GENRE: LN

The BBMP, after a rap from the Karnataka High Court in April, decided to constitute ward committees as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. We welcome this decision of the BBMP to constitute ward committees. This will ensure that decentralized governance takes place and that citizens have more say in the development of their wards. A press meet demanding inclusivity in constituting ward committees was organised by several groups and organisations on June 15th, 2017 (Thursday) at the Press Club. • BBMP should ensure that urban poor, slum residents and workers are part of ward committees • Working class…

A new animation shared on Twitter by Bengaluru City police goes thus: “Hey” “Hey. What’s up?” “I need to get my police verification done. Do you know which police station should I go to and whom to contact there?” “I have no clue, but you can Dial 100 to find out.” “I thought we should dial 100 only for emergencies??” “Nope. The newly launched Namma 100 is a ‘point of contact’ for anything and everything related to Bengaluru police.” “I didn’t know, will call 100 and find out. Thank you” In the month of April, in an interview with Citizen…

Once a source of water for irrigation and household use, the Chitlapakkam Lake is now brimming over with all kinds of garbage. It has been 18 years since the local residents first raised an issue over the encroachment of the lake and dumping of garbage in it, but notwithstanding the long struggle,  the freshwater lake has shrunk from 83.89 acre to 33.95 acre! Remembering the lake that once was Chitlapakkam lake receives water from the Pacha Malai Hills. Until the onset of urbanisation, there were agricultural farms in the area and water from the upper catchment area irrigated these farms.…

The city and municipal corporation civic workers who were on an indefinite strike demanding for regularisation of contract workers and payment of salaries, called off their protest on the second day. The BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha, along with Karnataka Rajya Nagarapalike, Nagarasabhe, Purasabhe Pourakarmikara Mahasangha and the Safaikaramchari Kavalu Samiti had staged an indefinite strike starting June 12th, 2017. The strike was called off on June 13th , after the Minister for Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare H Anjaneya and Minister for Municipalities and Local Bodies Department and Public Enterprises Ishwar Khandre, along with Bengaluru Mayor Padmavathi G, assured…

Remember the plans to divide BBMP into five different city corporations? A committee formed by the Karnataka State government had proposed dividing BBMP into five smaller  corporations and redraw the zones. This was meant to facilitate better administration. The city corporation has not been divided yet, but the Karnataka government has now geared up to implement the other proposal of redesigning the zones. In a notification issued on June 12th, the Urban Development Department has officially divided Bengaluru into 10 zones, from the existing eight zones. The notification says the decision to reclassify zones has been taken to give good…

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has notified the E-waste [Management] Rules, 2016 which is effect from 01.10.2016. For implementation of these Rules, the Central Pollution Control Board has notified “implementation of guidelines for E-waste Management Rules, 2016”. The Board had issued authorization to 27 collection centers, 42 dismantlers, 24 recyclers and 14 recyclers/dismantlers. To review the implementation of E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 in the state, meeting was conveyed by the Chairman of the Board on 12.6.2017. The representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change were…

Saturday (10 June 2017) morning saw me at the Kengeri railway station. I was there to see the Science Express - Climate Action Special. This was a special train exhibition that had reached Kengeri the previous day after a 3-day halt at Whitefield. The first thing that met my eyes was a queue that appeared to be almost never ending, especially as it was a serpentine queue spanning at least 2 platforms and an overhead bridge. This was something I had not expected. In my naivety (or should I say arrogance as I had believed that not many would be…

As we know, a majority of India's underprivileged children are not educated. Even when they do go to school, they are often deprived of the staples for supporting their academic journey. Most urban kids start school with a fresh set of stationery and books each year. If you and I can have it, why can't underprivileged children have the same as well?  Gnawed at by this thought, six of my schoolmates and I, supported by our parents, decided to help the less privileged through charity. We built a mini organisation called "Kids4Kids" where children like us would help other less…

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is commencing the issue of Student Concessional Bus Pass for the year 2017-18 through pre-printed card and newly introduced Smart Card.  The smart card and pre printed passes are simultaneously issued by BMTC for the smooth and hassle-free issuance of passes for the students of Primary, High School and PUC grades. The Pre printed passes will be issued from 12 June 2017 and Smart card from 17 June 2017 onwards. Students who have availed  the pre printed passes have to switchover to smart cards compulsorily, between 01 Aug 2017 to 30 Sep 2017 at the BMTC…

For months, a group of young men in Marundeeswarar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur had been trying to meet their MP Jayavardhan. They had a prayer: Would the MP renovate the community gym in their area? Once up and going, this historic gym served a population of more than 3000 slum dwellers. These men are the youngest in a long line of similar groups that have been using and taking care of the MGR-era gym. An earlier article in The Hindu talks of how the gym came into being and how these young residents had been striving to keep the gym running,…