Posts : Bangalore

MoM from meeting with Prof. M.Sekhar

deepakar - 20-APR-2010

Notes from our meeting with Prof. M. Sekhar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engg., Indian Institute of Science.

Participants: Shekhar Mittal, Neha Dar, Deepak Rajanna.

Our discussion mainly revolved around the IISc report on groundwater commissioned by the BMRCL. See bmrc.co.in/pdf/IISc-Report.pdf. Two important sources of information exist on the ground water situation in Bangalore.

1. The Department of Mines and Geology which has 8 collection points spread around Bangalore city that capture information on the ground water on a monthly basis. However, this data might not be available to the general public in it's raw form. Prof. Sekhar has given us references in the department who will be able to lend us the reports that they generate out of this data. See page 26 for more information; the "plus" signs on the map indicate the sampling locations.

2. IISc's ground water report for BMRCL. The main focus of the IISc Report is the impact of the underground sections of the metro on the ground water flow in Bangalore.

Public screening of " Water and A City": April 22nd 2010

shekhar_mittal - 20-APR-2010

CiSTUP and a few folks at praja.in are organising a public screening of the documentary "Water and a City". Everyone is cordially invited.

Please spread the word and inform who ever you think will be interested.

Date: 22nd April 2010

Time: 5.30 pm

Venue: Golden Jubilee Seminar Hall, Civil Engineering Dept, IISc, Bangalore

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion. The confirmed panelists are

  1. Prof Mohan Kumar, Deptt of Civil Engineering

  2. Mr Thangaraj, Former Principal Secretary, Urban Development

 

Public screening in Bangalore of 'The Truth About Tigers' April 23rd

shekhar_mittal - 20-APR-2010

Dear all:

This is a must see for all people interested in wildlife conservation. Details below. Can you please pass it on the entire wildlife community (students, researchers, scientists, NGOs, etc.)?

THE TRUTH ABOUT TIGERS

A film by Shekar Dattatri, Duration: 40 minutes

Screening on Friday 23rd April at 7:30pm sharp at Alliance Française Bangalore. There are limited seats so please take yours by 7:15pm. The screening will be followed by an interactive Q&A with renowned tiger scientist Dr. Ullas Karanth and Shekar Dattatri.

About the film:

The adieu to the Majestic bus stand!

srinidhi - 20-APR-2010

"Kempe Gowda or Majestic bus station may soon become history as the government has initiated the process of decentralization of the bus terminals.

How about an RTI Club on Praja?

silkboard - 18-APR-2010

Wanted to float a suggestion, just to check on feasibility and response from other users on this e-community. Many discussions, as well as projects here get into a situation where we need official records or status from local government or public agencies. In few cases, we get such information by just asking for it (email to BMTC, BMRCL etc). But in many cases, we end up with needs for RTI (Right to Information) applications. Almost every project here on Praja too needs support in terms of RTI filings.

How about we create an RTI Club here on Praja? Members of this club would basically "assembly line" the RTI filing process in domain neutral way. Let me list the mechanics:

IPL Matches at Night - Who cares for ENERGY conservation?

kbsyed61 - 18-APR-2010

Me At IPL Match
This photo's source is TravelPod page:

Thanks to current IPL controversies, now many questions are being raised including ethical, moral and social aspects. In all of these, I am trying to ask myself a question, even though I am also a cricket lover as millions others. The question I am asking myself is should the sports be played in night which compels to use flood lights?

Given the IPL context in which most of the matches are played at night, It is no secret that these matches need lighting arrangements consuming hundreds of kilowatts of power.

This in turn has many issues that we all need to look into. First issue is a social question. Should the matches be played at Night? When the cities are struggling with power shortages, is it right for sports managements to conduct matches at night which make use of large amount of energy resources?

Need Volunteers for Sample Collection

shekhar_mittal - 18-APR-2010

Building on to the post made here and here

Janaagraha is collecting collecting info related to BWSSB water supply in all the wards. They need volunteers who  agree to get pressure meters installed in their houses and provide water samples to Janagrahaa. Janagrahaa folks will come to your house and install the meter themselves. You won't have to do anything.

The data generated will be useful for the water index which we are doing at Praja as well.

Volunteering for this requires no effort at all so I hope anybody who sees this post should agree to doing it.

Kindly make a comment giving your details: Area of Residence, Ward Number if you know it, contact details etc.

 

Thanks

Shekhar Mittal

 

Public Transport Promotion Ad Agency

Vasanth - 18-APR-2010

 LA Metro had appointed an Ad Agency and created various ads to promote the use of public transport. As part of Bus Day campaign, can we have similar such ads in local TV and News Paper.

LA Metro: Promoting Mass Transit from EMBARQ Network on Vimeo.

How about BOT Traffic Signals and Signs?

Bheema.Upadhyaya - 16-APR-2010

 After seeing elevated hosur tollway, I started thinking why not BTP can try BOT with traffic signs,signals, road signs.  

Silly? Not really? Why?

The idea/concept is to convert rule-breaking nature of people into revenue for short period, or till people become alright. Imagine every rule-break ,except non-humans :) , specially where is there is a clear signage/signal is fined/collected without fail. Example : in my short travel of 30 mins,today I noted at least 20 rule breaks where there was a signal/signage. Let us say minimum of 20*Rs. 100= Rs.2000 is fined and collected. 

I noted following where was clear traffic sign/signage:

 

1) Passing Red light : 5

2) Left turn where not allowed : 3

3) Leftmost lane vehicle right turning right. Lane is marked clearly with a " -> " sign. : 2

4) Crossing stop lines : 10

5) I did not observe for other rule-break.

 

Bangalore Bore well data

Rithesh - 16-APR-2010

Total number of borewells in all BWSSB zones: 

 

31/01/09

28/02/09

31/03/09

30/04/09

31/05/09