Civic

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to constitute Ward Committees in Bengaluru within a month! Several earlier orders that asked the civic body to constitute the ward committees had not been conformed with. Ward committees are mandated as per Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, 1992. The direction came as part of a petition filed by Leo Saldanha and others, that said the BBMP is in violation of repeated directions from Karnataka High Court. Leo Saldanha, sharing this news over email, points out, "What would really help now is for public-spirited persons to step up and…

Seeniammal, a resident of Parameswaran Street in Zamin Pallavaram had acquired a small piece of land for constructing a house three decades ago but never saw this coming. For her as for other residents of the area, the 2010 notification from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), accompanied by a letter from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, was a bolt from the blue. According to the notification and letter, Zamin Pallavaram was one among the sites chosen for research by the ASI and hence classified as “Prohibited” or “Regulated.” Effectively what this means is that homeowners in these regions would not…

Rotary Bangalore Palmville in association with Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) today organized an award ceremony to give away My Place of Pride Awards 2017. My Place of Pride is an initiative to recognize eco-friendly communities in Bengaluru city and encourage sharing of best practices and motivate people to adopt sustainable practices. The contest was for the following categories: The Contesting communities were evaluated on the following: Self declaration Polling Physical inspection 102 communities comprising over 200,000 citizens across the city registered for the contest. 57 communities made it to the second shortlist base on their Self – Declaration submissions detailing…

The month was January and Chennai was reeling in the aftermath of Cyclone Vardah. In Royapuram, as in other areas, the extensive damage caused to tree cover left residents shocked and distressed. So, when a group of members of the Dawoodi Bohra community decided to celebrate the birthday of their late spiritual leader, His Holiness Dr Mohammed Burhanuddin Saheb by doing something for society at large, reversing the destruction wrought by the storm was on top of their minds. “One of us took it upon himself to study tree planting in the city and that was how we all came…

On March 16th, Janaagraha conducted the workshop “Bengaluru Blueprint: Practical Learnings from Greater Manchester and Bradford, United Kingdom”, with two guests from England: Mark Atherton - Director of Environment for Greater Manchester at the AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) - and David Cawthray - Assistant Director of Information Services at Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Citizen Matters reviews the key takeaways from the two guests’ respective city’s master plan, and introduces Janaagraha’s Blueprint for Bengaluru. The focus of Janaagraha’s workshop was on the how we realise our goals instead of what our goals are - a distinction rather relevant in…

Pic courtesy: Namma Bengaluru Foundation Namma Bengaluru Foundation hosted its flagship initiative – ‘Namma Bengaluru Awards’ (NBA) in Bengaluru today. NBA aims to recognizing, honouring and celebrating the efforts of Bengalureans for their unparalleled contributions towards the city, identified and honoured 6 ‘Real’ heroes of Bengaluru. Presided by Hon’ble Justice Shivraj Patil as the Chief guest and Smt. Thara Anooradha, National Award recipient and a politician as the Brand Ambassador, the evening saw the winners of the Eighth edition awarded in the following categories: - Jagannatha Rao for Government Official of the Year - Geetha Menon for Citizen Individual of…

It was 11.25 am on a hot Thursday morning. I had been sitting on a hard wooden stool for roughly 70 minutes at that point and my butt was uncomfortably numb. There was no end in sight to my vigil. I was waiting for a notary, whom I didn’t know from Adam, to issue me a signed official document (on a Rs 20 stamp paper issued by the government, no less!) certifying I was who I claimed to be. All this, so that I could move a step forward in getting my residential address changed on my driving license. If…

Pillars on the East-West Metro corridor will see a unique makeover in near future. The Ugly Indian is partnering with Government of Karnataka, BBMP and BMRCL (Namma Metro) for the Vijayanagara Vybhava initiative - transforming 6kms of Metro pillars and medians in Bengaluru with a Hampi-Vijayanagara theme! COME AND BE PART OF the inaugural spotfix this Saturday at 9am. All are welcome! Right outside Vijayanagar Metro Station, Bengaluru. Details and registration here: https://www.facebook.com/events/414628052207391/ Facebook page Karnataka Government Updates has more details. The post says: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) are working on…

‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’. This was taught to us as children. In our days we had a class on moral science, where we were taught certain basic human and civic values in schools. Our elders had no problem with those classes because they also wanted us to imbibe those traits. But today nobody wants to be ‘taught’ or ‘advised’. Children definitely do not want to be ‘preached’ to. Teachers are asked to change their attitudes, teaching methods and ways of handling children. Participative, interactive, activity-based - many a jargon is used. The content too has changed a lot. Controversies keep…

More than 200 residents living in BBMP's Mahadevapura Zone walked peacefully on Borewell Road in Whitefield recently, demanding restoration of the road and civic amenities. Young and old, women and men, joined hands to cover the 1.5 km stretch from Post Office to Ambedkar Statue in one hour. En route, around 200 school children and residents stood with placards in solidarity for the cause. Pic: Shanthi Chandola Organised by Nallurahalli Rising along with Whitefield Rising, the protest in Hagadur ward drew people from far and near, including Kadugudi and Garadacharpalya and Hoodi wards. Led by a band of drummers and accompanied…