officers. In July 1964, the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), acquired and transferred by a sale deed, the entire area now forming Defence Colony, to the society. This sale deed showed the boundaries of Defence Colony, both by description and in a site map, but did not mention the specific survey numbers of the land that had been acquired by the CITB before handing over to the society. 2.…

On Dec. 23, 2016, I conducted a “Walk-n-Talk” for the residents of the campus at Indian Institute of Managament, Bangalore (IIMB). Pic: Deepa Mohan Prof Shainesh, who is the Dean of Administration, and a keen birder himself, opened up the campus for two bird census events in Feb and Nov 2016, and he wanted to ensure that the residents on the campus also got to know more about the flora and avifauna in the place where they live. Group before setting off for the walk. Pic: Deepa Mohan Dr. Selvarajan Rajeswaran, who is doing a doctoral program at IIMB, was…

I've been thinking about our education system a lot (again) lately. Mainly, I've been trying to figure out what it is, exactly, that I dislike about it. After much introspection (read: "Ten minutes of trying to come up with something to write about"), I decided that it was, mainly, the fact that we have subjects. While subjects are great for breaking everything down into bite-sized pieces and allowing you to pass your exams, they don't really give you an appreciation for what you're learning. For instance, if I were to learn in Physics about Young's Double Slit Experiment, I'll be…

So what do you get when you have an eager reader with a ticking mind and time on her hands! - A Book Club! Reading has always been a pleasant diversion for me. In the 70s, during my childhood, (as for many children who spent their childhood in the 70s),  Enid Blyton took me through adventures, fantasies, enchanted lands and the most fascinating journeys across places that I could only fancy going to. This progressed, as one would imagine, to Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew mysteries and Mills and Boons. However, as the years rolled by, studies, marriage, children and work…

Bangalore / Namma Bengaluru has many famous landmarks. KR Market, also known as City Market, is one of them. Did you know KR Market is one of Asia’s largest flower markets? It is also one of the largest in Bangalore that has sale of fresh produce. The flip side to this is that tonnes of waste is generated every day. Unfortunately, there is no proper system for disposal of waste. Fruit and vegetable vendors throw rotten or reject produce onto the street or on top of existing heaps of garbage around their stalls. Every new mayor makes an effort to…

An evening scene from Indiranagar. Bengaluru city has been mushrooming over the years with little regard for any form of Town Planning and Governance. The fallout of this rapid growth is witnessed most acutely in residential areas of the city. Civic woes abound. Indiranagar was once a pensioner’s paradise and now our existence today is trying to restore some order into our personal lives, thanks to the illegal and reckless commercialisation of our residential areas violating zoning norms left, right and center. The real estate mafia, an apathetic local administration and a greedy citizen have connived to create an experience…

In a fun and fascinating session at the Bengaluru Literature Festival on Saturday afternoon (17 December 2016), Roopa Pai, Bengaluru-based bestselling author of The Gita for Children, convinced kids (and their parents) of the importance of the Bhagawad Gita even in today’s modern world - explaining how it was a math puzzle book, a weight loss book and the oldest self-help book in the world! She briefly ran through the story of the Mahabharata. Through her narrative, she made children laugh out loud by combining humour and references to daily life experiences. The session was highly interactive. Enthusiastic children listened…

This road is one where construction has no end. Governments after governments keep on adding projects on this road, thus forcing the road to never-ending construction works. For example, now,  the Government of Karnataka has announced an Elevated Light Rail System connecting JP Nagar to Hebbal. There is also a plan to build an elevated light rail line from Magadi Road Toll Gate to Peripheral Ring Road as part of this project. The execution of this project could take some time given that the construction of the signal free corridor is still underway on the stretch between JP Nagar and…

Anyone who has been following the campaign for suburban rails in Bengaluru would know that Government of Karnataka’s (GOK) proposal for implementing a suburban rail system in Bengaluru is pending since 2013. Meanwhile, recently, Indian Railways has circulated a draft policy on Suburban Rail System to all the state governments. In last three years, we have seen three railway ministers, out of which two were from Karnataka - Mallikarjun Kharge and D V Sadananda Gowda. Including the present railway minister,  Suresh Prabhu, all had agreed that suburban rail is an important project for solving some of the Bengaluru traffic issues.…

In the last week of September, residents of BCCHS Layout, close to Kanakapura road in Bengaluru, noticed illegal dumping of garbage by unknown people on BDA land and Gomala land, while on their way to Chamundeswari Temple at Hurakalu Gudda very close to the Anjanapura BDA Layout, II Block at Lal Bahadur Shastrinagar. They soon found out that the dumping had been systematic: for several years on end, garbage had been dumped at these sites and covered with debris, while the neighbourhood assumed that the land was being levelled by its owner. Over time, as the stench got unbearable, residents…