Several unauthorised hoardings and advertisements put up by various brands and shopkeepers on 27th Main Road were removed yesterday by the BBMP. Here are a few of those shops whose hoardings were removed.
This is a drive based on the Karnataka High Court order and a BBMP notification that no hoardings, posters or outdoor advertisements of any kind will be allowed till August 2019. Only those who are approved by the BBMP after paying a licence fee are eligible to put up the hoardings.
A three-year project will come to fruition tomorrow when public cycle parking will be thrown open to residents at 18 places across HSR Layout. The reason for the delay was the civic works being carried out by the BBMP and the flooding issue that enveloped the neighbourhood in the interim.
Be there tomorrow for the inauguration
“It’s a very unique project based on multiple themes unlike any other in the world,” says Shashidhara K of HSR Cyclists Group that won the Neighbourhood Improvement Program challenge in December 2015 that helped create this facility.
Says resident and cyclist Sankar: “It took a long time to realise the project. Running between DULT (Department of Urban Land Transport) and BBMP for paper work and approvals. Hats off to Shashidhar for patiently working towards realising the project.”
Along the way, there were certain changes done to the project. The original plan was to facilitate parallel parking of cycles. But later, it was changed to linear parking as it would cause least inconvenience to pedestrians and the handle bars will not come in the way of movement. “There were 20 spots identified, but two had to be dropped near HSR Club and Mantri Square due to lack of pedestrian walkways,” says Shashidhara.
The majority of the cycling parking spots can be found on 27th Main, 17th Cross, 19th Main, and Agara bus stand. “There is space for 18 cycles at Agara,” says Shashidhara. “The number can go up if private parties decide to come here as well, after they take the requisite approval from the BBMP.”
The Eco Store, the oldest organic store in HSR Layout, celebrated its sixth anniversary this July. Today, there are many more alternatives in the neighbourhood, but this shop stands out for sticking to promoting high-quality products produced by farmers and farming groups. As its founder Seshu Maringanti says, “We carefully select our products so that they are healthy and harmless to our body.”
The store gets vegetables five days a week (Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun), as soon as they are harvested in the farm. Their grocery section has a wide range of products ranging from rice, millets, pulses, and so on. Their gardening section has organic products that are required to grow an organic garden in one’s courtyard/balcony. In addition, they have kitchen waste management products like khambhas, microbes and remix powders. “Our cosmetic products are one of the best,” says Seshu. “They do not have chemicals like SLES that harm the skin.”
In summary, The Eco Store is a one-stop shop for all organic and eco-friendly products. They also have an e-commerce website to provide the convenience of online transactions. “When we started our store in 2012, our customers used to ask us ‘What is Organic?’”, he says. “Now, there is no dearth of awareness, but customers demand authenticity.”
Today, the organic food space has become quite crowded and competitive. “The trends that we saw in the regular FMCG market like deep discounts started to surface here too,” says Seshu. “Entities with deep pockets and high business aspirations are entering this market. This is not good for genuine farmers and retailors.”
For The Eco Store, the phrase that descibes it best is ‘Small is beautiful’. “One trend that I noticed consistently is that people who are expanding beyond their sourcing capacity are forced to compromise on the authenticity of their product unlike us.”
Future plans
“My expansion of this business will always be in line with the capacity of the authentic sourcing that I discover, especially fruits and vegetables,” says the techie who quit his full-time job eight years ago to become an entrepreneur. “I am focusing on expanding our online reach. I might also open another store in the near future.”
On the HSR side of Mangammana Palya Main Road, the BBMP officials have removed footpath encroachers yesterday. In addition, shops using banned plastic were fined. In the last week alone, Rs 18,000 worth of fines were levied for using plastic bags and dumping garbage in stormwater drains and vacant sites.
There were four raids in HSR Layout last week, including one yesterday. The places covered were 24th Main in Agara, Sector 2, 27th Main and 17th Cross. Yesterday, the raids were conducted on Mangammana Palya Main Road where footpath encroachers were also evicted, including pushcart vendors and those keeping cylinders and other equipment on the footpath.
