CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Growing up in Bengaluru for me has always revolved around the Cantonment - early morning walks under the tree-lined avenues towards Richards Park, eating Ritchies mutton biryani on MM road (back in the day when a plate was a meagre Rs 40), or buying weekly groceries from Thoms after Sunday mass. Historically, the Cantonment of Bengaluru dates back to the 18th century, specifically 1807, when the British defeated Tipu Sultan’s army and established themselves around the Ulsoor kere. The British established various typologies from large parks and shopping centres to parade grounds and schools, the most important being the colonial bungalow…

  Being a proponent for the Government of Karnataka’s (GoK) decision to ‘Adopt a Destination’ under CSR, one is saddened to see some artists put out misleading and wrong information to ensure that the Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) adoption MoU signed between the Government agencies and Tasveer Foundation is cancelled. Terms like ‘brutal, undemocratic takeover’, ‘surreptitious MoU’, ‘usurp public resources’, ‘prime real estate capture’ are being bandied about giving the impression that some of us (who believe that VAG adoption is good for Bengaluru citizens) are descendants of Darth Vader! Bengaluru citizens will gain with this adoption program. We might…

Repair Café is organising its 5th workshop on March 19th 2016. It is being hosted by The Green Path situated at Seshadripuram, from 11.30 am to 4 pm. Apart from repairing and upcycling, other highlights of the workshop include Talk show on Water Conservation by Aditi Hastak from Biome Workshop on basics of Kitchen Gardening Screening of a documentary film, Economics Of Happiness So what is Repair Café?  Repair Café is a community gathering where repairers, volunteers, visitors come together for the purpose of repairing household articles. A repair man busy at work. Pic: Purna Sarkar Since our first Repair…

Some years ago, a majestic tree stood just outside our house, not far from the heart of Bangalore. It was home to a squadron of monkeys, numerous squirrels and many varieties of birds. There were probably many snakes around, too. In those days, there was ample wildlife where we lived. That was probably how it was in most other Indian cities then, too. But that’s a story from a bygone age. The three-striped palm squirrel is one of the most commonly found 'wild' creatures in Bengaluru. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa Today, a mammoth-sized school occupies the space which that sprawling tree…

Bengaluru's street vendors, under the banner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Beedhi Vyaapaari Sanghatanegala Okkuta (Federation of Street Vendor Unions of Bangalore), had organised a protest on March 10th 2016 at the BBMP Head Office. Street vendors protest at the BBMP premises. Pic: Beedi Vyaapari Okkuta Soon after, the protest began, the BBMP Mayor, Manjunath Reddy, promised to meet with members of the Federation after the Council Sessions were done.  Demands of the protesters 1) A joint meeting should be convened with the Mayor, Commissioner and respective coporators, comprising Kaverinagar, Koramangala, Shivajinagar and Jayanagar 9th Block street vendors. 2) 1% funds…

Residents of Koramangala and users of the Koramangala 3rd Block playground participated in a Walk/Run event conducted on March 6th. The event had two twin objectives – to raise funds for charitable purposes and to focus attention on the need to save the Koramangala 3rd Block Playground. More than 300 men women and children of all ages participated. Walk and run events were held two distance categories – 2.5 km and 5 km. Over 300 residents showed up for the Save our Playground walk/run event. Pic: Nitin Seshadri A civic amenity site located contiguous to the BBMP Playground in Koramangala 3rd…

My Dear Friends and Fellow Bengalureans, Warm (or perhaps ‘fiery’) greetings from me. Possibly, I do not need an introduction. Nevertheless, for those who still don’t know me: I’m the disrepute of Bengaluru - the frothy, foamy, toxic-filled, foul-smelling Bellandur Lake, which many claim has put Namma Bengaluru to shame on international landscapes. This would make for a pretty picture if we didn't know the reality. Pic: Sanchayan Nath Let me say, I owe this claim-to-fame to: The city’s mindless administrative machinery Unlawful encroachers All those who consider dumping waste (solid, liquid or industrial) in my waters their birth right!…

On the fourth of every month I need to commute from north to south Bengaluru, to unlock my gate for the BESCOM meter reader and collect my monthly bill. The fourth of each month also happens to be designated as bus day by BMTC to encourage citizens to take to public transport to ease traffic snarls on our jam-packed roads. Although I know the rationale underlying the bus day initiative, this is why we commuters abhor bus rides. 1) We waste time, lots of it, and today time is precious. Just covering 14 km, from Sanjaynagar in the north to…

B.PAC submitted its strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff for FY-17. TV Mohandas Pai, Vice President and Revathy Ashok, CEO and Managing Trustee, B.PAC made the submissions to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) during the public hearing conducted by KERC on Friday February 26th 2016. Following are the highlights of B.PAC’s submissions.  Capital Expenditure CAPEX for FY15 has nearly doubled – The sanctioned budget was Rs 763 crore, whereas actual CAPEX has increased to Rs 1474 crore in 2014-15. This amounts to an increase of Rs 711 crore. Such a significant increase in unplanned CAPEX…

While the jury is out on the third Union Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, one aspect stands out: it brought little news, either good or bad, for cities. However it is important to note that budgets are not essential for the city level expenditures. The provision relevant for cities such as public health, land tenures, local government, etc fall under the State List of Indian Constitution. In the case of Bengaluru, it is the Karnataka State budget or the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike budget that has more impact on the ground than the Union Budget. Having said that, the…