CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Translated by Purushothama Nag and Umesh Babu Pillegowda ಪ್ರಮುಖ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ, ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಹೆದ್ದಾರಿ (ಪೀಣ್ಯ ರಸ್ತೆ) ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಉಪನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಹತ್ತಿರವಿವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ವಿಧಾನಗಳು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಸಂಯೋಜಿತವಾಗಿಲ್ಲ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಬಳಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ತೊಂದರೆಗಳು ಉಂಟಾಗುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಹಳೆಯ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೊಗೆ 2.3 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ನಕ್ಷೆಯು ರೈಲ್ವೆ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದ ಪ್ಲಾಟ್‌ಫಾರ್ಮ್ 1 ಇರುವ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಹಳೆ ಪ್ರವೇಶದ್ವಾರದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದವರೆಗಿನ ಅಂತರವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಅಂತರ ಕ್ರಮಿಸುವ ವಿಸ್ತರಣೆಯು ಸುಮಾರು 2.3 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಉದ್ದ ಆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ಲಾಟ್‌ಫಾರ್ಮ್ 8 ಇರುವ ಯಶವಂತಪುರ ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರವೇಶದ್ವಾರದಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಇರುವ ಅಂತರವು ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಎರಡರ ನಡುವೆ ಮೀಸಲಾದ ಮಾರ್ಗದ ಕೊರತೆಯಿಂದಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರಿಗೆ, ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ಸರಕು ಸಾಮಾನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವವರಿಗೆ ಮೆಟ್ರೊದಿಂದ ರೈಲ್ವೆಗೆ ಹಾಗೂ ರೈಲ್ವೆಯಿಂದ ಮೆಟ್ರೊಗೆ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ರೈಲ್ವೆ  ಬಳಕೆದಾರರು ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ಇತರ ಸಾವಿರಾರು…

Jayanagar was founded in 1948 as a suburb of Bengaluru, and planned by the city’s pre-eminent administrator N Lakshman Rau and his team. Today it is spread across 3 kms east to west, and about 5 kms north to south. Jayanagar is now a vast area of residential, commercial and educational activity that hums with life by day and night. With parks and avenues lined with native as well as exotic tree species, Jayanagar cannot be compared to any other suburb in our country. And residents here rightly take pride in this legacy. So which are the trees along Jayanagar's streets,…

Everyone in Bengaluru would have seen and been disgusted by mounds of garbage on the roads. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief when the BBMP carts off waste upon receiving complaints from frustrated residents. But where does the garbage go? Government has come up with a quick fix solution for Bengaluru's garbage woes - five Waste to Energy (WtE) plants with a combined capacity to manage 2100 tonnes of waste per day. Many people may think - wow, Waste to Energy! That’s a brilliant concept! Solves two crises in one go! Absolutely wrong. Here are five reasons why: WtE plants…

Translated by Omshivaprakash H L and Mukund Gowda ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ, 1993 ರ ಜೂನ್ 1 ರಂದು ನಗರ ಆಡಳಿತದಲ್ಲಿ “ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅಧಿಕಾರ” ನೀಡಲು 74 ನೇ ಸಾಂವಿಧಾನಿಕ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ ಅಥವಾ ನಾಗರಪಾಲಿಕಾ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಯನ್ನು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತರಲಾಯಿತು. 74 ನೇ ಸಿಎ ಅಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ವಿಕೇಂದ್ರೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಮಹತ್ವ ನೀಡಿ, ನಾಗರಿಕರ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುವಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಹೊಣೆಗಾರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಸಲು  ಮೂರು ಲಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಜನಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಪುರಸಭೆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವಾರ್ಡ್ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ರಚಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿತ್ತು. ವಾರ್ಡ್ ಸಮಿತಿಯ ಸದಸ್ಯರು ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೈಗೊಂಡ ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಿಸುವುದು, ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಯೋಜನೆಯನ್ನು ರಚಿಸುವುದು, ವಿವಿಧ ಕಾಮಗಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಜೆಟ್ ಹಂಚಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸುವುದು ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅನೇಕ ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಭೆಗಳು ಅನಿರ್ಧಿಷ್ಟವಾಗಿದೆ, ‍ಸಮಿತಿಯ ಸದಸ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ಅವಕಾಶ‌ ನೀಡದೇ, ಕೌನ್ಸಿಲರ್‌ಗಳು ಏಕಪಕ್ಷೀಯ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳನ್ನು  ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇನ್ನು ಹಲವು ವಾರ್ಡ್‌ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಭೆಗಳು ಕೇವಲ ಕುಂದುಕೊರತೆ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ವೇದಿಕೆಗಳಾಗಿ ಮಾರ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ.‌ ಅದಾಗ್ಯೂ  ಈ ಕುಂದುಕೊರತೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಂದಾಯಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಅಥವಾ ಪರಿಹರಿಸಲಾಗಿಲ್ಲ.…

Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association (ROKA), a RWA in Chennai, have streamlined their waste management using simple practices and in the third week of December, within three months of starting focused door-to-door collection, managed to hit the magic mark of 1 TPD (tonne per day) of organic kitchen waste collected for composting!! On an average, 800-850 kgs of wet waste is now being collected from four main roads in the neighbourhood, and sent to a municipal compost yard for processing.  Members of this RWA achieved this through a series of events and planning and sensitisation meetings. They hosted events such…

As responsible citizens, we need to realize that safe driving is in the interest of each of us, and our safety is not the responsibility of the government or of anyone else. The sooner we accept this fact, the better. Earlier this year, the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019 was passed by the government with a view to strengthening road safety. The new law sets out much harsher penalties for violation of traffic rules, but even after that we see newspaper headlines on accidents across the country almost every other day. Many of these could have been clearly avoided if…

Ten days ago, some miscreant children battered seven tiny puppies at Nagaraj Layout in Whitefield. The puppies, stoned and beaten with iron rods, were taken to the hospital by residents nearby. Five of the puppies died, and another one died today. As of now only one survives, Mintu. The incident was reported in newspapers and shared on social media. When students from Parikrma Humanity Foundation - aged between 6 and 16 years - came to know of this, they were very upset and decided to do something for the puppies. They made paintings, and have been holding a fundraiser since Thursday for the…

On December 18th, Bengaluru, which had seen near-daily protests for the previous few days, was gearing up for two simultaneous protests at 11 am the next day - one at Mysore Bank Circle and the other at Town Hall. This followed a nationwide call to hit the streets on December 19th, to protest against the recently-passed Citizenship Amendment Act (which would fast-track citizenship for non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and against the nationwide NRC promised by Home Minister Amit Shah.  Bhaskar Rao, the Bangalore Police Commissioner announced that Section 144 was going to be imposed from December 19th 6…

What is the environmental cost of a big music event? Can art afford to be for its own sake and not think about all the plastic bottles and banners left behind without being recycled? What about the emissions from generators or the decibel levels? These questions led Roshan Netalkar to come up with Echoes of the Earth (EOE), an annual music festival, three years ago. Held on the outskirts of Bengaluru on a sprawling 150-acre property, it was aimed at marrying music and art with the theme of sustainability. Netalkar hoped to prove that music festivals of such scale could…

Residents across the city have at one time or another faced sudden inspections of the LPG connection at home. These often catch them by surprise as most people are unaware of the requirement of these checks and the frequency at which these should be conducted. Inspections are recommended once every five years, to be conducted by authorised personnel from the respective gas agencies which supply the cylinders. Lack of awareness about this has led to residents being duped by unauthorised individuals who carry out inspections at will and fleece them. However, before we decide to do away with inspections altogether,…