meeting

Here's a message that I received at 8.45 pm on Feb 20th 2016. Public meeting has been organised on 21st Feb at BMRCL office Shanthinagarat 11 am in connection with Constructn of Metro station in LaxmanRao park area.Pl attend.Srinivas, Chief Engineer, BMRCL  If citizens are told at 8.45 pm (that, too, by email, which they may not see on a Saturday evening) that there is to be a public meeting the next morning (Sunday) at 11 am, how many of them can turn up? Sundays are planned with family or hobbies in mind, well in advance. Can BMRCL not give citizens a few days' notice when a…

We recently protested against, and stopped, an illegal meeting by the Bangalore Metro authorities, to ratify cutting trees in Reach 2. However, we can't protest all the time, and I recently found several large trees cut down on Bannerghatta Road. When will this tree-cutting mania stop in our city? Cutting the trees and widening the roads is a double whammy...we remove the beings that cleanse our air, and add motorized vehicles, each of which produces noxious fumes. It's been proved that widening of roads only causes more traffic to jam them in a downward spiral of destruction and pollution. When…

Environment Support Group (ESG) made this report about the meeting called by BBMP officials regarding tree-felling in Reach 2 of the Bangalore Metro Project. That link gives the entire details of what trasnpired in the meeting, and the background to it. The Public Meeting was called by the Tree Officer in compliance with the direction of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in WP No. 7288/2011, wherein public involvement in such decisions has been made mandatory. Meeting in Malleswaram. Pic: Deepa Mohan Bangalore Metro could not demonstrate how it has complied with the directions in WP 7288/2011, wherein it is specifically required…

The first meeting of Eco-volunteers (those who took the Volunteer Training Program, or VTP), was held at ThoughtWorks, Koramangala, Bangalore, on 120414. It was as if Ganesha, the Elephant God, had waited in the foyer with a gesture of benison!     Raju KV took up the job of co-ordinating the meet, and conducting it:     Over 40 people turned up, showing their interest in volunteering for wildlife conservation:         Raju welcomed the gathering, and while the two Prasahanths set up their video presentation.     N C Mohan talked about patches of fragmented forest, which…

*Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike*The 50paise Campaign!!*Rs. 5 for 10 km!**Rs. 15 for 11-20 km!**Rs. 25 for anything above 20 km!*Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus services, the transport of Bangalore's 'common man', have become increasingly unaffordable over the years. Over the last year and a half, the bus fares have gone up by a steep 50%, increasing the economic hardship for Bangaloreans. If a garment worker or a pourakarmika, who earns Rs. 5000 a month, buys a monthly pass for Rs. 725 (Rs. 925 for red board buses), she shells out 15-20% of her income just for commuting, which increase…

Vinay Sreenivasa, one of the indefatigable volunteers of Hasiru Usiru, writes:   Dear All,   As you may all be aware, the BMTC has biked bus fares by 16%, with the minimum rate now Rs. 6BMTC has been increasing the fares steeply every few months and the rate has almost doubled in the last 3 years.As a result even bus-travel has become unaffordable for a large number of people and they are forced to either walk or cut down on other essential expenditure.   Bus users in the city are a huge block (more than 40 lakhs) but as of now there…