URBAN PLANNING

"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…

"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) -…

"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) -…

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…

Do you know how much of the pollution in the world is caused by cars? Some studies put that at 40%. As a result, some across the globe have chosen to observe 22nd September as World Car Free Day. ESAF, a Bangalore based not-for-profit organization that is campaigning to make the city a child friendly one, decided to do its bit to create awareness on the advantage of not using cars. On the 21st, the NGO has planned to distribute handbills along with 2 English and 1 Kannada newspapers to persuade car users to consider taking public transport. "Some friends…

Do you know how much of the pollution in the world is caused by cars? Some studies put that at 40%. As a result, some across the globe have chosen to observe 22nd September as World Car Free Day. ESAF, a Bangalore based not-for-profit organization that is campaigning to make the city a child friendly one, decided to do its bit to create awareness on the advantage of not using cars. On the 21st, the NGO has planned to distribute handbills along with 2 English and 1 Kannada newspapers to persuade car users to consider taking public transport. "Some friends…

After starting to use BMTC buses, one of our federation members, Jayvant Anantpur, wrote a nice article why we should still use BMTC instead of our personal vehicles in Bangalore. Read on... I agree that we should try to use BMTC as much as possible. I have been trying to do that for one year now and have successfully figured out how to commute by BMTC from Bellandur gate to IISc (between Malleshwaram & Yeshwantpur).I won't say the bus rides are very smooth etc but when compared to driving my car or going by auto/taxi, I think going by BMTC…

After starting to use BMTC buses, one of our federation members, Jayvant Anantpur, wrote a nice article why we should still use BMTC instead of our personal vehicles in Bangalore. Read on... I agree that we should try to use BMTC as much as possible. I have been trying to do that for one year now and have successfully figured out how to commute by BMTC from Bellandur gate to IISc (between Malleshwaram & Yeshwantpur).I won't say the bus rides are very smooth etc but when compared to driving my car or going by auto/taxi, I think going by BMTC…

I went for a short walk just now...and here are the things I did....I went across to the "Samatha" cobbler's booth across the road, and found that after 6 days, the cobbler was still absent, and the booth closed. After the closure of the booth where my "regular" lady cobbler used to repair my footwear and handbags...this man was my "regular" guy. Strangely, no other vendor in the area knows where he has gone, or what has happened to him...he's a hard-working guy (though sometimes the smell of liquor wafts across!) and does good work, so I  hope he's just…