Blame put on delay in forming standing committees

The delay by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in forming 12 standing committees has affected the green drive so much that not a single seedling has been planted in the City out of Palike funds this year, officials say.

The parents of Shoaib, five, and Imran, three, got worried when the staff of a Born Learning Centre (BLC), who visited their house at Hennur in the City five months ago, told them that the brothers

With civic bodies doing nothing, volunteers' group gets serious on saving lakes

A group of volunteers under the banner ‘Save Bangalore Lakes’ has taken upon itself the task of reviving the City’s lakes, a task that should ideally have been undertaken by the local bodies.

The Bruhat Bangalore Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is said to be contemplating on dropping bulk garbage generators from its purview to streamline solid waste management.

“We are receiving a lot of recommendations to allow bulk waste generators to set up their own waste-processing units. A final decision will be taken soon in this regard,” said Ramandeep Choudhary, Additional Commissioner, Solid Waste Management.

The much talked-about ‘tree census’ proposal by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been put on the backburner for want of appropriate guidance.

The Board’s plan to keep tabs on the City’s green cover two weeks ago received good response. But now, it is absolutely clueless on how to go about it.
It is seeking assistance from other departments, including BBMP and the Forest department.

To call attention to the deteriorating condition of Bangalore’s lakes, a group of seven photographers have released a short documentary film called Bangalore Lake Diaries, which they hope will generate public momentum to save these water bodies before it is too late.

The right kind of picture may well speak a thousand words and it is this sort of visual impact that is sought by the documentarians. The six-minute short film attempts to show the deplorable condition of 10 neglected lakes such as the Arakere Lake, Kaikondrahalli Lake, Halasuru Lake, Puttenahalli Lake, Dorekere Lake, Varthur Lake, Rajarajeshwari Nagar Lake, Somasandra Palya Lake, Uttarahalli Lake and Agara Lake.

Thanks to its adoption of solar energy to power its traffic signals, the City traffic police have hit paydirt saving a whopping Rs 1.73 crore in energy bill.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M A Saleem, said: “We paid a total of Rs 19.58 lakh to Bescom in 2012. The solar-powered traffic signals, installed since 2001, have helped us a lot. We have solar-powered traffic signals at all busy junctions in City.” “Today we have around 251 timers as energy consumed by solar-powered traffic signals has reduced drastically. There are over 343 regular signals and 42 pedestrian control signals, all of them with LED lights.”

The stormwater drain (rajakaluve) at 1st Block HRBR Layout has been causing untold troubles for the residents. The filth, the unending mosquito menace and sewage water pumped into the drain have put people’s health at serious risk.

Despite many complaints, the BWSSB and BBMP have done little to address the issue. P R Swamy, an elderly resident of the area, said: “My wife and I fall sick often because of the mosquito menace. We have also developed breathing problems and get ourselves hospitalised frequently. The stench from the choked stormwater drain is unbearable and the authorities haven’t done anything about it.”