Governance

A meeting of lake teams in Bangalore was organised by Arekere Neighbourhood Improvement Trust (ANIT) together with OneBengaluru on 5th Aug 2012. The meeting was well attended by more than 125 people from 20-odd different lake teams including PNLIT trustees and volunteers - Usha, Nupur, Sapana, Vijay, Vivek, Prajna, Vishnu, Siddharth and Mihir.  Usha, Vishnu, Siddharth and Mihir at the meeting Photo: Nupur Jain Directly after the meeting, a team of some 10 people from Kaggadasapura Lake in East Bangalore visited Puttenahalli Lake. They are keen on leveraging our experiences at Puttenahalli Lake to conserve their neighbourhood lake. Below is a…

A meeting of lake teams in Bangalore was organised by Arekere Neighbourhood Improvement Trust (ANIT) together with OneBengaluru on 5th Aug 2012. The meeting was well attended by more than 125 people from 20-odd different lake teams including PNLIT trustees and volunteers - Usha, Nupur, Sapana, Vijay, Vivek, Prajna, Vishnu, Siddharth and Mihir.  Usha, Vishnu, Siddharth and Mihir at the meeting Photo: Nupur Jain Directly after the meeting, a team of some 10 people from Kaggadasapura Lake in East Bangalore visited Puttenahalli Lake. They are keen on leveraging our experiences at Puttenahalli Lake to conserve their neighbourhood lake. Below is a…

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corportation today launched BIAS- 5 A , the much awaited Vayu Vajra bus service to the Bangalore International Airport for the benefit of residents on Bannerghatta Main Road. Starting from Gottigere on Bannerghatta Main Road ,the BIAS- 5A service would cover the near 47 km journey in about two hours with the maximum fare at Rs 200. For now , six trips are scheduled for BIAL from Gottigere while the return service would number five. The first bus from Gottigere would leave for the airport at 5.40 am and the last one at 9.10 p.m. The…

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corportation today launched BIAS- 5 A , the much awaited Vayu Vajra bus service to the Bangalore International Airport for the benefit of residents on Bannerghatta Main Road. Starting from Gottigere on Bannerghatta Main Road ,the BIAS- 5A service would cover the near 47 km journey in about two hours with the maximum fare at Rs 200. For now , six trips are scheduled for BIAL from Gottigere while the return service would number five. The first bus from Gottigere would leave for the airport at 5.40 am and the last one at 9.10 p.m. The…

On June 28th, the city council met for its monthly session to approve the budget. Turns out the proceedings had nothing to show the city was getting financially healthy again. Read our detailed report here.Last year, BBMP had projected over Rs 9000 crores of expenditure largely predicated on state government grants, it never eventually received. It ended up collecting a mere Rs 3934 crores. This year again the council has projected nearly Rs 9500 crores with the same gaping hole in projecting receipts. It is pretty clear to anyone closely observing the local government process in Bangalore that both the…

On June 28th, the city council met for its monthly session to approve the budget. Turns out the proceedings had nothing to show the city was getting financially healthy again. Read our detailed report here.Last year, BBMP had projected over Rs 9000 crores of expenditure largely predicated on state government grants, it never eventually received. It ended up collecting a mere Rs 3934 crores. This year again the council has projected nearly Rs 9500 crores with the same gaping hole in projecting receipts. It is pretty clear to anyone closely observing the local government process in Bangalore that both the…

"Mamma, why is India like this? No other country we've been to is like this." And he's been to Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia and Egypt.This was my 11-year old lamenting as we walked on the footpath on one of our Bangalore roads. We encountered numerous obstacles on the way - mounds of mud and rubble, poo, burnt leaves, a broken commode, packets of old clothes, stinking garbage, fighting dogs, a pani-puri cart and its customers, an old man stretching his hands out for alms, a man relieving himself at the 'footpath urinal'. Some places had gaping holes filled with…

"Mamma, why is India like this? No other country we've been to is like this." And he's been to Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia and Egypt.This was my 11-year old lamenting as we walked on the footpath on one of our Bangalore roads. We encountered numerous obstacles on the way - mounds of mud and rubble, poo, burnt leaves, a broken commode, packets of old clothes, stinking garbage, fighting dogs, a pani-puri cart and its customers, an old man stretching his hands out for alms, a man relieving himself at the 'footpath urinal'. Some places had gaping holes filled with…

It has been two weeks since the June 5th deadline to remove sun films from cars. The urgency to evade fine has died down. The garages don’t have long queues anymore. They did make a lot of money though. On the last day, one of the garages in Bommanahalli made Rs 15,000 rupees, just by removing films. Albeit the owner of the garage was not pleased. ‘It is a lot of work for Rs 300/- per car madam’ he said.Has there been a lull in crimes, especially against women, post the removal of sun films? After all that was the…

It has been two weeks since the June 5th deadline to remove sun films from cars. The urgency to evade fine has died down. The garages don’t have long queues anymore. They did make a lot of money though. On the last day, one of the garages in Bommanahalli made Rs 15,000 rupees, just by removing films. Albeit the owner of the garage was not pleased. ‘It is a lot of work for Rs 300/- per car madam’ he said.Has there been a lull in crimes, especially against women, post the removal of sun films? After all that was the…