JP Nagar

Residents of 8th phase JP Nagar still have no respite from the deep trenches dug by the BWSSB to lay water pipelines. Kapil Raizada, a resident of nearby H M World City had earlier written to Citizen Matters on this issue and the piece was published in the 9th April issue of Citizen Matters. The residents had a harrowing summer due to the dust kicked up due to the digging. The monsoon has added another kind of woe as the mud roads have turned slushy and with trenches dug up on the sides, they have become a hazard to commuters…

For the last two months, young recruits from BBMP (Bommanahalli Zone) have been actively canvassing for waste segregation at source in large apartment complexes along Bannerghatta Road and parts of JP Nagar. The recruits in their late twenties or early thirties have been appointed to the posts of Deputy Environment Officers and Environmental Engineers. Santosh Kumar, Deputy Environment Officer, is one of the new recruits. Pic: Yogaraj Mudalgi  Santosh Kumar, one of the Deputy Environment Officers, a chemical engineering graduate in his late twenties says that it was not a conscious decision by the BBMP to send young officers to…

11th Jun is PNLIT Founder's Day and what better way to celebrate it in 2011, than at the local Puttenahalli Government School, JP Nagar 7th Phase. The school, with Chenna Basappa as Head Master, has 850-odd students in Std 1 to Std 10. The first batch of about 90 students is due to appear for the SSLC exam in April 2012. In addition, there is an Anganwadi that the younger children attend. Prize Distribution at Puttenahalli Gov school. Best all-round performer receiving his watch from Nidhi Aggarwal, a donor PNLIT, along with the staff of Puttenahalli Government School, organised a…

Residents of Elita Promenade, an apartment complex in JP Nagar 7th phase, are a worried lot. Elita has a strange problem - a sewage pipeline runs within the apartment's compound, but it carries sewage not from the complex, but from other layouts. The raw sewage flows in to the pipeline located along the compound wall and finally joins Jaraganahalli (Sarakki) lake located behind the complex. The sewage is from Uma Sanjeevini apartment and Guru Raghavendra Layout located next to Elita complex, outside its compound wall. The apartment however has its own Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to process its sewage. Sewage…

Sohni D S, 14, a Class IX student replies in an instant when asked to name a threat to our environment, “Plastic covers,” she says. A much younger Rajeev Singh, 10, a class V student, lists cutting trees as a threat to our environment.Sohini and Rajeev are both students of Bangalore Scottish School in Navodaya Nagar, JP Nagar. The school with strength of close to hundred children has planned several activities on the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5th).“We want to educate our children on the importance of environment, the impact of our actions and what we can do…

Once upon a time, not so long ago, our city with its salubrious climate, smooth roads and countless trees made it a pensioners’ paradise. Indeed, Bengaluru had at least two other names as well – The Garden City and the City of Lakes. All this changed within the last three decades or so. The tree cover has been blown and the lakes are vanishing. If in the 1830s there were an incredible 19,800 lakes and tanks, by the 1960s the number dwindled to 280 and reduced further by 1990 to less than 80. They vanished as quickly as the population…

Its chic and very Ooh La La.  For croissants and conversations. Pic: Uma SwamyWe are talking about The French Loaf that inaugurated its latest outlet at Aurobindo Marg, J P Nagar, 1st Phase, near Indira Gandhi Circle.  People can choose among a variety of The French Loaf's specialty items such as croissants, pastries, pies and doughnuts. Those wanting a quiet tete-a-tete can enjoy the air-conditioned indoor or the outdoor seating arrangements.Located near  Sarakki Gate, on the Kanakapura Main Road, Sri Raghavendra Davanagere Benne Dose Hotel is a favorite of the dosa connoisseurs of the area.  Mouth water benne dosa beckons.…

As a creative writer I am constantly discovering new things about places, people and myself. Since the last four years though I have been privileged to tackle perhaps my greatest discovery - the Puttenahalli Lake in J.P. Nagar, 7th Phase. What began as a wish to prevent misuse of the lake gathered momentum and led to the formation of the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) in June 2010. Eleven months later, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the BBMP to formally maintain the lake, the first citizens’ group to do so. Every time we visit the lake, my…

  This morning, as I walked in Forest Park, I inhaled the heady scent of the magnolia blossoms, and though I am not a nostalgic person usually, the scent evoked memories of what I call the "pre-IT Bangalore"...the sleepy, lovely city that we moved into, in 1988. One of the loveliest memories from those days is that of inhaling the scent of the Sampige trees as I walked, and cycled, in Cubbon Park...Then, there were not too many apartments around; it was we, who lived in such apartments, who were the newly-arrived interlopers. At many parties, I would hear the complaints…

  Girish Karnad's "Bikhre Bimb" at Ranga ShankaraGirish Karnad's hugely successful play, "Bikhre Bimb" (in Hindi) will be staged at Ranga Shankara, on Sun, 29 May '11.Bikhre Bimb is among the most successful plays produced recently in India. The play has seen more than 100 shows and has been invited to all the major festivals of India. Arundhati Nag's masterly portrayal of two characters in a skillfully conceived plot has won her accolades and since its opening, Bikhre Bimb has been invited to, and performed at, all major theatre festivals in the country. It won the awards for best playwright, best…