CITIZEN JOURNALISM

A foggy start to the morning. Pic: Kere Habba* On January 9th 2016, Kaikondrahalli Lake played host to a bunch of events for the second time with more than 4,500 people from neighbourhood participating. Kere Habba 2016 aimed at raising awareness, increasing community participation and fostering an appreciation of lakes in Bangalore. Birders looking to spot as many species. Pic: Kere Habba* Dechamma Chetan, a visitor said, "The lake is a beautiful place for bird watching", and that she had a great time. Another visitor, Chirdeep Shetty, he said too loved the event. Mukesh, who lives near the lake, came…

In October 2015, I had written an article on the absence of asphalted roads in Akshayanagar Layout, off Bannerghatta Road.  In the past 2.5 months, much work has happened on the Hulimavu-Begur stretch. The stretch of road, which previously looked like this...  ...has been tarred as seen below here. The entire Hulimavu-Begur road stretch till DLF New Town has been repaired and asphalted. Having said this, the Yelenahalli Road continues to remain a nightmare. (This picture was taken in November 2015) Along with complaints and concerns, it is also essential to highlight the positive action taken by local administration. Hoping…

The Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), a public sector major, via its wholly owned subsidiary, GAIL Gas, has secured BBMP permission to lay liquified natural gas (LNG) 'last mile' pipelines for retail consumers in some parts of Bengaluru including HSR Layout (other areas being Jalahalli, etc).   The HSR pipeline network is one of the tail ends of the 1386 kilometer long Dabhol-Bangalore LNG pipeline, work on which was inaugurated by the former prime minister Manmohan Singh in December 2013 and was commissioned in February 2015. Digging trenches for the first part of the work has commenced in the…

The Karnataka Municipal Act 1976, amended as per the requirements of the famous 74th Constitutional Amendment in 1994, stipulates that there “…be a ward committee for each ward … (that) shall consist of … the Councillor representing the ward … (and) ten other members … (including) members of resident’s associations...” The KMC Act further stipulates that the “ward committee... prepare ward development schemes, … , ensure proper utilization of funds, ..., supervise all programmes and schemes being implemented by the corporation … .” If all went as per the Act’s designs, the ward committee would “ensure timely collection of taxes,…

United Technologies Corporation on December 19th today announced the 12 winners of India’s first ever Neighbourhood Improvement Partnership Challenge (NIP), an initiative of UTC’s Citizens for the City Program. The winning projects and support teams will collectively receive a total amount of nearly Rs one crore. The 12 winners will implement projects in the areas of mobility, waste management, public safety, autonomous building, water quality and rejuvenation of public spaces. Chris Rao, VP and Country Head, UTC Aerospace Systems and Goldie Srivastava, Director - Communication, United Technologies India along with the 12 winning teams who will collectively receive a total…

Here's a small quiz: Who are the following individuals and what's common among them? Latha Krishna Rao, P B Ramamurthy, Gaurav Gupta, M S Ravishankar, Anjum Parvez, T M Vijay Bhaskar Someone who has been following public affairs in Karnataka would know that they are all IAS officers of the Karnataka cadre. But very few people are likely to know that they all held the position of Chairperson of the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) from 2007 to present. So that is six officers over a period of eight years, which gives an average of about 16 months…

Khata is the record maintained in the Corporation office on the ownership right of a property owner in the BBMP area. Obtaining this after a person has acquired the title to a property has become a nightmare in Bengaluru, with endless delays, pervasive corruption and official apathy. Every person who has acquired a title to property in Bengaluru by any means, usually by purchase, but also by inheritance, gift or any other method, is harassed by BBMP officials, their middlemen and agents when (s)he tries to get the khata. This document is required for all transactions relating to loan to…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in association with BBMP on December 21st organised a workshop, Women Leaders for a Better Tomorrow - the imprint of women leaders in political leadership. Leading ladies of the BBMP Council. Pic: B.PAC “This is a historic moment in Bengaluru’s history”, said Revathy Ashok, CEO and Managing Trustee, B.PAC. “BBMP has more than 52% of women elected members and we thought this is the right moment to celebrate this win and to inspire our corporators with mind-blowing stories of several women political luminaries of Karnataka such as Leeladevi R Prasad and BT Lalita Nayak, she…

This true story is typical of the experience of thousands of residents of Bengaluru who are at the mercy of ‘service’ providers like the municipal corporation (BBMP) and water supply (BWSSB). In the first week of December, BBMP’s contractors began re-laying pavement stones in Jayanagar. Gangs of workers piled the dug up mud, concrete chunks, broken stone slabs and bricks all along the pavement, blocking my entrance. How do I get in and out of my home? I protested. The labourers suggested I step into the two feet deep drain and access my entrance. As a 75-year-old senior citizen with…

Since the time Chennai has been ravaged by the floods in early-December, we have been hearing stories of how Bengaluru has pulled through for the people of Chennai. This is one such story.  Over 10 lakhs raised Members of the Facebook groups Drive Without Borders and Wake Up Bengaluru came together to raise funds to support the relief work in Chennai. In less than 10 days, funds in excess of 10 lakhs were generated by members of the two groups.  We delivered the relief material in two phases. In the first phase, volunteers from the groups visited a few places…