The fish seller’s vehicle caught with the waste at Silk Board junction
The BBMP officials look for addresses of the dumping parties through receipts and other banking transactions that are part of the waste. And in one case, they catch people in the act. Last night was one such instance where the officials caught a fish seller of MG Palya dumping non-vegetarian waste into the stormwater drain at Silk Board junction. He was fined Rs 6000 for the misdemeanour.
The Organic World has opened its doors in HSR Layout! Located next to MK Retail on 17th Cross in Sector 2, the store is spread over 2000 sq. feet and is equipped with a community cafe and a children’s play area to entertain all age groups.
The store boasts of products in several categories ranging from fruits and vegetables to home and personal care. The Organic World in HSR is not your average retail store. Walk in and experience the store by helping yourself to some aromatherapy, and maybe whip up your own beauty product or grind up your very own wheatgrass shot!
Organic products are often associated only with fruits and vegetables but the store tells us otherwise. You will learn that there is a lot more to organic living than just eating organic. The store aims to educate you about taking the sustainable way out and introduces the concept of zero waste shopping and urges everyone to do their bit and make a difference! Choose Better – these are the two words that seem to sum up their motto.
The Organic World was started with the mission to make a positive and progressive difference to the world. Locally sourced and organically grown produce that benefit individuals and communities. And these not only improve a person’s general well being but also bring in socio-economic benefits working its way up from the grassroots level.
The company was launched in 2013 to give customers, the most remarkable organic shopping experience for all your daily needs, from beans to jeans and bathing soaps to cushion covers. There seems to have been no exceptions made to deliver the best quality of products to their customers while also serving a greater good.
To choose better and go organic, head to The Organic World now.
The Organic World
HSR Layout: #483, Sector – 2, HSR Layout, NIFT Junction, After SBI Bank, Bengaluru 560102.
The residents are fed up of complaining to the authorities about the indiscriminate parking by trucks and tourist buses on 27th Main Road.
Says resident Krishnan, who has tweeted to the top cops and complained on their mobile app: “Illegal parking… creating a dangerous haphazard to the community on 27th main. It’s a daily routine, can you please clean this mess?”
Abhilash S, a 30-year-old resident of Sector 4, was beaten up by four unidentified assailants on November 22 at around 1145pm.
Representative pic
This incident appears to be connected to the allegation by pet lovers of HSR that 60 strays have been picked up from HSR and relocated elsewhere. According to this FIR (First Information Report), the incident occurred behind the Government Hostel when Abhilash was feeding the dogs.
Tata Ace mini truck. A representative image.
The four persons allegedly came in a Tata Ace mini truck to catch the dogs. When Abhilash protested that it’s illegal to catch dogs by unlicensed contractors, the four persons beat him up and mouthed expletives. They also threatened him with his life and drove away.
The HSR cops have lodged the case under five sections of the Indian Penal Code – 506 (criminal intimidation), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt), 504 (insult) and 34 (criminal act by a group).
Yesterday at around 3pm, Bingo, a black labrador dog ran away from a house in Teacher’s Colony near HSR Layout Sector 5. Frantic owner Jayashree posted on social network groups and launched a hunt for her pet all day. The pet had gone missing from door number 297 on 4th Avenue.
Today, she is at a crematorium on Magadi Road to bury her pet. During her search, she found her dog at 11pm yesterday. However, the labrador was run over by a car.
Though the locals stopped the car and pulled out the dog from underneath, it had died by then. On their hunt, Jayashree found her dog in Venkatapura adjacent to Teacher’s Colony. “The car driver drove away, but we can’t help it,” Jayashree told Residents Watch. “When people don’t value a human’s life, what’s a dog for them?” Having adopted Bingo when he was 15 days old, it was with Jayashree for 13 years. May his soul rest in peace.
The Vape, the rooftop restaurant on 27th Main Road in HSR Layout had a freak fire in the wee hours of today. The fire force officials took more than half an hour to extinguish it. No casualties were reported.
A fire force official from the Sarjapur Road station said that they received a call at around 4am about the fire on the fifth floor of Rio Arcade where The Vape is located. “It was due to an electrical short circuit,” he said.
