Civic

Lamps, snacks and crackers in the company of family. A perfect way of celebrating Deepavali! A festival where moderation invariably flies out of the window, especially in the presence of all that food, and the fun. During this festival that is celebrated across the length and breadth of our country, people do tend to get reckless, and a little careless too. They seem to forget that, the very same fire that lights lamps and crackers, can also cause burns and fire accidents. Let me rephrase that - it is the things people do / don’t do that causes the same…

The no-vote collection drive secured 41848 votes against the flyover from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal. Pic: Shree D N In a first, Bengaluru saw a movement for sustainable transport, that resulted in a no-vote campaign. The no-vote collection drive conducted by the team Citizens for Bengaluru secured 41848 votes against the flyover planned on Bellary Road in Bengaluru, from Chalukya Circle to Esteem Mall. The event conducted on Sunday, October 23, 2016, also showcased how the issues related to sustainable development or the lack of it were deep-rooted in political will. Clarifying why there were no 'yes' votes in the…

Residents of six large apartment complexes on the shores of the Muttukadu backwaters on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) have been helplessly watching the relentless damage to their environment for close to three years now. Constant dumping and burning of mixed waste goes on in these shores at Padur, just behind Hindustan University, within 300 metres of these apartments. Padur on the IT Corridor, 2 km from SIPCOT IT park, has seen rapid development concurrent with the construction of many high rise residential complexes comprised of more than 6000 apartments. Since the area under the Corporation of Chennai extends only up…

Instance 1: Summer of 2012. T-Zed Homes, a gated community spread over five acres in Whitefield was facing acute water shortage, resulting in water rationing within the complex. With ever-growing water needs, even the water supplied by 10 tankers everyday proved to be insufficient for the residents of this housing complex. In the last four years, however, things have changed dramatically for the residents of T-Zed Homes. The successful implementation of sewage water treatment and rainwater harvesting have helped them reduce the dependency on water tankers. 100% working implementation of the sewage treatment plants in the apartment space has led…

The documents/ replies that I have received from various offices of BBMP in the last five months, to my RTI query on illegal hoardings, are piled up before me. Yet, they have no data that I asked for. Pic: Akshatha It has been precisely five months since I filed an RTI application with the Advertisement department of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seeking information about legal and illegal advertisement hoardings in the city. (If you haven’t read the first piece you can read it here). And today as I write this second post about the status of my application, I…

On September 4th, when civil rights and advocacy group Arappor Iyakkam Secretary Chandra Mohan parked his car at Marina Beach, the parking attendant initially gave him a token for Rs 20, which is the rate that you pay for parking your car for more than 6 hours. It was only after a long argument that the attendant accepted and issued a receipt for the 5 rupee token. Infuriated by the experience, Chandra Mohan went on to file a complaint in the nearest police station and shared the entire experience in a Facebook post. His pledge now is to ensure that…

On 26th May 2016, I made an appeal outlining a 3-point program for this monsoon "Let us send some rain water to our lakes" by clearing the storm water drains that carry precious rain water. "Great idea!" but.."easier said than done", "clearing drains is not as simple as spot fixing"  Those were some of the reactions. It made me even more determined to try harder, to get things started, to understand practical difficulties better. I'm a software engineer by profession and learned over the years that without a working prototype no one will give you a chance for your great…

Who can forget the devastation of the Chennai Floods in December 2015? Certainly not the residents of Chennai who suffered for days, nor the volunteers who scrambled to provide relief. Almost a year has passed, and the monsoon is upon us again. Is the city prepared to face a deluge? Has the Government taken preventive measures? Have we learnt any lessons at all from last year? To find answers to some of these questions, and to push for constructive action towards making Chennai flood-safe, Arappor Iyakkam launched “Kelu Chennai Kelu”, a one-of-a-kind attempt at participatory democracy, a public hearing on…

Whitefield residents have beautified another spot formerly entrenched in garbage. The blackspot near the Whitefield outer circle, like many dirty spots in Bengaluru, had become a watering hole for rats and stray dogs and attractive to snakes. A glimpse of the recent spot fix in Bengaluru's Whitefield neighborhood. Pic: Kate Clark This particular 'spot-fix' was organised by Whitefield Rising, who have been conducting 'spot fixes' since 2013 after being inspired by the The Ugly Indian. ('Spot-fix' is a term coined by The Ugly Indian group for this process of beautifying dirty areas.) Over two weekends, dozens of volunteers gathered to…

I am giving below, the lengthy and tedious process of getting a replacement driver's licence, with references to the specific places and processes I myself followed.My driver's licence was stolen, along with other documents (debit cards, Senior Citizen card, etc) on 23 June, 2016, on a bus from Richmond Circle to MICO Checkpost bus stops (Route no. 366, at about 1.30pm).1, Try to locate the Police Station which has jurisdiction over the area where you lost your driving licence. This was very difficult for me as my licence was stolen on a bus. It took visits to  three police stations…