Jayanagar

Venkata Subba Rao, a resident of RBI Colony in Jayanagar is a happy man. In 2005 he spotted the auction of the now dry Byrasandra tank (near Jayanagar Swimming Pool) by Indian Overseas Bank and initiated legal action. Five years later, this month, BBMP is fencing the lake land to protect it and remove encroachments. From left Ramalinga Reddy, Gangambika and Hema Chandra. Venkatasubba Rao pouring the milk. Pic: Chetan Boray. The fencing program was inaugurated on 23rd by Gangambika, (INC) Corporator of Jayanagar (Ward 153). “First of all we have to make a border to improve, we are going…

Jayanagar General Hospital is soon to undergo a makeover in a bid to provide better care, better facilities and to have more people use its services. The 300-bed hospital, one of the biggest in the city, is currently underused. On an average, only 60-75 per cent of the beds in the wards are occupied and there are only 600-700 patients who visit the OPD (Out Patient Department) daily. A development plan, spearheaded by a team consisting of Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaya Kumar, Principal Secretary (Health) Ramana Reddy, Health Commissioner D N Nayak, Associate Professor at IIM-B (Indian Institute of…

I posted once about the Monkey Puzzle Tree with its beautiful leaves (go see the huge trees near the Glass House  in Lalbagh, if you can!)and later, I got theMonkey Puzzle Butterfly amongst other things, on a nature trail:A few days ago, it was very nice to see that someone still cares about our Bangalore heritage, and has re-created the Monkey Puzzle architectural detail for their home:Possibly this feature was so called because monkeys used to sit on it...it's also called "Monkey Top".

Like minded citizens of Shakambarinagar ward have come together to form a citizens’ forum to address the civic issues of the ward and closely work with the elected representatives as well as civic authorities. The organisation meets every fortnight (Monday) at their office in JP Nagar. Shakambari Nagar Citizen Forum members meeting MLA B N Vijayakumar and Corporator Somashekar at their office. Pic: Raghavendra. Below are some issues pertaining to Shakambari Nagar Ward:-    Installation of ward name boards at all the four boundaries of Shakambari Nagar.-    Installing of street/ Road boards which are broken or defaced.-    Identifying and desilting of…

Having been away from Bangalore for a very long stretch, it felt wonderful to go to the monthly (second Sunday of the month) birding outing at Lalbagh.Those who came for the outing included people who were coming to Lalbagh for the first time, and  those trying birdwatching for the first time, along with more seasoned birders. Apart from the regular birding group, Anil G T and Guruprasad also brought about 30 children from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, and they formed a separate group who went to the Lalbagh Lake first.By about 8am, an assorted group of people got together, with experienced birders…

S K Nataraj is Mayor and corporator of Sarakki ward. Even as he plans to visit each and every ward in order to understand their problems, citizens are pointing to issues in his own ward that need attention. Pic: Chetan Boray. Sarakki ward includes 6th phase JP Nagar, a BDA-planned area, which is supposed to have basic facilities available to its residents when compared to revenue sites. But citizens here continue for suffer from inadequate piped water supply. Resident Anand Rao, in his late fifties, says that BWSSB officials point out that the line is at a higher point and…

One afternoon last week I met R Sunder Rajan, the founder of Just Books at N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), IIM, Bangalore, where the two-year-old startup is incubated. Rajan belongs to a new generation of entrepreneurs, who has slipped into something totally different after years of working in IT firms.  Rajan spent 15 years at the IT firm IFlex, after joining them as a fresh graduate from Regional Engineering College, Trichy. The soft spoken and mild-mannered Madurai native in his late thirties says, “My father says I am the first in the family to ever handle a…

It's a classic case of putting cart before the horse and getting away with it. The Jayanagar Traffic and Transit Management Centre - a fancy name for a new bus stand located in a multi-storey building - was inaugurated in August 2009. The cost was around Rs.12 crores. It was a classic sarkari ceremony with the chief minister cutting the ribbon, transport minister attending, and the works. The media was happy to report it too.The centre has space for offices in the second and third floors and a swanky terrace parking lot for the public on the fourth level. They…

The parking lot with space for 60 cars on the terrace of Jayanagar's Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC), opposite the 4th block shopping complex is lying unused. At 3.30 pm on a weekday afternoon the lot was empty. Empty parking lot on a weekday in Jayanagar one of the busiest areas in the city. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent. Jayanagar is one of the busiest commercial areas in the city. There is space for around 60 cars and 20 bikes in this facility, says the BMTC, which runs the centre. For a car, the charges are Rs 20 for 4 hours.…

I had to visit theShanthi Polyclinic a small nursing home, in Jayanagar 4th Block, and it was a pleasant discovery to find a nameless, boardless canteen, tucked away under the road level!The canteen serves both breakfast items such as Uppittu and Idli, as well as rice items for lunch, and tea and coffee, starting from about 6.30 am to about 8pm, every day. It is a great boon for the families of patients who have been either admitted to the clinic, or are even waiting there for consultations or tests. The rates are extremely reasonable...so much so that I found…