Civic

Last Friday, December 14th, there was an event announcement from BBMP. My apartment association got a printed letter (enclosed). The subject of the letter was "citizen participation in improving civic amenities", and it was signed by the Assistant Commissioner (Admin and Tax), with a request to the President of the RWA to attend a meeting. The note said:Bangalore has earned fame as garden city and has attracted attention of the world. A meeting is organised in Town Hall on 15-12-2012 at 11:00 to discuss with the Commissioner of BBMP on how we can make Bangalore a city with the best…

In January this year, the High Court of Karnataka had ordered that commercial activities should not be allowed in residential areas in Bengaluru. But even after this, BBMP continued to give sanctions in violation of the verdict. Many shops had come up without any BBMP sanctions at all also. Citizen Matters had reported on these violations earlier. Pic: Sudha Narasimhachar However, in a hearing on November 22nd, the court ordered BBMP to submit the list of all such sanctions that it gave in residential areas after the January order. Surprisingly, BBMP informed court that it had cancelled all such sanctions…

"Bad Pati." - said my twelve year old granddaughter.This was her reaction to my dumping milk bags into the kitchen waste bin that contained only ‘wet waste'."Sorry dear, I won't do it again." - I said feeling proud of my eco-friendly grandchild. Yes. I felt ashamed. It is true that grown-ups should show more concern about such things in the presence of the younger generation. If we ‘pooh-pooh' their remarks and continue to be callous it would be shameful.I was walking in the park in our neighborhood and was rather upset when two youngsters threw the paper plates in which…

"The provision of secure, well located cycle parking is essential if people are to be encouraged to use a bicycle as a means of transport. By indicating to the public that cyclists are welcome, cycle parking facilities act as a message to motorists to consider cycling in the future." - "Cycle parking" Information Sheet - Apr 2004, issued by Sustrans and Cyclists' Touring Club, UK  Cycle stand installed at Puttenahalli Lake (Pic: OP Ramaswamy) Cycle parking at public spaces has never been a priority in Bangalore, and for that matter anywhere in India. Most residential and commercial spaces are designed with no consideration for…

The Vibhutipura lake near HAL airport which spans across 14 acres is slowly diminishing due to increasing encroachment over the last 5 years. This sort of encroachment seems to be systematic and starts with building debris dumped in the lake bed. Later, it is flattened and slums rise over it following which, building construction begins. People living nearby dump garbage while raw sewage flows into the lake from apartment complexes and individual houses. Jobees Krishnan, a decade old resident observes, "The lake was full, with clean water 10 years ago; so clean that there were fish in the lake and…

It was a pourakarmika who, last Friday, provided  the answer to the vexing question of what to do about the mounds of garbage  that now characterise our city. She was sweeping up the rubbish from the road in front of my apartment -- mud and muck, mixed with soggy bits of paper, plastic, heaps of dried flowers and leaves rotting after the overnight drizzle, dog mess, the lot. -- and carefully piling it right in front of my door. This new mound by the kerbside was also blocking the path of the rain water to the drains  along the edge…

"Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose", said someone. But, for many people who often lose the little that they have, freedom is another wor(l)d. And that wor(l)d did not appear on 15th August 1947 or later for the majority who live in India at present. In fact, such a wor(l)d may never exist at all for this majority. So, sometime in mid 2007 some of us in Bangalore and other parts of the country decided that we should support and celebrate ongoing struggles for freedom. From that emerged the idea of a Civil Society Summit (CSS) -…

With the presence of the PNLIT Store on eBay Charity, I've become a regular user of India Post and courier service companies - to dispatch purchases that have been made by donor buyers. We've had buyers from all parts of India, from large cities like Delhi and Mumbai to small towns like Chittoor and Soraba. To minimize our costs, I've always been on the look out for the cheapest way of shipping the products. So I've had the opportunity of experiencing the different India Post products and those of courier service companies too.We're all aware that recently there have been price…

On August 10th, 2012, an elderly couple’s decomposed bodies were found in JP Nagar 1st phase, they were murdered three days earlier. 60-year-old Lakshmidevamma was bludgeoned to death at her house on July 4th in Prakash Nagar. In both cases, they were alone, at the time of the crime. Elderly People need security. Pic: Abhishek Angad National Crime Records Bureau’s data or the local police, do not have any specific reports on crimes against elderly. Physical abuse, robbery, stealing, harassment and sometimes murder come under this category. However, according to a study conducted by NGO Helpage India, in the year…

Early in the morning one may notice people sweeping their front yard, and then accumulating the leaves and other waste on the pavement. Yes the houses are clean, but the roads are a mess because of us. In a society that has high regard for cleanliness, we have yet to understand that cleanliness is not just inside our homes, but on the road as well. Drive down any city road and every corner is littered with massive amounts of garbage. Unsegregated waste just put into plastic bags and chucked on the road. Garbage being piled up. Pic: Mark Rasquinha The…