CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Tirupathi, located on the foot hills of Eastern Ghats, is in Andhra Pradesh State. It is the most popular pilgrimage centre in South India. About 20 million devotees visit Tirupathi in a year ie; about 37,500 pilgrims per day, out of which about 15,000 ie; about 30% are from Bengaluru side. The number of pilgrims was about 23 lakh during May 2015. But how well-connected is Tirupathi from Bengaluru? Is there a provision for improvisation? Existing connectivity : a) By road: The distance between Bengaluru and Tirupathi is 250 km by road. The existing connectivity is mainly by road. The…

At the launch of the Green and Safe School project. Pic: B.PAC  B.PAC has been working on sustainability and safety issues and is now pioneering the concept of a Green and Safe School model with a holistic vision to create a clean, hygienic, safe environment in government schools that is conducive for learning. A ‘Green and Safe School’ follows a child-centric approach, where schools become a space for positive carbon footprint, free of violence, harassment and abuse. B.PAC in association with Shell MRPL Aviation Fuels & Services Ltd aims to apply the principles of the Green and Safe School to…

January 25th is observed as National Voters' Day by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Does it include real voters? I doubt. As mentioned in my last blog post, sloganeering and “celebrations” have started on January 14th. Some reality checks on the rolls of Bengaluru Legislative Assemblies, published on January 11th 2016: Was there an exodus in parts of Mahadevpura? ECI rules require District Electoral Officers (DEO) to examine cases of deletions exceeding 2% and additions exceeding 4%. Deletion is more than 2% in 152 parts. Top 7 of them are from Mahadevapura constituency, with more than 20% deletions each. 266…

A file picture from an earlier edition of Traffic Police Day. Despite the growing vehicular population, Bengaluru is kept on the move thanks to its traffic police. Battling the harsh sun, rain, pollution, the indignant citizen and many civic woes, the service of the Traffic Police goes unnoticed. With the aim of urging young people to recognise their tireless contribution and to empathise with the hardships they face, (Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness) CMCA organises 'Traffic Police Day'. Traffic Police Day is dedicated to thanking one of the city’s unacclaimed heroes – the traffic police. 2016 marks the 11th annual celebration…

With the absence of major rivers, floods in Bengaluru are caused only by rainfall. Knowing which are the months that are vulnerable to floods helps in taking necessary precautions. Primary rainy season in the city is from June to September when Bengaluru receives rain from South-West Monsoon, and secondary rainy season is from November to December when it receives rain from North-East Monsoon. Here is the raw data for rainfall in 100 years, from 1901 to 2000. This exhaustive data is plotted in graphs for each month.    100 years rainfall graph for the month of January  100 years rainfall…

I was born in a small nursing home on DVG road in 1990. It has shut down now. The last time I checked, I was told there is a PG for women there now. My parents treated everyone who came to see their firstborn to a masala dosey at Vidyarthi Bhavana. The same Vidyarthi Bhavana my dad and uncle used to frequent when they were teenagers. They used to visit the dodda Ganesha temple on Bull Temple road and collect the prasada  -  some flowers and half a coconut. The theory back then was that the other half was sold to Vidyarthi…

  If the litter on Bangalore’s streets bothers you, here is your chance to do your bit towards a more beautiful Bangalore. During the Lal Bagh Flower show, litter reaches unimaginable proportions. Join a drive aimed at increasing awareness that litter must be thrown ONLY in dustbins, with the simple objective of reducing litterers on Bangalore’s roads, most of whom are unaware littering is not acceptable.  Some more details about where this initiative fits in: Our logo says it all! Our first drive towards making Bengaluru litter-free kicks off at Lal Bagh, Fri January 15th (clean-up: 2.30 pm to 6…

The road connecting Kanakpura road and BDA 80 feet ring road has been in a terrible state for years now. It has open manholes and the road is covered with potholes which are potentially fatal in nature. Open manholes dot the road. Pic: VK Srivatsa The pothole-ridden road. Pic: VK Srivatsa There are multiple instances of two-wheeler riders getting injured every day. If they try avoiding a pothole by swerving to the left or right, they could fall into one of the open manholes. And if they try to avoid the manhole, there is a good chance they can break their…

In spite of the Supreme Court’s recent order to shut down unregistered children’s homes, the ones in Bengaluru may stay open until the end of the academic year 2016. The Supreme Court, on 11th September 2015, directed the Centre and state governments to shut down all children's homes run by unregistered NGOs, saying many of these centres had become hubs for child trafficking. “Closing them down is not very easy. We have to give them time, to make repairs and improve,” said Divya Narayanappa, district child protection officer, Bengaluru. “We can’t disrupt the children’s academic year. And it is difficult…