CITIZEN JOURNALISM

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…

Janaagraha’s Participatory Budgeting campaign in Bengaluru, called MyCityMyBudget, was launched on November 23, 2015. Over more than two months of hectic online and on-ground activity, the campaign reached out to various sections of the city’s citizenry to facilitate their identification of inputs to the forthcoming BBMP Budget. Citizens were asked to give inputs pertaining to their respective wards and neighborhoods. The campaign is now poised to move to the next phase of submitting the inputs received to the elected representatives and the relevant agencies. Sapna Karim, Co-ordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha, says: "Our team has complied the inputs and shared a…

The educational system in India is broken. Of course there are a few good schools, but the majority of our population is going through Government schools that have been proven to be inadequate, due to many reasons such as teacher absenteeism, wrote-learning sufficiency, lack of accountability, etc. (see James Tooley's research compiled in a book called The Beautiful Tree). Most of those forced to use the Government schools are in the Indian villages, where no alternatives are available. This rural population forms a majority of our population and it is disheartening and disturbing to see that majority Indian youth are…

I was heading to office one afternoon, when I saw a woman under the flyover. Greasy stains on her clothes, hair all knotted and tangled, she was wandering the streets, talking to herself. Nobody cared about her; nobody heard her. The lady waits to cross the road, bag in hand. Pic: Ashok Kumar S I felt sympathetic towards the woman and I stopped by the flyover and went near her. I was trying to do the best thing that I could and I offered her Rs 100. She looked reluctant and declined my offering. I tried to make her accept…

The Great Backyard Bird Count came to a close yesterday and there were three things that stood out for me.  One: the birding wasn’t exactly great, but it was satisfying. Two: I stuck to the backyard of my immediate neighbourhood, not foraying too far from where I live. I did this for a reason. Often, it’s tempting to go to bird-rich habitats and notch up a big count. I was keen to survey and re-survey the same stretch of the backyard – old, familiar haunts – to see what kind of bird diversity I could dig up and compare it with…

This is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count  (February 12th to 15th). I wanted to get away and do some serious birding away from the immediate backyard this weekend. I set out this morning to explore my usual neighbourhood haunts — Kaikondrahalli and Kasavanahalli lakes. This week turned up a lower species count than last week – the terns, in particular, were missing at both lakes. Backyard birding, it seems, turns up some pleasant surprises. Indian Spot-billed Ducks and a single Northern Pintail drake (centre) at Kaikondrahalli Lake. Pic: Bijoy Venugopal Kaikondrahalli lake I was at Kaikondrahalli by 6.15 am and it was a lot…

Dear Sir, Greetings from CIVIC Bangalore! You have promised the citizens of Bengaluru that you will solve the garbage problem at the earliest. Attached please find recent photos that were taken of garbage being littered in government office campuses in the heart of Bengaluru where the highest officials of government sit. The first picture was taken in the campus of the MS Building, where many Secretaries to government sit. The second was taken in the campus of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan where State-level officials of the Education Department sit. The High Court has issued a directive that all government offices…