GENRE: LN

The soiled hands of Aditi, Arush, Dev and their friends told a different story altogether. Their happiness knew no bounds as the youngsters carried saplings and buckets of water as part of a 2-day long tree plantation programme. This was organized by Rank Residency Apartment Owners’ Association at Kaggadasapura on 15th and 16th June, 2013 with assistance from Trees For Free treesforfree.org The area has been witnessing large scale felling of trees due to unplanned urbanisation and encroachment. A decision was made about replacing the lost green cover. Appropriately, the residents named the initiative as “Trees for Tomorrow”.Anytime is right…

It was a slum, known for notorious rowdies like Kotwal, Kitty and others, filled with uneducated, poverty-ridden families, struggling to make the ends meet. Even today, with no proper drainage system or well-planned civic amenities, many areas in Srirampuram can be rated just a little more than slums. In such a scenario has come up this school, which is trying to light the lives of many underprivileged children from the area. Children being trained in dance and prayers. Pic courtesy: www.bhavanbbmppublicschool.com Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Public School, located in Srirampuram, aims at providing holistic education to…

Citizens of Koramangala, HSR Layout and Bellandur areas have come together under an umbrella group called South-East Bangalore Forum for Sustainable Development, to oppose the massive 72-acre IT SEZ project by Manipal ETA Infotech, near Agara Lake. 27 RWAs representing over 25,000 residents have joined hands and written to Traffic police, BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, Karnataka Udyog Mitra, KIADB, Lake Development Authority, and industry bodies like CII, CREDAI and Nasscom. Citizen Action Forum, a pan-Bangalore federation of over 70 RWAs, has also come forward to support the campaign. The ongoing construction at the area between Bellandur and Agara lakes Pic: Kedar…

There have been many instances in the past where commuters have been caught by the traffic police for faulty number plates, while government vehicles have been royally excused. But this discrimination might soon change, as the Transport Department is all geared up to implement the High Security Number Plates (HSNP) into action. What is a HSNP? As per Central Motor Vehicle Rules 50 and 51, it is a number plate which will have a hologram of the Ashoka Chakra (with the four lions), IND written in bold blue colour on the extreme left centre of the plate and the PCIN…

BWSSB Chairman Gaurav Das Gupta declared that the peripheral areas of Bengaluru do not and will not have water for the upcoming years. Gaurav Gupta was taken on by veteran bureaucrat, former additional chief secretary of Government of Karnataka, V Balasubramanian, in the discussion ­The Critical water situation in Bangalore- The way forward conducted by Bangalore International Centreat Domlur. Both of them discussed the alarming water crisis in Bangalore and its consumption. It was moderated by former chief justice of India M N Venkatachalaiah. In the wake of acute water crisis, BWSSB Chief told the gathering: “If you are taking…

Getting out and around in Bangalore is no mean feat for anyone, nowadays. Every part of the city seems to be competing for the level of madness that is created on its roads, junctions and bus stops. And my beloved area Marathahalli (Brookefield) where I have lived for 8 years has a strong contender in the Marathahalli Outer Ring Road (ORR) intersection. The region has been plagued with traffic issues since the railway overbridge (ROB) construction started in June 2006 and ended in April 2008. If the traffic pile up then was traumatic, the traffic flow now is horrific. The…

Tariffs are the single most important economic tool to control individual resident’s water usage. Many apartments often bundle water charges into a single maintenance account. But this keeps the expense of water consumption invisible. RWAs must have a Cost Account for water separately. RWA Management Committees need to consider various parameters to arrive at the tariff. What cannot be measured cannot be managed. The first step is to measure water consumption and calculate the total cost for getting water into a resident's flat. See part 1 of this series: Where does Bangalore get its water from? To read, click here.…

Observe the stretch coming down on Sarjapura Outer Ring road from Agara going towards Ibblur Sarjapura/ ORR junction. As the road veers towards the left, you may have seen a beautiful serene lake a few years back. Now, all that is left to see is a bed of water hyacinth, with sewage incessantly flowing into the lake and heaps of garbage dumped into the lake. Ibblur kere is a sad story of neglect. Local residents recall a beautiful lake till 2009 with migratory birds visiting during the winter months. Then, it all changed. As the development in neighbouring Ambalipura and…

Complaining about the lakes we are losing? Meet Bangaloreans who saved their neighbourhood lake and brought the birds back! See how citizens can participate in bringing about change.  The Rang De Bangalore Chapter is organizing 'A Walk with a Changemaker' with Ms. Usha Rajagopalan this Sunday, the 23rd of June, 2013 at the Puttenahalli Lake. Usha Rajagopalan, who spearheaded the Puttenahalli Neighborhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), will share her story, the challenges faced and the hardships they overcame for the successes of the project. The Rang De Bangalore Chapter is a group of interesting and enthusiastic folks from the city that believe in the power of microcredit want to…

Time is now ripe for bringing in systemic changes and strategies to take Bengaluru on a road towards a sustainable solution for handling and processing of solid waste according to the MSW Rules 2000 notified by the Ministry of Environment & Forests. As an important step towards managing Municipal Solid Waste Management (SWM) as well as to evolve and implement strategies and action plan for Bengaluru getting back its glory as a clean and green city, the Government of Karnataka, Urban Development Department constituted an Expert Committee (EC) under the Chairmanship of Commissioner, BBMP and seven other experts to advise…