Heightened vigil has made the place safer, say residents

Illegal tree cutting on the Jnanabharathi campus of the Bangalore University (BU), responsible for the loss of thousands of sandalwood trees, has largely been tackled, much to the delight of tree lovers. Residents credit the reduction in illegal tree cutting to the increased security on the campus, stepped up following the October 14 gang-rape of a student of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). The number of trees cut illegally reached a record low in November, for the first time in 39 years. Since then, residents said they are seeing fully-grown sandalwood trees untouched.

Survey Among 1,800 Kids In Delhi, Agra, Bangalore And Pune Throws Up Shocking Facts

An extensive survey among children has found that while 19.2% males and 18.1% females were overweight/obese, a whopping 64.8% of mothers were in a similar condition. These findings were part of a three-year survey done among 1,800 children aged 9-18 years in government and private schools and were recently accepted by international peer-reviewed journal ‘Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism’. It was conducted in Delhi, Agra, Bangalore and Pune by Diabetes Foundation, India (DFI).

NEW DELHI: Diabetes and hypertension, traditionally seen as a rich man's disease, has made its way to the slums. Health ministry's fresh data shows one out of every four persons living in the urban slums of Chennai suffer from diabetes — which is three times higher than the national average of about 7%.
In the slums of Bangalore the prevalence rate of diabetes was reported to be 14.77%, followed by 13.37% in Ahmedabad. Delhi had among the lowest rates of 5.02%.

"The results of Chennai are shocking. I have asked the state health officials concerned to indentify all positive cases and refer them to the nearest centre for treatment," said Dr Jagdish Prasad, the Director General of Health Services ( DGHS).

The supply of contaminated water to residents of Srinivagilu Tank Bed Layout in Koramangala for the last few months has left many people reeling under the effects of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis.

Dr P M Mathew, a professor from Christ University and a resident of the layout, who is recovering from an attack of typhoid in December, told Deccan Herald, that water supplied contains vast quantities of pollutants.

Two agencies appointed to monitor 500-odd industrial units

Door-to-door collection of hazardous waste from individual industrial units operating in Peenya Industrial Area (PIA) complex was launched by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) chairperson Vaman Acharya on Tuesday. Two companies - Arun Industries and Bangalore Incinerators - have been appointed agencies to visit 500-odd industries that generate hazardous waste.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will start collecting hazardous waste from industrial units in Bangalore. K.S. Vamanacharya, Chairman, KSPCB, said in a release, “The board in way to reach to the industries is to make them aware of the pollution which is being caused by indiscriminate disposal of hazardous waste particularly from Small and Medium scale Industries (MSME’s).”

In Bangalore, the board has taken the initiative to establish closed loop system to collect hazardous waste from the industries’ doorsteps in association with used oil reprocessing company Arun Industries, No.193, III Phase, PIA, Bangalore-58, which is operating within the Peenya Industrial Area, and hazardous waste incineration facility by Bangalore Incinerators Ltd, Plot No 28, KIADB Industrial Area, Tumkur.

The State government will ration drinking water to address shortage this summer, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday.

The Water Resources department has been taking adequate measures to ensure there is sufficient drinking water in the coming summer months, the minister told reporters. Given the depleting water levels in the State’s reservoirs, including in the Cauvery basin (KRS), Bommai said a special meeting of officials from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Water Resources department and the engineering division would be convened on Tuesday to work out suitable measures.

BDA accused of forming sites on 6.21 acres of encroached lake bed

The Mestripalya Lake at Koramangala is likely to get a fresh lease of life, after nearly seven years, with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) agreeing to fence the nine-acre lake bed soon. The BDA engineer in charge of the area told Deccan Herald that a Rs 12-lakh tender has been called to fence the lake and the work is expected to be executed in a week. The decision, however, came after much dillydallying in preparing the detailed project report (DPR), followed by getting approvals from the Lake Development Authority (LDA) and the Revenue Department.

The State Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to provide drinking water to the residents of Anekal and the Karnataka Housing Board’s Suryanagar layouts and surrounding areas by pumping water from the Shimsha river at a cost of Rs 450 crore.

Briefing reporters on the decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting, Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar said water will be pumped from a distance of 65 km under the project. All three phases of Suryanagar layouts and the proposed fourth phase layout will be covered under the project. About two tmc ft of water is required for this purpose, he added.

After Bio-medical waste, it's now chemical waste that is threatening the city. A truck carrying huge quantity of chemical waste from a beverage plant was intercepted on Monday.