Protecting trees - Indiranagar

murali772 - 17-MAR-2010

Knowing me to be a tree lover, members of the local coomunity keep calling asking to know as to what is to be done when they notice trees being felled in their neighborhood, the latest being the above massacre of 4 full-grown trees (very similar to the one that has been spared - seen at the extreme right of the picture) on the 100 ft road in Indiranagar (just North of the pedestrian over-bridge at the end of the fly-over).

Now, if the process is still under way when you come upon it, what you need to do is detailed in the ESG web-site, which may be accessed here. I have myself followed this a couple of times, and succeeded in limiting the damage considerably.

But, if the damage has already occured, like in the above instance, you could perhaps file a query under the RTI Act, on the lines of the one I am going to be filing pertaining to the instant case, as below, and forward a copy to ESG.

Effect of Metro stations on adjacent roads

muthusubs - 16-MAR-2010

The metro work is underway on main roads in most part of Bangalore. The metro stations that are to be constructed are significantly wider than the main track. Will this not create bottlenecks on adjacent roads? For example, there is a metro station being constructed on Old Madras Road near the 80ft road junction. The Old Madras road which is wider on either side of the station suddenly becomes very narrow leading to frequent traffic jams here. Even after the construction of the station, the road width isn't going to change and this can be a serious problem later on. 

Consider the Vijaynagar main road. If the Metro station is constructed near the Bunts Sangha, it will almost be as wide as the road today. How can  the width of the roads be made uniform throughout?

Is this something that BMRCL is thinking of? In addition, the presence of a station will require rickshaw stands and bus stops nearby which means the roads have to be wider in these places. On the contrary, the station makes the road narrower. This is definitely a double whammy. 

Tourism, Recreation and Karnataka

silkboard - 16-MAR-2010

Talking about 'quality of life', tourism and recreation is another area where we all expect certain standards of amenities and infrastructure. Further, tourism is known to be an excellent way of boosting internal economy. Across states of India, Karnataka today ranks 4th on domestic tourism, and 5th on international tourist arrivals.

Even though a lot of work has been done by sate government over last 5-6 years (roads to destinations, information, visit Karnataka campaign etc), things can always be better. A good ranking relative to other states of India should not mean much, the standards could be better when judged on absolute terms. Also, there does not seem to be much active citizen involvement, feedback and participation in development and planning of tourism infrastructure and campaigns.

Rainwater Harvesting Mela on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at Cubbon Park

murali772 - 16-MAR-2010

To mark World Water Day this year, a "Rainwater Harvesting Mela" is being organized at Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park on Saturday, March 20, 2010, from 10:00 am to 5 p.m. There will be stalls set up by BWSSB and several rainwater harvesting service providers. You can use this opportunity to clarify the procedures of the new Amendment, and meet the rainwater harvesting service providers, consultants and plumbers. They would be in a position to explain how you could implement rainwater harvesting for your house or building and give you an idea of the cost. We are also expecting some more organisations involved with water management like Central Groundwater Board to have their stalls at the event.

BWSSB is also organising an 'open house' at the nearby Cubbon Park Wastewater treatment plant as part of the event. Citizens can get a tour of the plant to see how the wastewater in the city is made available for reuse, by using advanced treatment technologies.

Schedule:

10:00am - 11:00 am : Inaguration of event by Chairman, BWSSB

Mysore road expansion - how can you remove the bottleneck?

muthusubs - 16-MAR-2010

Do planners in Bangalore realize that bottlenecks are the main source of traffic problems? It doesn't matter if you have a 5km long 8 lane road at the end of which has a bottleneck which reduces to 2 lanes. 

It looks like that the Mysore road is going to be widened. The govt will end up spending crores of money and cause inconvenience to lot of riders during this widening spree. We'll also lose all the trees which so far have kept the Mysore road a complete canopy. But the Bapujinagar bridge is a huge bottleneck. If nothing is done to widen at this point, the whole effort is meaningless. Given that we have the Masjid and the GhaaLi Anjaneya temple on either side, we can imagine that this part of the road can never be widened. 

Do the officials even think about this before going about doing their job of road widening? 

Create a Project Team

Ravi_D - 15-MAR-2010

This task: Identify potential project members.

Successor Task: Define scope.

Electoral Photo Identification Card for BBMP election

nanometer - 15-MAR-2010

Hello All,

I am a new voter and want to vote in upcoming BBMP elections. I dont have a voters ID card yet.

has any one here recently got their Voter ID cards? Can you please guide me on how to get one?

I think this will be ideal time to get one as elections are fast approaching.

Thanks.

Regards,

Ordeal ... I went through

Ankzz - 14-MAR-2010

Today evening while returning from Marathalli,  while I was driving along with my friend, a guy on Yamaha takes a left cut in front of me. It was such an extreme cut, I somehow saved the guy and in return screamed and asked to drive properly. The guy and pillion riders stare at me, but I continued on my way.

After a while, they overtake me and ask to stop. I stopped and they started screaming. I started explaining that what he had done was wrong. In no mood to listen, they both start landing blows on me. And they thunder," you come to our area and scream at us, how dare you?". They beat me black and blue and you know what all the people in crowd around were saying, "Yeh , they speak hindi. They cant scream at them. and all started murmuring against us"

Seeing the crowd support for them, I continually said "Sorry" while both were landing blows on me and my friend as well. No one from the crowd even mediated. Some how when they saw blood on my face, they left after hitting me badly in my stomach.

Lakes and Land Use

psaram42 - 14-MAR-2010

 India has a total land area of 328 Million Hectare (MH), out of which 162 MH have already come in to cultivation. This is a high percentage of 51% of the total land of the country. The forest and natural vegetation area is about 19.25%, which is less than an optimum of about 33.33%. Photographic proof from satellite imaginary seems to have proved this beyond doubt. Forest (green) is important for keeping the CO2 balance in the atmosphere.

BBMP election - candidate information

hemaraj - 14-MAR-2010

The election for the bbmp is around the corner, at this point of time giving ideas is late,but atleast the future elctions can take up these actions.

Election commision should also go into latest technology by promoting a website,saving paper, allowing every candidate some particular byte space to write about himself, this accessible to all citizens. We citizens have never heard of the candidate who contests and the busy professionals dont take time to find out about the candidate.

 I suggest that all the candidates contesting,

1)  mention the ward he is contesting,born and eduated place and institution. with his family details and  his motto.

 2) the party he is representing

 3) Brief history when he enterd the politics, year to year which party he was in, his position from which party he held, reason for leaving the party to join the next party,

 4) disclosure of his assets, what is his business, what is his income, what are the servces he has achieved during his tenure.

5) what are his administration skills,