Civic

A portable, comfortable work-surface for underprivileged kids. An alternate short distance public transport. These were among the entires that broke new ground at the National Student Challenge (NSC) 2012 organized by the Bangalore based Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) on 5th and 6th December. NSC is an all India annual challenge that aims to involve the youth of the nation in tackling issues related to India's urbanisation. Launched in July this year, NSC 2012 falls under the broader banner of Transform Urban India, an initiative that seeks to engage practitioners, policy makers, academicians and students working for urban development.…

Earlier in December, the Karnataka High Court issued a judgment saying dogs deemed a menace or seen to cause nuisance can be exterminated by Bangalore authorities whether or not there is evidence of their having mauled or bitten children or adults. An independent dog with collar companion to indigent humans. Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna failed to define the terms "menace" and "nuisance". Bangalore-based voluntary organisation, Voice of Stray Dogs, has made a detailed assessment of the judgment. The lives of the independent dogs in Karnataka's capital would thus depend on arbitrary definitions that may be…

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…