garbage

KCDC all set to process waste with new machines. Pic: Nikita Malusare Dysfunctional machinery and long approval procedures are among the many reasons why the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) facility  has been emitting a foul odour for months now, much to the discomfort of residents in the neighbourhood. Residents living in the areas surrounding KCDC cried foul against the unbearable odour emanating from the plant that has huge mounds of old waste. For several years, KCDC received close to 1000 tons of waste daily which was beyond its processing capacity of 300 tons per day. However, in 2008, because…

Bellandur Buzz… April 9th 2014, Issue 7 This is a fortnightly newsletter shared by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.comVisit to Rainbow Drive: RWH tourAbout 50 residents and estate managers from apartments and layouts  around Sarjapura Road took a 1 hr walk inside Rainbow Drive on Saturday morning to see how ground water recharge had been implemented there. This event was organized by BIOME Trust, MAPSAS and Rainbow Drive. The participants saw the recharge wells and interatced with Bharti and Manjunath of Rainbow Drive. They also watched a movie on how water enters borewell in small streams flowing underground. This was followed…

Before clean-upStudents marching with postersStudents painting Students interacting with shopkeepersStudents marching with postersAfter clean-upThe little champions! ‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); On February 20th 2014, members of Civic Rangers and Star Revolutionaries of the CMCA and Civic Clubs of JSS Public School, HSR Layout in Bengaluru, conducted a campaign at the HSR layout BDA Complex on Solid Waste Management. The aim was to make the complex a litter-free zone and spread awareness among the shopkeepers on the importance of segregation at source. Students call for action The seed for the campaign was sown during one of the…

The Karnataka government is trying to increase tourism in the city of Bengaluru. Recent news reports say that they are planning to extend the 11.30pm closing time for bars and restaurants in the city to 1am. A few days ago the paper had a report of the city introducing a tourist 'Big Bus' with a hop-on, hop-off service which goes to the tourist attractions of the city — Lalbaug, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore Palace, Tipu's Palace, Bull temple etc. However, these tourist attractions are all quite old. Most predate independence and the formation of Karnataka and are at least…

Chapter 2: The Hit! Friday, 1145pm. Two shadowy figures walk furtively along Bangalore’s fabled  Mahatma Gandhi Road – the pubs are closing, the autorickshaw drivers are haggling with late night customers, the night shift call centre employees are going in to work, as the heart of the city of 9 million people is winding down after a busy Friday night. They rush past the popular 13th Floor lounge bar (where they earlier had dinner and plotted the night’s ‘hit’), past the paanwala and KFC outlet, and pause briefly.  A 5-floor building looms above them – it houses the offices of…

  Are you an ugly Indian? Why is India so filthy? Why do we keep our homes clean and our streets dirty? Why can’t we do anything about this pathetic lack of public hygiene? Who is to blame for our lack of civic sense? Is it our corrupt politicians, our dysfunctional governments, or ‘the system’ ? Or is it us, the people? Is it time to admit that many of India’s problems are because we are all ugly Indians – that we, the people, are as much part of the problem – if not, the problem. It’s about our rooted…

Bangalore is supposedly a bin-free city. An unofficial garbage dump, across Jagriti Theatre in Whitefield, with a slum behind and shops in the neighbourhood. A wine shop next door. At night, the lighting for the spot was non-existent making the place easier to dump in. A few weeks back the black spots at .Ramagondanahalli dump on the sidewalk had got spruced up, and so this one saw even heavier use. This spot fix took 2 days. 2 communities and The Ugly Indians with the Whitefield Rising team. This fix required some homework. The slum behind was polled on what went…

God knows Whitefield needs help. Therefore it may have been a wise move to have the next spot fix outside the historic Memorial Church. Dell brought an enthusiastic team out while Brigade sponsored the civil work. BESCOM ensured folks were safe and powered down the transformer(sorry if you were affected) while BBMP and BTP did their bit. Whitefield Club opened their gates for the transit area and the team got cracking. As always, magic happens when the atmosphere is charged with such positivity and energy. People get creative, work hard in a team and get the job done. Of special…

Not so early in the morning, I look down from my third floor apartment. There’s a lady sweeping the dead-end road. I know her, though I don’t know her name. She wears the official BBMP coat and she collects garbage from each of the apartment building. Sometimes I see her, while walking, from a car and smile and wave at her. She smiles back. A beautiful, cheery smile, but with an edge of self-consciousness. As if unused to be smiled at. As if unacknowledged as a human by those who live in apartments. (Pic for representation only. Can’t find the…

People from very different walks of life gathered on a sidewalk today. The common thread linking them all was "dignity" and an inexplicable oneness. A cleaner street and gifts for people were mere by products. Over a month, led by Anjali Saini and her team, well heeled residents of communities worked side by side with BBMP garbage collectors, children, housewives, small shopkeepers and villagers. They took former black spots aka garbage heaps and open sewers and transformed them. Then they took pride in it and kept it that way. Today they came together to honour those that either made it…