GENRE: LN

Namma Bengaluru has been going through rapid transition these past couple of decades. From a sleepy pensioner's paradise, it has morphed into a bustling metropolis causing and caused by the city’s neighbourhoods growing, changing and evolving. Yet, each locality, each neighbourhood has many stories to tell – it could be of the park that was built over five decades ago or of the place where authors of the city would meet to chat or of the place so far off that autos would charge 1 ½ times the metre rate to go there. There are so many stories that these…

On June 27, Bengaluru’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) formally launched its digital academy, virtually, with the government's participation. Along with NIMHANS director B.N Gangadhar, who was at the office of the Union Health Minister JP Nadda in New Delhi, 500 doctors from 15 states logged in. "It was a formal event. We announced the course, launched digital books and shared the link to the website. We also discussed the agenda, and the benefits of distance education in this sector," Gangadhar said. Mental illnesses present an ever-growing cause for concern across the world. Statistics that emerge from…

Urban infrastructure projects announced by various government departments have hit a stumbling block in Chennai, since the expiry of the last city council in October 2016. A handful of ideas announced by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) were languishing at varying stages of implementation, several of them still at a very preliminary stage. Several other projects taken up by the highways department have also been in suspension.   We inquired into three such significant projects in Chennai and the problems that impede completion. Pallavaram flyover skips deadline When the highways department commenced the construction works of the three lane unidirectional…

Saahas and Daily Dump, two well known initiatives in the waste management space in Bengaluru were recently recognised for their work. Saahas was awarded the Swachh Best Practice Award by Swachh Bharat Mission and Daily Dump the Swachh Entrepreneur Award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the awards and released the Swachh Survekshan 2018 Report and launched the Swachh Survekshan – 2018 Results Dashboard, accessible here. More details of the award can be read here. The following note has been shared by the Saahas team. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has selected Saahas Zero Waste, a Bengaluru based startup, to receive the Swachh Best Practice Award…

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's maiden budget has revived the pod taxi at a cost of Rs 1445 crores (five stretches totaling 29.8 kms at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore per km) and the elevated corridor project at an estimated cost of  and Rs 15,825 crores for Bengaluru. However the proposal has come under fire by citizens and experts alike, who termed it unscientific and can't solve the traffic woes of Bengaluru city. At a citizens' meeting called by Citizens for Bengaluru, on July 7th, 2018, the volunteer group to come out of the Steel Flyover Beda movement in 2016,…

The 80-year-old prime land site of Malleswaram Market seems to be buzzing with construction. Founded in 1940s, the Market located at 11th cross, Malleswaram in Bengaluru is a prime property of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), in the pulsating city of Bengaluru. What was a local market for residents of Malleswaram, with its high real-estate value, but old single level market that accommodated a few vendors, was deemed to be a low-earning area for the city government In June 2017, when Bengaluru became the seventh Karnataka region to get included in the Smart City plan, Malleswaram Market development got earmarked…

A play where one actor alone comprises the cast faces several challenges. The success of the play devolves, in large part, on the shoulders of that one actor, no matter how good the crew and the production values may be. For this reason, I am always interested in watching "monoacting" as it is called here. I went to watch 'Karl Marx in Kalbadevi' at Ranga Shankara, on 29 June 2018 in this spirit. The underlying premise of the play is that Karl Marx comes back to life, 150 years after his death, to the Mumbai suburb of Kalbadevi; he wants…

Elevated roads, transport authority and soapnut-based detergent industry: Six elevated corridors have hit the headlines once again, with the H D Kumaraswamy-led Co-alition government affirming the commitment to this decades-old plan in the state Budget presented on July 5. Other decisions include a 100-crore aid for BMTC, and formation of Integrated Road Transport Authority (IRTA). Source: Deccan Herald BBMP discusses lake encroachments and waste management: The BBMP council meeting held on June 28 discussed the necessity of buffer zone for lakes to construct buildings, which is contrary to the NGT's order in 2014 on no construction zone within 75 metres…

The 712 meter stretch of Church Street which was opened to the public with much fanfare in March 2018 is back in the news. But this time it is not all good. Touted as the golden standard for pedestrian-centric roads, its fall from grace has been rather quick. Reports of substandard construction and flooding during rains have been making regular appearance in various media outlets. The aspects of the roads which had garnered high praise, like using cobblestones for a road, innovative footpaths which are designed to be disabled-friendly are now being criticised for shoddy work and an impractical design.…

With broad, lush green leaves and purple flowers, water hyacinth often adds a measure of surreality to ponds and lakes. Yet, in reality, Eichhornia crassipes (the scientific name for water hyacinth) contaminates water bodies, blocks the passage of sunlight and subsequently destroys the aquatic ecosystem. Why should we care? Water hyacinth is a killer species. The plant obstructs photosynthesis and poses a threat to the lives of fish and other migratory birds in the water bodies. “The decline in the count of migratory birds at Pallikaranai marsh explains the gravity of damage already done by sewage pollution and water hyacinth,” says J…