CITIZEN JOURNALISM

The month of April 2012 saw temperatures soaring to record levels in Bangalore. So it was a welcome holiday on 1st May which also saw a heavy pre-monsoon burst in the evening going on well into the night. It was the first shower of the year. Unlike most showers, however, the disruption was much less since it was a holiday. Commuters who use the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Sarjapur road and Marathahalli saw traffic piling up till the Bellandur flyover in the morning of 2nd May. This flyover had been inaugurated in February 2012, after a delay of more…

The citizens of HSR Layout on Sunday, 7 July 2013, gathered on Agara lake bund, to create awareness on the encroachment of nature, and draw the attention of the authorities towards Agara Lake. As many as 15 gardeners appointed by the citizens had been working for the last two days clearing weeds and clearing out the floating plastic in the lake. As many as 400 people from all walks of life - young and old, men and women - joined hands to clear the litter on the walking track of the lake. The citizens have been meeting the government authorities…

The increase in fares 15 days back was as usual a hole burner in starting stages - fare of Rs.8 has become rs.9 and fare of Rs.9 is now Rs.12/- but does BMTC really think they make money this way? Consider my own example here. Travelling from Marathahalli to J P Nagar 6th phase, I get direct bus in mornings - but in return I need to change over at the Marenhalli signal for last 2 kms for which the fare works out to be Rs.9/-. On an average of 3 working days, I generally walk down home for the…

"Life being very short, and the quiet hours of it few, we ought to waste none of them in reading valueless books", said John Ruskin in Sesame and Lillies in 1865. What Ruskin told us around 150 years back is still valid. Do you agree? How many of us feel happy when a specific book has made such an impression that it is etched into our souls. A school textbook, an article from a magazine, an Enid Blyton story, a Jane Austen novel or even a grandma's lullaby or anything that has helped us in comprehending the intricacies of life…

It is now time to revive the age old procedure of building action plan. Here are some guidelines which can be implemented. 1. In multi-storied buildings, garbage chutes need to be banned, to enforce segregation at source. In buildings that already have chutes, they should be closed. In new buildings, chutes should not be approved during the plan sanction. 2. All multi-storied buildings should provide a garbage sorting area along with a composting area. If there is insufficient space at ground level, terrace/ topmost floor/ basement can be considered. It has been found that the terrace (or top most floor)…

Residents loacted beside the Thubarahalli-Vibgyor school Road stretch have been facing problems every day, due to not having basic amenities like road, streetlight and sewage. Around 6000 people stay in this locality. A mud road which gives access to eight to nine apartments in this area has not been upgraded for the last eight years. The situation of Thubarahalli - Vibgyor school road is really pathetic during rainy season. Pic: Javed Ahmad In summer, dust pollution created here is unimaginable. Dust is being collected on the apartments in such a huge quantity that people cannot open their windows. The building…

Waste or garbage management is the responsibility of each one of us. It starts with us- residents and shopkeepers. All of us have to overcome the chalta hai attitude towards this very important environmental issue. The government and civic authorities also have a big role to play. Both of them have to work together as a focussed and committed team to overcome this huge issue. Unfortunately this has not happened. Residents Welfare Associations have regularly brought or bringing to the notice of concerned civic agencies, officials and elected representatives, to move forward, on this very important environmental issue through coordinated…

There are a lot of plans which are chalked out by all civic authorities to make Bangalore garbage free. But here are some simple things which you can do to make a huge difference- 1. Prevention is better than cure, so our main focus and priority should be on minimising waste to reduce the amount of waste generated. For instance, we urge people to stop using plastic bags. But, government needs to provide an alternative to this. Shops should be set up to sell cloth bags at cheaper rate. If cloth bags are available, then people will buy them and…

A few months back, when Union Minister Jairam Ramesh made an observation that in India we have more temples than toilets, there was a general unqualified uproar among the political class who demanded an apology even regarding a genuine concern, as always.As a resident of a ‘so called' well planned and affluent locality like HSR Layout, my observation is no different than the Union Minister. Construction workers waking up as early as 4 am to answer their calls of nature in an empty site nearby or dark spaces away from the view of early morning walkers is a regular ritual.…

The soiled hands of Aditi, Arush, Dev and their friends told a different story altogether. Their happiness knew no bounds as the youngsters carried saplings and buckets of water as part of a 2-day long tree plantation programme. This was organized by Rank Residency Apartment Owners’ Association at Kaggadasapura on 15th and 16th June, 2013 with assistance from Trees For Free treesforfree.org The area has been witnessing large scale felling of trees due to unplanned urbanisation and encroachment. A decision was made about replacing the lost green cover. Appropriately, the residents named the initiative as “Trees for Tomorrow”.Anytime is right…