CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Were you among those who frequently complained during summer- “Oh! This is the hottest summer I have ever seen..”? True. Rain gods weren’t kind on the city last summer. The increased demand for water had shot up the water price in the market. Now it is a great relief that our water problem is gone. Rains have brought down the temperature and we, until the next summer, tend to forget all the inconveniences we had during the last summer. It is essential to wake up before the situation goes out of control again and a severe water crisis arises in…

I guess today every soul in the city is happy after the much-awaited rains; sitting by the window I quickly messaged my hubby to look at sky outside, the sounds of frequent thunders gave signs of hope. Suddenly a song came to my mind – ‘This town’ by Frank Sinatra. Songs have been written on different cities on the globe. As a dweller of the city, I also would love to have a song for the erstwhile ‘city of gardens.’ Instantly, I started juggling so many thoughts in my mind; not that I possess the expertise to compose a song…

Yelahanka Satellite Town was once a very peaceful little town. But the boom in the land prices due to the opening of the International Airport is turning this town into another messy metropolis centre.  Every other road is being converted into a commercial road and every vacant site is being filled with huge complexes at jet speed.  What is hurting is that the Karnataka Housing Board, which designed this beautiful township, themselves are causing this sudden spurt of construction activities.  A huge piece of land with nearly 70-80 trees is now being turned into a concrete structure of some commercial…

On the sidelines of a press conference of the Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike (commuters’ forum), a survivor of sexual harassment narrated her recent experience on the city’s Metro. She’d complained to the police, who hauled in the perpetrators – white collar employees of a prestigious global brand. She got them to the police station with some difficulty. A staff member of the Metro had resented having to help her by locating the CCTV tapes and so on. The now chastened young men pleaded with her, saying one of them had to head back to his job in the Middle East…

I was recently having a very interesting conversation on the differece between Native dogs and Aboriginal dogs. I felt this would be a nice post for the Desi-themed month. So, here it is. I was given to understand that Aboriginal dogs are different from Native dogs in that they are bred with no human interference. So our little Naaty that we have been discussing the last two blogs is an Aboriginal breed. This little Naaty of ours is gaining popularity by the day, not just in India but across the globe. But we have other native breeds as well, that…

Our beloved lake is now fully functional and teeming with vibrant flora and fauna. The lake is brimming with water thanks to bountiful rains and water flowing in from Kasavanahalli lake clean up work. BBMP's role in renovating and rejuvenating the lake is mostly complete except for a few jobs like building sewage diversion pipes, getting the toilets functional and finishing the security cabins. The lake is teeming with vibrant flora and fauna now, courtesy bountiful monsoon rains. Pic: Kaikondrahalli Lake Facebook page From now on, the task of maintaining the lake and its environs is entirely the community's responsibility…

In spite of the new rules introduced by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to address the issue of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Bangalore continues to be plagued by the problem of uncollected waste in the neighbourhoods. The rules instruct the citizens to segregate waste, but they do not deal with the burgeoning quantities of solid waste generated. More rich you are, more waste you produce! A research carried out by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in the field of behavioural economics has shown that the per capita generation of MSW is directly proportional to affluence and consumption patterns of…

Citizen Matters had published an article on the death of Meghala, a girl aged six and weighing 12 kg, at D J Halli. This article throws light on the extent of malnutrition in Karnataka and how various recommendations to combat the same were ignored by the government, resulting in a death that could have otherwise been prevented. Meghala's death and the subsequent reaction in the media and political corridors is reminiscent of the furore after the death of five-year-old Anjaneya from Raichur in late 2011. Anjaneya was diagnosed as being severely malnourished in 2010 and yet, thanks in no small…

A few months ago, I was going through the ‘Bangalore District Gazetteer.’ The 'oldness' and the 'dustiness' of the Gazetteer just seemed to add to the authenticity of a ‘gazetteer.’ The stories were mostly likeable, bringing in a sense of wonder and revealing a past that I did not know. I looked for ‘markets’ and ‘bazaars’ on its index page. I’m sharing here some excerpts from it. The ones that I found most interesting were the ones with names of localities in the city that we know today but are so completely transformed from the old days. For instance, it…

Maraa invites you to Blue Print of a Park Imaginarium this Sunday, Aug 18th | Cubbon Park Bandstand 3 pm - 6 pm. We invite artists of all age groups to come and paint, sketch, draw their imagination for a park. Maraa in collaboration with other groups in Bangalore will be submitting a joint proposal to consider revitalising Cubbon Park with better access, and for diverse uses. The sketches made at the event will be submitted to the department as well. Call for participation to the Public How many times have we been in an open space, and imagined what could have…