PRESS RELEASE

Bengaluru Political Action Committee (B.PAC) submitted strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff by 0.85 Pa for FY-19 based on extensive data analysis. Submissions were made during Public Hearing held at Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) office. Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee, B.PAC and T.V. Mohandas Pai, Vice President, B.PAC made the submissions before the commission on February 19, during the public hearing conducted by KERC. Highlights of B.PAC’s submissions: Distribution Loss: KERC has approved distribution loss of 12.75% for FY 18 (up to Nov 2017). BESCOM distribution loss is presented at 11.86%. Further analysis of data of…

Bengaluru's air quality crisis, unlike that in the cities of the north, is a silent one; most online ambient stations which provide information to the public paint a fairly clean picture of the city’s air, though most of its citizens feel otherwise. In an effort to understand the palpable pollution levels in the air we breathe, in comparison to the ambient data being generated by the KSPCB, Co Media Lab and Climate Trends carried out a 7-day air quality monitoring exercise with the help of a low-cost monitor used to measure personalised exposure levels. The activity was spread over a…

Two more labourers, Ramu (age 25 ) and Ravi (age 28 ), from Raichur died in a septic tank at the Yum Lok restaurant in AECS layout in Bengaluru. These deaths are a result of failure of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KPSCB) and the BBMP to strictly implement guidelines around the construction and maintenance of commercial establishments. Section 7 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, expressly prohibits employment of persons for hazardous cleaning of a sewers or septic tanks and any contravention of this section is cognizable and a non-bailable offence…

Makkala Jagriti, an NGO working with children and youth from the underprivileged communities, is holding an event ‘Makkala Raaga’, at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on February 2nd, 2018. The event marks the 15th year of Makkala Jagriti’s establishment and we believe that that this esteemed platform will ignite the dreams of several children from marginalized communities who have had no opportunity to perform in front of a huge audience and showcase their talents. Makkala Raaga, meaning ‘Symphony of the Children’ is an ensemble of 500 children and youth from the underprivileged and marginalized communities to showcase the rich cultural heritage, diversity…

The alarming air quality in the National Capital region (NCR), comprised of Delhi and adjoining areas, has found fresh mention in the Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament on January 29th. It is well known by now that the average annual levels of PM2.5 – one of the most critical contaminants in the air we breathe – remain at above three times the prescribed level in this region. The Survey reiterates the four main reasons for Delhi’s worsening air quality – crop residue and biomass burning; vehicular emissions and re-destributed road dust; construction, industries, and power plants; winter temperature inversion,…

If you were to ask any commuter in any Indian city about their daily pet peeve, it would be the time spent in traffic. And now, Ola, the new age mobility platform serving 110 cities with 8 lakh vehicles on the roads has presented a year-end glimpse of 'how India commuted' based on their records. Some highlights from the top seven cities - Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai: Total average traffic speed dropped by a whopping 2.9km/hr with Bangalore registering the slowest at 17.2km/hour Ola Share has saved 4 times the fuel from last year, telling of the high customer adoption…

A 60-day window is open for the public to participate in giving comments to Bengaluru’s draft Revised Masterplan (RMP) 2031. The legally required participation acknowledges that the public has knowledge and that sharing is essential to bring about a plan viable for all. While citizens now are trying to read through monumental 6 volumes of plan material to give their inputs, government’s effort to equip citizen with planning literacy is inadequate. Environment Support Group (ESG) conducted a workshop on: “How to...understand and comment on the Revised Draft Masterplan 2031 for Bengaluru” in which the above concerns were addressed. During the…

In what turned out to be a most engrossing discussion on “Can Inter-linking our Rivers and Greening their Banks save our Cities?” organized by Environment Support Group at Ashirvad, Bangalore, on December 15, 2017, theatre activist and Playwright Shri Prasanna Heggodu delved into the importance of introspection whilst addressing the prevailing state of affairs of the World. In particular addressing the problematic proposition of interlinking rivers, Prasanna argued that it is not an issue in which we can target the government or the Supreme Court or Narendra Modi as Prime Minister as chasing what seems like a scheme that has…

Janaagraha’s survey on Open Spaces* (parks and playgrounds) (Access the reports here) in Bengaluru has found out that poor availability, poor access and poor maintenance continue to plague the city’s public spaces. As for availability of open spaces, Bengaluru has 19 sqkm of open space (parks and playgrounds), which accounts for 3% of the city area (709 sq km). But at 2.2 sq m of open space per capita, Bengaluru falls considerably short of the prescribed standard of 10 sq. m of open space per capita recommended by the Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (2015) guidelines of…

We hadn't expected to receive 68 entries for this topic, in a city where half the people don't know what a mayor can do. Our contest, 'If I were the Bengaluru Mayor' became an all-time hit, with submissions overflowing with ideas! There were 54 English entries, and 14 Kannada entries. We read them again and again, and shortlisted 10 English entries and 5 Kannada entries for the judges to decide. The judges included Manjula Sridhar, an entrepreneur, Harish Narsappa from Daksh, Yatish Kumar from Prajavani, Rasheed Kappan from Deccan Herald and Prakash Belawadi of Suchitra Film Society. The winners were:…