GENRE: LN

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has started the trial of smart cards in a small scale, after unveiling it in a press conference on June 14, 2016. It will take two months to complete the trial and launch the card in full scale, according to sources from BMTC. It can be recalled that BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur had revealed the plans for this card in an interview with Citizen Matters. There was also a plan to launch Intelligent Transport System (ITS). This was done last month, however there are a lot more buses left out of the ITS net,…

BMTC is issuing the Students concessional pass for the year 2016-17 on a staggered time table to facilitate smooth and hassle-free issue of passes to the student community. The passes are now being issued for primary, secondary and high school students from 4th June, 2016 onwards.    43 pass counters spread across the city listed below will issue the passes. The counters will function from 8 am to 5 pm on all working days and remain close on Sundays and General Holidays. Pass Issue centers: Kempegowda Bus Station, Shivajinagar Bus Station, Kalyannagar Bus Station, Kengeri TTMC, Vijayanagar TTMC, Yeshwanthpura TTMC, Jayanagar…

This is the Akshayanagara Lake. Less than three years ago, it was a nothing but a patch of land with overgrown weeds and sewage as seen below.  The transformation is the work of a group of enthusiastic residents of the layout led by Ramesh Kumar who have toiled to restore the lake to its present form. In 2009, one side of the lake bund was strengthened and fenced, most of the sewage was blocked, and the entire lake was cleaned up at a huge cost running into lakhs. The cost was borne by the residents along with the local MLA.…

June 5th is just around the corner — it’s that time of the year when you hear the word ‘environment’ often. The World Environment Day (WED) is here again. While the environment activists and citizens are ready to commemorate the environment day by planting saplings, cleaning the neighbourhood and by organising awareness programmes, let’s be aware that this year’s environment day is dedicated to the vulnerable wildlife population. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has designated WED 2016 as a fight against illegal trade in wildlife. Therefore, the 2016 WED theme is “Go Wild for Life - Zero tolerance for…

One doesn’t have to visit distant forests or wildlife sanctuaries in order to find the beauties of Nature… a visit to the local park will do just as well. Here’s what I did on a recent morning visit to Lalbagh. First of all, I soaked in the morning sun, and the freshness of the air. I then walked along the lake, and I found these Black-crowned Night Herons, looking, hopefully, for a fish breakfast. There were so many flowers still blooming, even though Bengaluru has been at its hottest. Here are the Gulmohar blooms, setting the park afire. Here are…

In 2012, a private unaided school attached to CBSE board was newly opened in an area in Bengaluru where most of the IT employees live. Since the school was new, its tuition fee was comparatively nominal. Its annual fee was Rs 45,000 per student. In a parent’s words, three factors were attractive:  the board affiliation of the school(CBSE, ICSE), school infrastructure/quality of education and more importantly, the affordability. For a parent, four years ago a tuition fee of Rs 45,000 seemed affordable, but little did he know that the school fee would almost double in the years to come. This…

Nandi Hillathon is the first of its kind marathon and walkathon bring organised in the picturesque locale of Nandi Hills. It is a unique marathon where the entire proceeds collected from the marathon and walkathon will be used to help in the restoration of Nandi Hills and also support causes in select neigbourhoods. This is an annual city-wide fundraiser event which will be anchored by United Way to encourage associations like RWAs, running and cucling groups, lake groups, NGOs, to raise resources for their respective neighbourhoods. You must participate in Nandi Hillathon for two reasons A unique opportunity to help…

Joint Commissioner- East Yatish Kumar inspecting and penalising shops that violated plastic ban. Pic courtesy: SWM volunteers team Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has put its foot once again to show that plastic ban is here to stay, unlike many earlier instances of plastic ban notifications that were ineffective. With the National Green Tribunal postponing the hearing of petition against plastic ban to July 15, 2016, BBMP has released a notification that orders heavy fine on violators. The revised fines are listed below: Fines for manufacturing and sale of banned plastic items Criteria Fine for first time offense Fine for second…

File picture of a slum near HSR Layout. Pic: Akshatha M International Symposium on Health in Slums 2016 was held in Smrithi Auditorium, Bangalore Baptist Hospital, Hebbal on April 30, 2016. This was a first-of-its-kind event provided a platform for health researchers, BBMP Medical Officer and NGOs involved in various aspect of health in slums. The population for study involved migrant and non-migrant populations. This was an opportunity to connect the investigators, with questions pertaining to the health and wellbeing of the slum dwellers, with those willing to offer solutions in the form cost-effective options of fuel, energy, technology and…

In what could be a big blow to all developers constructing their projects around lakes, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has delivered a landmark judgment. The NGT judgment imposes a new buffer zone of 75 metres for lakes and wetlands which will be a no-construction zone, as opposed to 30 metres of buffer earlier. This will stop all new projects from getting constructed within 75 meters of lakes, and will impact many existing projects too. The NGT has also ruled that the buffer zone of the rajakaluves must be calculated from the edge of the drain, as opposed to the…