GENRE: In Focus

Apartments are bulk generators; we won't collect garbage from them. No, apartments are not bulk generators; we will collect waste from them. BBMP has been going back and forth on this issue for over two months now. As the December 1st deadline, for waste segregation at source is here, there is still no clarity on where the waste from the apartment complexes is going to go. Media reports have quoted BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel saying that apartments are now excluded from the bulk generators list. However BBMP's website has the notification dated October 1st, that has categorised apartments under bulk…

This month, new contractors will start garbage clearance work in 168 wards in the city. These wards are covered in 77 packages. Fifty of the 77 packages have gone to a single company, named BVG India Pvt Ltd. This company has also bid for extremely low amounts in most packages. In one case, its bid amount was 50% lesser than BBMP's estimated amount. The corporate office of BVG India in Vasanth Nagar. This company won the highest number of garbage tenders in the city. Pic: Navya P K But there is another story behind these low amounts - BVG seems…

A PIL, questioning the deletion of lakhs of entries from the current voter rolls has come up for hearing at the Karnataka High Court. The court heard the case on November 6th.The PIL has been filed by Commander P G Bhat of Daksh, a Bangalore based organisation working towards accountability in politics and governance, Ashwin Mahesh of Loksatta party and Smart Vote, a campaign that encourages people to vote. The petitioners have named the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral officer (CEO), Karnataka as their main respondents, along with four other Electoral officers from Bangalore zone. It…

BBMP has booted out a senior forest officer, on the ground that he was too expensive - the expense being an additional Rs 5 lakh per year. Brijesh Kumar, IFS, was deputed by state government to BBMP, to take care of lakes, horticulture and forests, since these resources are in a sorry state. Government had created the post of CCF (Chief Conservator of Forests) in BBMP, and appointed Kumar on May 17th.On October 17th, just as he completed five months, Kumar was relieved of his charge. BBMP's Standing Committee on Establishment and Administrative Reforms had made this decision in August.…

Over 125 robotic surgeries have been performed in Manipal Hospital in the last one year with an average of 15 surgeries per month. Dr Somashekhar SP, HOD of Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery dept, Manipal hospital, says, "The robotic surgery is very popular now because there is rarely any chance of a scar after the surgery. Also there is minimal blood loss. This kind of surgery is very useful in cases of intestinal and thyroid cancer."He also adds that the patients are not restricted to India. "We have patients from various countries like Malaysia, UAE, Dubai, Thailand and many more.…

BBMP has created an Action Plan on waste management for the next 1.5 years. It will submit the plan in High Court in a hearing on November 6th. HC has been hearing two PILs that are asking for BBMP to dispose of solid waste properly. Two parties - an Indiranagar resident named Kavitha Shankar, and an advocate G R Mohan - had filed separate cases in HC. The two cases have clubbed together by the Court. In these cases, last month the court had directed BBMP to collect segregated waste, to put realistic penalties on citizens who do not segregate…

Bengaluru's apartments are yet again at the receiving end of civic agencies' policies. This time over Waste management. While BBMP is pushing the pedal to ensure solid waste is segregated, it says it will not collect garbage from apartments. Some time back, large apartments were asked to set up their own Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) since BWSSB did not have the capacity or coverage to process their sewage. Some were suddenly slapped steep fines last year by KSPCB because of an obscure rule. Now BBMP has ordered that apartments should have their own garbage processing facilities by December 1st. Within…

While they are struggling to figure out the BBMP's muddled up garbage management policy, apartment owners are hit with tanker water price hikes.In the last 3-4 months water tanker prices have risen quite steeply, especially since the city's water crisis became severe. This applies to apartments in both outskirts and old areas. Most do not have functioning borewells, as opposed to individual houses. Bannerghatta Neighbourhood Association (BANA), a collective of 25 apartments along Bannerghatta Road, has faced sharp price hikes in the last few months. BANA Treasurer Shankar Bharadwaj says that the price varies from Rs 450 to Rs 600…

Trees were cut, roads were dug up and traffic diverted for the Agara-Sirsi Ciricle signal-free corridor project. BDA vehemently defended the project while residents in Koramangala questioned the logic and took it to the court. Now a year since the struggle, Koramangala residents feel vindicated. The government-appointed committee that looked into the project has recommended that the project be dropped.In July, High Court had ordered that the government committee should engage with citizens and give its recommendations on the project. HC had given this order in a petition filed by residents and civic associations. The committee was formed by ex-Chief…

The Lokayukta Court has reserved its orders for 4th October regarding a complaint filed by T J Abraham against the consortium of NICE (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise) and various ministers and bureaucrats. Abraham has alleged various irregularities in the execution of Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corrdiror (BMIC) project. Allegations of a massive ‘land grab' and financial fraud with the connivance of ministers, bureaucrats and NICE, form the core of his petition. Abraham, a businessman in his mid-forties, is the President of Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum. The main petition runs to 147 pages. One annexure alone runs to 3,368 pages. The…