The diary of an accidental activist

The diary of an accidental activist 1

By Anuksha Dey Laly Randolf calls herself an accidental social activist. She represented Kerala at national cricket championships, has a postgraduate degree in English, and held a stable LIC job till the early 2000s. Besides, life kept presenting her with opportunities to make a difference. Today, Randolf is an active member of Kasa Mukta Bellandur (KMB) … Read more

New year’s gift for Whitefield: Potholes on ECC Road are filled

ECC Road

By Chandrima Mazumdar 2021 starts on a positive note for Whitefield as the potholes on the ECC Road are filled. The bad stretches of Swami Vivekananda Road and from Dean’s school to Whitefield Main Road are asphalted. However, a comprehensive plan to completely re-lay the ECC Road is still under discussion. The pothole problem Bangalore … Read more

Sakala: Get government services delivered to you on time

sakala

By Aratrika Dey Across India, citizens are frustrated when the promised delivery of a particular service from the government is either received after the due date or not at all.  That is when you should turn to Sakala, a public service scheme under the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011. If your application … Read more

Citizens oppose Yelahanka ‘signal-free corridor’ plan; find it highly pedestrian-unfriendly 

pedestrians

By Aratrika Dey The BBMP has proposed a plan to build a 1.6 kilometer-long integrated flyover for the junction near the Yelahanka police station. However, it provides a solution only for the vehicle users on the busy stretch. The citizens are miffed that there is no initiative to aid the pedestrians. Bengaluru has a big … Read more

Stop Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes from becoming polluted ponds: Citizens set 31-point agenda for the government

bellandur lake

By Zahid H Javali & Aratrika Dey The Bangalore Environment Trust (BET), a 33-year-old advisory body of enlightened citizens has petitioned the state government to work on 31 agenda points to immediately save Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes from extinction. They have stressed the need for adequate budgeting towards time-bound maintenance of the Bellandur-Varthur catchment … Read more

Waterlogging alert: When it rains, avoid Koramangala and its surroundings

koramangala waterlogging

Originally tweeted by Muralidhar Rao (@murali772) on November 16, 2020. By Chandrima Mazumdar The lives of Koramangala residents were once again disrupted due to the rainfall on Monday. A tweet by resident and civic activist Muralidhar Rao showed the road near Maharaja Junction clogged with water. Interestingly, this happened with only 30mm of rainfall that … Read more

HSR Layout will be electrocution-free zone in six months!

electric cables

By Chandrima Mazumdar About 15 months have passed since the Bangalore Electric Supply Company (BESCOM) took up the job of laying high tension cables below the ground across HSR Layout. This was to eradicate power trippings, electrocutions, and short-circuits due to bad weather. Now, it transpires that the project will take more time. Another project … Read more

City’s footpaths invaded by vehicles 

bangalore footpaths

By Aratrika Dey Bengalureans have increasingly taken to social media to voice their frustrations regarding the persisting problem of footpath encroachment by cars and two-wheelers. In several places, the footpaths can be seen lined with rows after rows of two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Vehicle users are getting away with parking in ‘no-parking’ zones. The city lacks … Read more

Where is the road? HSR Layout residents cry for a motorable stretch

hsr layout roads

By Aratrika Dey Some of the main roads of HSR Layout are a dream to drive and walk on these days. However, a 200-meter stretch of the road in Sector 4 is crying for attention for months, and the authorities are not paying any attention. Adjacent to the Freedom International School, this thoroughfare connects 17th … Read more

APPALLING: HSR Layout in the dark for months due to dysfunctional streetlights

hsr layout

By Aratrika Dey The ‘posh’ neighbourhood of HSR Layout is in dire need of well-lit roads. Forget the residential areas, even the main thoroughfares (27th Main, 24th Main, 19th Main, 17th Main, 14th Main, 5th Main, 9th Main, 22nd Cross, 17th Cross) are without functional streetlights. Only the lights from houses and the passing vehicles … Read more

Only 5% of BBMP projects took off in Indiranagar last year

bbmp promises

By Zahid H Javali In the last financial year, only two projects were successfully “executed” by the BBMP in the Hoysalanagar ward, which includes major parts of Indiranagar. Out of the Rs 21 crore allocated for 175 projects, only Rs 1.1 crore was spent on two of them. And even these were for areas outside … Read more