Civic

Repeal of anti-conversion law, textbook revision The state will repeal the amendments passed by the earlier government regarding the anti-conversion law, during the upcoming assembly session, starting July 5th, said the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, H K Patil. The government will also form a committee to fully revise school textbooks next year, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in a meeting with Jnanpith awardee, Chandrashekar Kambar. It aims to remove some ‘controversial’ chapters from Social Sciences and Kannada, including RSS founder K B Hedgewar, Bannanje Govindacharya and Chakravarthy Sulibele. They will be replaced by chapters recommended by the Baraguru Ramachandrappa textbook revision committee.…

We have been living in Orlem, Malad for many years now. But for the past seven months, we have been facing a dire situation due to the presence of an illegal Ready-Mix-Concrete (RMC) plant in the area. This plant has resulted in immense pollution and poses a serious health-hazard because of the cement particles. Residents have been falling sick and complaining to the authorities. Unfortunately, the government officials have shown no cooperation in addressing this problem, leaving the burden solely on the affected residents. We have been in touch with the Assistant Municipal Commissioner, and local politicians, but have been…

Vinod Jacob, member of We Love Cubbon Park Association, expresses his concerns over the redesigning of the park. “They are now trying to lay tiles and concrete slabs. All that we’re asking for is to preserve the park in its natural form, otherwise we won’t be able to differentiate Cubbon Park from UB city.” Vinod is not alone in his concerns over the mismanagement and concretising of Bengaluru's parks. The Lalbagh Walkers' Association has flagged issues over allowing vendors in the park, feeding of stray dogs and pigeons, plastic waste, sewage in Lalbagh pond, among other concerns. Ever since the…

When we first moved to Kasturba Nagar in Adyar in 2003, the builders of our apartment told us that a few shops located near the apartment complex, including a wine shop, would be demolished shortly as they had been functioning illegally. But two decades have passed, and the wine shop remains in business, continuing to pose all sorts of trouble for residents. The wine shop, which was called Lakshmi Wines, is now an authorised TASMAC outlet bearing the number 953.  Over the past few years, residents have made multiple attempts to have the shop shut down or moved as it is…

Online pet registration system introduced by the GCC An online pet animal registration system was introduced by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to issue pet licences for pet dogs and cats in Chennai. This system aims to register 40,000 dogs and 20,000 cats. It will also be expanded to cover birds and other pets owned by people. To get a pet licence from GCC, the pet animal has to be vaccinated against rabies, inform officials. Pet owners have been asked to make use of the GCC's veterinary clinics to vaccinate the animals from 8 am to 3 pm. Other guidelines…

BMC starts using reserve stock to meet city’s water needs The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started using its reserve stock of water from Thursday to meet the city’s growing water requirements as the soaring temperatures have caused the lakes, from where the city draws water, to dry up, with the overall water level in the lakes dipping to 10.9 per cent — equivalent to 1.74 lakh million litres. In addition to the reserved stock, the water stock of Mumbai is 15.97 lakh million litres, which is approximately 18 per cent of the overall quantity. Source : Indian Express Major fire…

Advisory group to build 'global' city The government will launch a Vision Bengaluru Advisory Group with important personalities from technology, to offer new thinking to steer towards a 'Global Bengaluru', Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on June 5th. It will comprise "many stakeholders" who have invested here, generated jobs and development. He said the projects by civic agencies will be mapped at the ward level to bring in accountability and transparency. The advisory group will include civil society representatives, industry captains, and urban planners. DKS wants to steer ‘Brand Bengaluru’ towards ‘Better Bengaluru’ and ‘Global Bengaluru. He said that…

The new rules for visitors in Cubbon Park, laid down by the Karnataka Horticulture Department, has been a topic of debate and discussion among citizens. Visitors are not allowed to bring in food, not allowed to play games inside, and, the classic old issue made more stringent-no public display of affection, to the extent where couples are not allowed to sit too close to each other. While the security guards already have full power to keep couples in check for showing affection, they now in charge of ensuring the new rules are followed by all visitors.  Reasons for the new…

Residents of OMR have written to the Chief Minister calling for the removal of the toll gate at Navalur. Citing a promise made by the DMK prior to the elections, residents demand that the toll gate, which is close to the limits of the Greater Chennai Corporation be shut down with immediate effect. The residents, through the umbrella body FOMRRA (Federation of OMR Resident Associations), have made an appeal to this effect. The residents state that while four out of five toll gates have been shut down, the one at Navalur remains functional. FOMRRA has also requested the support of other…

Strange as it may seem, the bustling traffic on Arcot Road, a State Highway feeding into Porur, has been redirected since May 6 via densely populated residential neighbourhoods in Kodambakkam and K.K. Nagar, among other places, to facilitate work on the 118 km Phase II of the Chennai Metro. Everyone is reconciled to this two or three-year upheaval as unavoidable pain to construct mass mobility infrastructure. As Chennai Metro says, it is ‘inconvenience today for a better tomorrow’. The story is no different in parts of T. Nagar, Mylapore, and Alwarpet, although the traffic there is not at highway scale,…