GENRE: Explainers

Area Residential rates (All numbers in Rs Sq/ft) Commercial rates(All numbers in Rs Sq/ft) BLR - Central business Districts MG Road   20000 Kasturba Rd   15000 Cubbon Rd 12500  Church Street 12500 15000 Dickenson Rd   12500 Ashokanagar 2500 5000 Victoria Layout 4000 8000 Commercial Street   25000 Infantry Rd 10000 15000 K Kamraj Rd   5000-8000 Shivajinagar 2500 5000 Cunningham Rd 10000 15000 Queens Rd 5000 10000 Millers Rd 6000 10000 Vasantnagar 7000 10000 Surrounding MG RD Langford Town 6000 8000 Richmond Town 6000 8000 Residency Rd   15000 St.Marks Rd 10000 15000 Cambridge Rd 5000 7000 Ulsoor…

We all often read in newspapers about various raids that the Lokayukta of Karnataka does on various officers and catches them red-handed taking bribes. And most of us wonder how do they get to know of this. If one of us comes across an officer who readily accepts bribes, how do we tell the Lokayukata about that? Where do we complain? Will the Lokayukta consider the small complaints that do not involve a one crore-rupees scam?Well, the answer is yes. And filing a complaint is not as daunting as it may seem, considering our collective experience of access to government…

In the earlier parts of this series we have seen as to how in a layout context, the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) is the body that is aware of the issues that the residents face, can engage with the residents to identify appropriate solutions, can build consensus on issues/resolutions and enable the implementation of measures to ensure issue resolution. We have also discussed the relevance of Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) in the layout context, and dealt with FAQ’s on the same. In this article we will see how the RWA can play the role of a 'Resource Manager' for water, assuming…

The first two parts of this series dealt with arriving at a broad layout-level strategy for rainwater harvesting (RWH) and how to engage the residents and decision-making bodies of the layout to move the strategy forward. When engaging with residents, one will inevitably face many questions about why people should consider rainwater harvesting (RWH), how the systems are constructed and how they work. The following discussion concentrates on how to address these FAQs, first focusing on general RWH questions and then on more technical questions related to RWH for direct storage and groundwater recharge. Rainwater Clubrainwaterclub [at] gmail [dot] com1022,…

In Part 1 of this series, we touched on the crucial first steps to implementing rainwater harvesting (RWH) in a layout - asking yourself why the layout should implement RWH, what implementation strategies make sense in your layout, and consulting with someone with RWH technical capacity to assist with conception, design and implementation. This part focuses on the human dimension of implementing RWH at a collective level. As we saw in Part 1, the two RWH implementation strategies for a layout are household collection for domestic use, and collection from households and common areas for groundwater recharge. To implement either…

Step 2 – What should be the RWH strategy for your layout Another factor to consider when determining the best RWH interventions for your context is your layout’s land use pattern. In a typical urban residential layout, land use is usually as follows: approximately 60% is rooftops, 20% is roads and the rest is open-areas like parks, playgrounds, footpaths, transformer yards or drains. This means that the largest amount of rain is falling on rooftops. Rooftops are also clean and so rainwater running off of them is clean. It is prudent to try and capture this at the household level…

The acronym RTO evokes a mixture of worry, apprehension and confusion in Bangalore city’s novice vehicle owners. Right from collecting of documents to taking time off other routines to clear tests for that coveted license- it is serious business. This article attempts to make the procedural route to obtaining licenses at any city RTO simple and lucid. All about Learner’s Driving License A valid Learner’s License (LL) is a pre-requisite to get a permanent Driving License (DL). The objective of a Learner’s Driving License is to officiate the process of learning. That is, if you are enrolled in a driving…

Form a groupThis is the first thing to do. CSR initiatives are always rooted in small beginnings. So, look around and gather a group of people who are interested in such initiatives. Approach your HR department and higher management with your findings and suggestions. How do you find people? Well, one easy way is to organize a screening of movies related to social initiatives. There are institutions like VisualSearch, FilmsForFreedom and Vikalp, who have social consciousness related films and they would be delighted to give you the copy for screenings.First, do no harmStudy your business and its impact on people,…

Most of us who are either buying or selling property find the procedures cumbersome and encounter a range of different certificates and documents required to proceed with a deal. Many of us are unfamiliar with what is required until we face the situation.What is a Khata? What is an occupancy certificate? Who issues it? When and why is it needed? What about the ‘possession certificate’? Former Deputy Commissioner of BBMP (Revenue department) H B S Aradhya answered these questions for Supriya Khandekar of Citizen Matters. What is a Khata?There is no specific mention of the term Khata in the Act…

Find details of voter rolls, candidate information and polling booth information for the Lok Sabha 2009 elections here »First, it is not too late to register to vote. The last date to register for the Bangalore region was expected to be 23 April, next week. [Update: AROs have apparently stopped accepting applications since April 16 - please see comment below.] Second, if you are already registered and need to check if your name on the rolls, there is a way. This article will get you started. Some background Greater Bangalore consists of 3 districts with its delimited assembly constituencies. Where…