Forward Bellandur

 Dangerous section of Harlur Road needs quick action.Many of us who live on this road may have noticed this deep ditch by the side of Harlur Road; but it took Krishna Gurumurthy, from Coimbatore, who visits Bangalore regularly to take this seriously and send this note to Citizen Matters. Harlur Road. Pic: Meera K Gurumurthy writes:When you go from Haralur road to Sarjapur road, just before turning to left, there is a very narrow section where vehicles pass. There, if vehicles drive too far to the left, they can fall off the road; if they are  heavy vehicles like buses…

 Dangerous section of Harlur Road needs quick action.Many of us who live on this road may have noticed this deep ditch by the side of Harlur Road; but it took Krishna Gurumurthy, from Coimbatore, who visits Bangalore regularly to take this seriously and send this note to Citizen Matters. Harlur Road. Pic: Meera K Gurumurthy writes:When you go from Haralur road to Sarjapur road, just before turning to left, there is a very narrow section where vehicles pass. There, if vehicles drive too far to the left, they can fall off the road; if they are  heavy vehicles like buses…

We'd taken our birder friend from Kerala to the Kaikondanahalli Lake. We were greeted by the spot-billed ducks and purple moorhens. And at twilight a big flock of Lesser Whistling Ducks took off (about 200); the sight and sound of a big whistling flock is quite a sensation. It was fairly dark when we reached the swamp area. "Sandpipers" and a friend pointed to activity in the swamp. "Sandpipers" quicky turned to "ringed plover? Painted Snipe!". We could hardly believe our luck. We did try our luck at shooting them too (Snipers, we are not!). We saw at least 3…

We'd taken our birder friend from Kerala to the Kaikondanahalli Lake. We were greeted by the spot-billed ducks and purple moorhens. And at twilight a big flock of Lesser Whistling Ducks took off (about 200); the sight and sound of a big whistling flock is quite a sensation. It was fairly dark when we reached the swamp area. "Sandpipers" and a friend pointed to activity in the swamp. "Sandpipers" quicky turned to "ringed plover? Painted Snipe!". We could hardly believe our luck. We did try our luck at shooting them too (Snipers, we are not!). We saw at least 3…

Bellandur residents have got RTI responses from BDA on status of three projects - flyovers at Bellandur and Devarabeesanahalli junctions, and an underpass at Kadubeesanahalli junction. The two flyover projects, which took off in September 2009, were supposed to be complete by the end of 2010. BDA later extended the deadline by another year, to December 2011. Work on Kadubeesanahalli underpass was to be complete by June 2011. But all three projects are still going on. Here is an RTI response from the BDA in December 2011 on status of the project, penalty imposition, project monitoring etc. According to this,…

Bellandur residents have got RTI responses from BDA on status of three projects - flyovers at Bellandur and Devarabeesanahalli junctions, and an underpass at Kadubeesanahalli junction. The two flyover projects, which took off in September 2009, were supposed to be complete by the end of 2010. BDA later extended the deadline by another year, to December 2011. Work on Kadubeesanahalli underpass was to be complete by June 2011. But all three projects are still going on. Here is an RTI response from the BDA in December 2011 on status of the project, penalty imposition, project monitoring etc. According to this,…

Citizen Matters had earlier covered Kaikondrahalli lake being threatened by road widening plans and illegal building encroachment. The temple is only a few metres from the lake, which violates the rule that a buffer zone of 30 metres be provided around lakes. Also, pillars of the temple have been erected only a feet away from the neighbouring Elements Layout compound. K N Devaraj, Joint Commissioner (Mahadevpura zone) had said that he stopped the construction work. The temple builders had obtained permission from the Tahsildar earlier and not from BBMP. "They have applied to us for plan sanction now, but we…

Citizen Matters had earlier covered Kaikondrahalli lake being threatened by road widening plans and illegal building encroachment. The temple is only a few metres from the lake, which violates the rule that a buffer zone of 30 metres be provided around lakes. Also, pillars of the temple have been erected only a feet away from the neighbouring Elements Layout compound. K N Devaraj, Joint Commissioner (Mahadevpura zone) had said that he stopped the construction work. The temple builders had obtained permission from the Tahsildar earlier and not from BBMP. "They have applied to us for plan sanction now, but we…

Today's a day of acknowledging our dependence on our tools and equipment. Vehicles are cleaned and decorated with banana leaves, sandalwood paste and kumkum. The fire engines in the station at Sarjapur Road, were duly spruced and worshipped. Indeed they are life saving 'Ayudhas'. Fire engine. Pic: Meera K. ⊕

Today's a day of acknowledging our dependence on our tools and equipment. Vehicles are cleaned and decorated with banana leaves, sandalwood paste and kumkum. The fire engines in the station at Sarjapur Road, were duly spruced and worshipped. Indeed they are life saving 'Ayudhas'. Fire engine. Pic: Meera K. ⊕