OPINION

With persistence and passion, citizen volunteers supported by progressive BBMP rules, have been working tirelessly and successfully at bringing about a paradigm change in managing waste in their homes and waste reduction. This has been stopping once and for all the nasty careless habit of swinging a plastic carry bag full of mixed waste at the tip of the fingers, walking out to the nearest electric pole or open space and swinging it with a flourish. However, public waste bins have made a come back in Bengaluru, after a gap of 15 years. These waste drop boxes bypass all of…

The growth and development of humanity in the modern age kickstarted from the time of Renaissance. The hub of all new thoughts and ideas was Europe and it was the Silicon Valley of sorts back in the days. Colonial powers carried the ideas and the mindset with them as they traveled and took control of lands across the world. It intensified as we made rapid advances in technology in the late 19th and 20th centuries. But something else also happened at that time. Humanity went completely out of sync with nature and we declared war on the ecosystem that had…

The rocky plateau of Bengaluru was originally a combination of grassland and scrub and thorn forest, with small trees. We don’t know have a historical record of the original climate. But was it likely to have been warm and dry, just like the other districts nearby, namely Kolar and Chikballapur, possibly receiving only about 300-400mm of rain, with the temperatures somewhere in the mid-thirties? We don't know, but that's just a wild guess. Bengaluru’s first man-made climate change Though the city originally had a few tanks as water sources, around which settlements were built, those who ruled Bangalore, including Cholas…

Read: What exactly is wrong with BBPAG, and why are people protesting? In the backdrop of growing criticism over the formation of Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG), Citizen Matters spoke to some of the members of the Action Group. They spoke about their previous experiences in committees and the relevance of the Action Group over the constitutional body - Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD Biocon and President B.PAC I think every Vision Group has been able to drive change and achieve a few milestones. Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) did have a strong influence on the…

Elevated road on Hosur road. Pic. source : skyscrapercity.com What's the problem? Work commute is taking a hit with traffic congestion on the roads increasing. Since the problem is on the road, the solution has been to increase it and remove perceived obstructions like signals, pedestrians etc from the line of sight of the car to increase speed. One can draw an analogy to an obese person taking on too much comfort food because it feels good and now he/she needs bigger pants. He/she fails to notice that this is potentially fatal in the long run with illness and diseases…

112 – is the new number India is set to adopt as its common emergency call-in number. Any person is distress or in need of services of the police, fire department or ambulance, can soon call this number at any point of time. Given the state (or lack) of public safety in India, this number will, in all probability, be used very frequently. But will it cover all the services needed by the public? For, after all, public safety is about ensuring the general welfare and protection of the public, isn’t it? Quoting from the article ‘How to transform public…

While the jury is out on the third Union Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, one aspect stands out: it brought little news, either good or bad, for cities. However it is important to note that budgets are not essential for the city level expenditures. The provision relevant for cities such as public health, land tenures, local government, etc fall under the State List of Indian Constitution. In the case of Bengaluru, it is the Karnataka State budget or the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike budget that has more impact on the ground than the Union Budget. Having said that, the…

Dear Government of Karnataka, Of late, there has been a lot of hand wringing over the traffic congestion. Various solutions are being proposed by citizens claiming to be experts, advisors and well wishers. Most of these solutions revolve around adding extra asphalt, at grade, overhead and underground. India's Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari summarised this predicament clearly when he said, in a recent event “I added 55 flyovers in Mumbai thinking it will solve traffic congestion, but it hasn’t solved anything”. Recently, however, there has been a growing realisation that Public Transport is the most efficient way forward. So the focus…

So, it’s curtains down on the 8th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival. The week-long film festival that saw a grand opening at Vidhana Soudha premises, much to the criticism of those from film fraternity as well as cine-enthusiasts, however, has managed to wrap up smoothly. There were many "firsts" for this year’s film festival’s credit. For the first time, the state government and Kannada Chalanachitra Academy took over the responsibility of organising completely, which had so far rested with Suchitra Film Society. Then again, for the first time, the Chief Minister himself led the Festival’s Organising Committee. In…