The restaurant staffers clarified that it was due to a short circuit in the generators. The restaurant is shut for five days due to this.
Here is the video of the fire that took place last night.
The restaurant is on the 4th floor of Rio Arcade on 27th Main Road, Sector 1
41-year-old Swaroop Mothidath, a software engineer and resident of Confident Phoenix apartment in Kasavanahalli, died in front of ICICI Bank on 27th Main Road in Sector 1 yesterday (November 22) when a water tanker ran over him at around 1.10pm. He is survived by wife and three year old twins – a daughter and son.
Here is how it happened. Praveena (37 years) decided to step out for lunch with friend Srinivas. While they were both standing in front of ICICI Bank to cross the road, a two wheeler rider was coming from NIFT college and proceeding towards the HSR Police station on 27th Main. At around the same time, a water tanker (Reg No KA03-HA423) coming from the opposite side was being driven at high speed and rashly on the wrong side of the road. It resulted in a head-on collision with the bike with the rear wheel of the tanker going over the rider.
Praveena and Srinivas rushed towards the victim and realised that he was not able to speak and had incurred severe injuries. They took him to the nearest NH Narayana hospital in an auto. However, the doctors declared that the victim had died on the way to the hospital at 1.36pm.
The driver of the water tanker pretended to stop the vehicle while talking to somebody on the phone. Later, he drove away with the tanker. A case has been lodged against the driver under four sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The Organic World is the newest entrant in HSR Layout offering organic produce. What we loved most is the way they have these educational counters on how to check for nitrate content in vegetables and fruits with a tester, to pamphlets on the various doshas in our bodies.
Look at the pictures and answer the questions to know which ‘dosha’ you belong to and accordingly adjust your dietary requirements, according to Ayurveda. Your health is everything. This is for your information only and not a prescription for any ailments.
Yesterday, Additional Commissioner of Traffic P Harishekaran visited Silk Board and the surrounding areas of Hosur Road, Madiwala, Bommanahalli and Mangammanapalya. Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy apprised the top cop about the traffic situation on Begur Road, Bommanahalli Main Road and Silk Board junction.
A number of measures were discussed, including the exploration of any government land available near Silk Board junction that can be used to park the buses and ease the congestion. There is a lorry stand behind the existing service road near Silk Board where the buses are parked. The top cop wanted to check if that is government land, so it can be used to make a bus station out there.
In addition, asphalting interior roads off Hosur Road and Outer Ring Road (ORR) are planned since much of the ORR traffic on Bannerghatta Road was using internal roads to reach their destinations due to the ongoing Metro work near Jayadeva junction. The other ways to expedite the widening of Begur Road was also discussed during the visit. The residents can hope to see better traffic management around the area from Silk Board junction to Jayadeva flyover in the coming days.
In the last 10-12 days, the Madiwala traffic police has been doing a commendable job of easing congestion near Silk Board with a number of junction improvements. By shifting the Madiwala market, much of the road over there is decongested. Some more junction improvements are planned at Total mall side of Madiwala after the intersections of Bommanahalli and Begur Road are fixed.
Removal of Madiwala market vendors
Madiwala market road where hawkers were removed from the central median
After the Silk Board measures, the Madiwala cops now say that many of their fixes have met with success. Earlier, you had to wait for four signals before it was your turn to cross the Silk Board junction from HSR Layout. “Today, it’s possible to go past it after the second signal itself,” says a senior traffic cop. And this has been made possible through a number of remedial measures taken by the traffic police outlined below:
1. At Silk Board junctions, the waiting time for pedestrians will be a lot less as they will now be able to cross the road at every signal change unlike earlier. In addition, there is a barricade erected when vehicles use the free left turn at silk board from Bommanahalli. This way, the pedestrians are able to cross the road without much hassle as the traffic will be orderly.
2. The bus stop towards HSR Layout near Silk Board has been moved further away from the junction to avoid people clogging the area.
3. The timers that were under disrepair have been fixed at the junction to further ease movement.
