CITIZEN JOURNALISM

The garbage problem in Bangalore seems to be too high a mountain (literally) to climb! Can we afford to let things slide till we are sucked into a vortex of crisis? Do we need to face a plague epidemic, as Surat did some decades ago, before we wake up? What can we, as citizens of Bangalore do, to solve the apparently unsolvable issue? Let us look at the three major aspects of the problem. First, garbage generation. If we don't generate so much garbage, we would not have to face the problem. How do we generate less garbage? The 'wet…

A garbage dump in residential Electronic City. Pic: Nishit Sharma It was a bitter cold morning of January 2010 in Jammu when my phone rang. It was a landline number with STD code as ‘080.’ I answered the call only to realise moments later that I had been called back into service from a nine-month sabbatical. This time, I was posted at the ‘Garden city of India.’ I was excited to start my second stint in Bangalore as it was the preferred destination for all software engineers. I booked my tickets and landed in Bangalore a week later. As mentioned…

If you are an average person travelling in Bangalore, whichever mode of transport you opt for, can be a daunting task. If you choose to travel by your own personal vehicle, haphazard traffic and the moon-craters called pot-holes only make sure your stress levels rise meteorically. Recently, the menace of auto-drivers over-charging, arguing and misbehaving with passengers has been highlighted by many leading papers, citizen forums and on social-media. This has led to various endeavours to curb the problem such as the setting up of help-lines to report auto-drivers, Bangalore Traffic Police conducting an auto-raid in July and the Peace…

Editor's note:  On October 19th, Bangalore witnessed what was touted to be the city’s first world class annual marathon - the Bengaluru Marathon 2014. Over 8,000 folks participated across several categories in the race. Any event of this magnitude typically generates a lot of waste - paper cups, plastic, running bibs and the like, and it is indeed a task to collect and dispose of it responsibly.   The team handling the event however ensured that waste was disposed of in a responsible manner. This is indeed an example of responsible racing, one that other large scale events should emulate.…

Eco-friendly birthday parties are possible if you can plan a little. Pic courtesy: Sindhu Rao So, the little tyke is turning a year older. As a parent who is expected to throw a stellar birthday party, you are perhaps neck deep in planning. Should you throw a party at home or at the clubhouse? Should you take the little one with his friends for an outing to an amusement park or to his favourite fast food restaurant? What should be on the menu? Should you keep it a small gathering of close friends or throw a big bash? So many…

  HSR Sector 2 Residents Welfare Association (Regd) had organised a special meeting on October 18th at the Cambridge School premises with the Joint Commissioner, BBMP, Bommanhalli Zone and his engineers to discuss the various infrastructural issues affecting the residents of the area.  The Corporator of the ward, Lata Narasimhamurthy was also present at the meeting. It was for the first time in six to seven years that a Joint Commissioner along with his engineers, in the presence of the Corporator, was interacting with the members/residents within the sector premises. In his opening remarks, the President of the RWA, Brigadier R…

KCDC all set to process waste with new machines. Pic: Nikita Malusare With garbage segregation norms not being adhered to by most residents in the city, landfills are the norm. Even in cases where the segregation is properly done, there is little infrastructure that can handle the end-to-end processing of the waste. The segregated waste is sometimes getting mixed on its way to landfills. Lack of scientific processing of such waste is adding to the problem. Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) might have been established with a good intention of converting organic waste into compost. It would have been situated…

Respected Sir, Sub: Imperatives for Smart Power for Smart Bengaluru BESCOM, as also all the other ESCOMs, have been claiming improved performances over the past few years. Even as that may be true, Sir, you'll appreciate that if Bengaluru, and the other Karnataka cities, have to be identified as "smart cities" of the future, the performances of these service providers have a very long way to go. And, it is totally doubtful if they can measure up to the task, given the constraints they are operating under, largely because of government ownership. The biggest problem they are facing today is…

Trinity Woods and Acres is a 7.5 acres residential community, near Sarjapur Road. As part of Rainwater Harvesting implementation, it was decided to dig a 6ft diameter and 40ft deep recharge well at one of the lowest points in the layout that is near their currently yielding borewell (which is adjacent to Sarjapura Road). Dewatering with a bucket does not work out. Work proceeded uneventfully till we struck water at about 9ft. The water had no odour, looked clean, with pH 7.5 and TDS 1100ppm. The water seemed to continuously flow in at about 6-10 litres per minute. 6ft of…

Editor's note: Citizen Matters had published an article regarding the controversy amongst residents of Prestige Shantiniketan apartment, regarding managing the trees planted on the podium in right way. This is a clarification issed by the Prestige Shantiniketan Management Committee president, in which the concerns and possible way forward has been detailed.  Roots of trees protruding from the soil on the podium. Pic: Prof K B Reddy The discussion on removing the trees growing on the podium had been on, within the Prestige Shantiniketan residents group, for the last year and a half. The decision if any is not going to…