Civic

Groundwater table rises in the city The city has witnessed a healthy rise of 2 to 4 metres in groundwater level since August, thanks to the rainfall during recent days. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, from June 1st to September 11th, the city has received 416 mm against the normal 356 mm. The rise has not been uniform, however. While localities along the beach in Adyar, Injambakkam, Akkarai and Besant Nagar saw negligible rise in the level, Korattur and Ambattur have seen a steep rise of 5 metres in the groundwater level over the period mentioned. Source: The New…

BBMP action plan to restore 630 km of roads BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar tweeted that the civic body has drawn up an action plan to restore 630 km out of 3000 km roads in the city once the BWSSB finishes laying drinking water and underground drainage (UGD) pipelines. Citizens had expressed dismay over the condition of their roads, especially in the five outer zones -Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Yelahanka. BWSSB has taken up works in the 110 villages that fall in these zones, and heavy rains worsened road conditions here. Action will be…

There is a conscious effort by many Chennaites to go green. One sees an increasing trend of people trying to move to a zero-waste lifestyle by eliminating plastic from their lives, segregating and composting waste religiously and likewise.  But how easy is it to follow the same steps in an office space, especially when it involves motivating all employees to switch to eco-friendly lifestyles? When your mind is constantly keeping tabs on your employees’ efficiency, the profit-loss margin and the end goals? Going green at work seemed like an impossible task, until we set up a new office for Skylark,…

Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board's (CMWSSB) tongue-in-cheek tweet to coincide with ISRO's launch of Chandrayaan 2 was an indication that the department had finally got it right on social media. The tweet was a hit and the department, which had been heavily criticised for Chennai's water crisis this summer and the way it was managed, finally seemed to have touched the right chords in the hearts of its followers with this. https://twitter.com/CHN_Metro_Water/status/1153323842644824064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1153323842644824064&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252FCHN_Metro_Water%252Fstatus%252F1153323842644824064%26widget%3DTweet The CMWSSB has, in fact, significantly bolstered its online presence over the last three months, constantly putting out information about the lake levels on Facebook and…

Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP), a political party with the vision to make Bengaluru a model city of the world, was launched this Sunday, September 22nd. The ideology of the party is good grassroots governance. It will focus only on the municipal elections in the Greater Bengaluru Area, primarily BBMP. BNP’s motto is "nanna nagara, nanna hemme, nanna jawabdari - My City! My Pride! My Responsibility!" The party’s stated objective is sustainable, inclusive and balanced development of Bengaluru. Founded by a few passionate Bengalureans, BNP’s members include citizens who have worked tirelessly at the grassroots over the past few years. Through…

City experiences wettest day of the year On Thursday, the sky opened up like never before to record 108 mm of rainfall in a single day, making it the wettest day of the year. It broke the record of 88.2 mm of rainfall that the city experienced on September 11, 2013, which was the highest rainfall recorded in one single day. The Met office attributed this downpour to the presence of upper cyclonic circulation off the south coast of Andhra Pradesh that resulted in widespread thunderstorms across Chennai and neighbouring suburbs. The reservoirs in the city, that has been bone…

BBMP Commissioner proposes zonal budgets BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar has suggested that the Palike can have separate budgets for each of its eight zones. Zonal budgets would help in decentralising powers, in release of funds and sanction of job codes, he said at the BBMP Council meeting last Wednesday. Kumar's proposal followed the chief minister’s recent decision to have BBMP's four Special/Additional Commissioners oversee two zones each. In zonal matters, these officials would have the same powers as the commissioner. The discussion on decentralisation began in the Council when corporators across party lines complained that files on emergency…

Two days ago, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao tweeted that the number of traffic wardens in the city would be increased from 390 to 2500. He requested citizens to get in touch with their nearest traffic police stations to apply to be a warden. Traffic wardens are volunteers from diverse backgrounds who support the police in traffic management, especially as the city’s increasing vehicle numbers have put pressure on the latter. The wardens are part of the Traffic Warden Organisation (TWO) of Bengaluru City Police. Traffic wardens need to be on duty only 16 hours a month, but can do…

On Global Climate Week, three major environmental groups - Jhatkaa.org, Fridays For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) - are coming together to rally the citizens of Bengaluru through a series of events. These events, with the central theme of climate justice, will be held from 20-27 September. Ultimately, the goal is to raise awareness around the current climate crisis, and to tackle it now by going beyond individual efforts and looking at systemic shifts by pressuring our governments and large corporates. The Global Climate Week, Bengaluru 2019 September 20th, Friday: Strike at Bengaluru's Townhall, the event aims to bring…

In 2017, Tamil Nadu witnessed an alarming oubreak of Dengue, with a total of 6,546 cases recorded in Chennai alone. The high numbers prompted the state health department and the Greater Chennai Corporation to take proactive measures in handling the menace.  According to data provided by the health department of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the city has been witnessing a declining trend in Dengue fever cases this year: a total of 196 cases were registered in August 2019, as against 213 cases in August 2018 and 1104 cases in the same month in 2017.   Validating the data, medical superintendent…