Governance

File photo. Pic:Christopher Martin Lopaze As the month of fasting—Ramzaan, draws to a close, a sense of humility serenades me. Ramzaan is a month when one is called upon to abstain from not just food, but anything that corrupts the mind and soul. However, when one goes without food and water for 14+ hours a day for 30 days, in the least, it reminds one how blessed we are to be able to afford a basic meal. It is 'hunger' that teaches one the value of 'food'. About a month ago, over a quiet meal, my husband Manivannan and I…

Remember the tragic incident that happened two yeas ago, where a nine-year-old child fell into a gap in the footpath during heavy rains, was carried by the gushing storm water and was found dead in a lake three kilometres away? The incident evoked sharp criticism and responses. A Public Interest Litigation was filed on the issue. The High Court asked the BBMP to repair all the deathtraps on footpaths and clear the encroachment. It's almost two years since then. Has the attitude of the administration changed? And has there been enough precaution this rainy season? Citizen Matters did a reality…

This video captures a common everyday scene which every Bengalurean is now accustomed to seeing - the sight of broken pushcarts overflowing with household waste being pushed with difficulty, the sight of huge mounds of rotting garbage lying on the ground. The heartrending sight of workers bending over ankle-deep in rotten stinky waste and laboriously filling up a large compactor vehicle with small shovels and baskets manually, while the compactor system is meant to be filled up by a mechanical operation, directly from tippers to compactors. This is the pitiable state of our waste workers functioning in a broken system…

I kind of got hooked on this quiz thingy.  And while it is a bit strange to be asking and answering the questions myself, I love the fact that I know all the answers. My next quiz follows the same pattern but I put in a variation so I would not get bored.  So here, instead of just a Yes or No, I had to give a proper response, even a creative response if I wanted.  Plus, I tried to catch myself out by slightly varying the wording sometimes.  Nothing like a challenge to get the old grey cells going!…

How a transgender from Sikkim is building her life in Chennai She calls herself Rudy, after she fell in love with Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy ‘when she was 15. She is trans-sexual. And this is her story. Born as Vivek B.K. in a small township in Sikkim, she has come a long way in defining herself. Having identified herself as gay when she was 7 years old and still a boy, the decision to transition to the female gender was a natural progression, an essential step for being completely true to herself. She tells her story over a cup of coffee at…

To the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri Siddaramaiah, To the Minister, Sri K J George Sir, Citizen Petition: #BringBackSubodhYadav This is a tipping point. We citizens of Bengaluru who have been working on bringing in Sustainable Solid Waste management since 2009, find the abrupt transfer of BBMP SWM Special Commissioner Subodh Yadav, IAS, completely untimely, unjustified and unacceptable. This move of the Government is the tipping point which is leading into the streets well-meaning citizens who have been working with passion and optimism in their neighborhoods for improving the solid waste management in and around them. What was Subodh Yadav…

Citizens working with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to fix garbage management issues in the city are on fire. Reason: Subodh Yadav, Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) has been transferred. Yadav has been transferred to Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) as Secretary. The order does not mention a replacement for the position vacated by Subodh Yadav. Here is the full transfer order. 'Bring back Subodh Yadav' There is an online petition floated asking the Government of Karnataka to bring Subodh Yadav back as Special Commissioner, to continue what he was doing.  It is not clear why Subodh Yadav was chosen…

Elected representatives at the Smart City consultation programme at Town Hall in Bengaluru on Thursday. Pic: Akshatha M At a public consultation programme organised by BBMP to pool suggestions for making Bengaluru a smart city, two MLAs pitched in to promote their constituencies for the contest. While MLA of Malleshwaram constituency, C Ashwath Narayan came up with a proposal to make Malleswaram smart, Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy presented HSR Layout as the best place to be considered for Smart City project. In the meeting where all the MLAs and MPs of Bengaluru were supposed to be present to bat for…

With persistence and passion, citizen volunteers supported by progressive BBMP rules, have been working tirelessly and successfully at bringing about a paradigm change in managing waste in their homes and waste reduction. This has been stopping once and for all the nasty careless habit of swinging a plastic carry bag full of mixed waste at the tip of the fingers, walking out to the nearest electric pole or open space and swinging it with a flourish. However, public waste bins have made a come back in Bengaluru, after a gap of 15 years. These waste drop boxes bypass all of…

The growth and development of humanity in the modern age kickstarted from the time of Renaissance. The hub of all new thoughts and ideas was Europe and it was the Silicon Valley of sorts back in the days. Colonial powers carried the ideas and the mindset with them as they traveled and took control of lands across the world. It intensified as we made rapid advances in technology in the late 19th and 20th centuries. But something else also happened at that time. Humanity went completely out of sync with nature and we declared war on the ecosystem that had…