2015 has been a great year for Citizen Matters,and you have been a very critical part of our journey – by funding us, by reading our work, by writing for us. To all who have been with us the past year, thank you. We look forward to 2016 with you by our side. Happy New Year! May the new year bring you all that you dream of and more…

This week’s highlight: In conversation with BMTC MD, Ekroop Caur

Bengaluru’s own public transport system, BMTC has plans to launch many progressive steps to ensure commuter safety and user-friendliness. BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur explains the plans in an interview. Read: BMTC’s new year gift to Bengaluru: Intelligent Transport System.

Living in the city

If you are planning to bring in the New Year around the MG Road area, this is a must-read. The Bengaluru Traffic Police has made alternate arrangements for traffic flow, parking, etc. They have also appealed that citizens who are driving, refrain from consuming alcohol.

A map from BBMP representing the growth of Bengaluru city from a small town in 1537, to a metropolitan city in 2001.

What does growing from 69 acres to 741 acres, accommodating nearly one crore people, mean for Bengaluru? Every change in land use and topography that reduces soil cover, is making Bengaluru increasingly flood-prone.

What happens when BBMP speeds up the Khata process for a citizen who was campaigning for fair and transparent process in issuing Khata? Read: Whitefield resident refuses khata that didn’t follow process.

B.PAC in association with BBMP organised a workshop for the women corporators to celebrate the historic representation of women leaders in the Council. Here is what transpired at the workshop.

Verification of census-2011 data for the National Population Register has begun in Bengaluru. This means you will have to provide the documents asked by enumerators and that you will get your national identity card once the process is complete. Read: After Aadhaar, now you’ll get one more biometric card.

Citizen Matters, now in Kannada

After a long gap of three years after our book ‘Bengaluru Jeevana’ was published, we tried our hand at producing Kannada content directly online, with a write up on what the two-bin one-bag system in waste management is, and how people can make it work.

ಶೇವ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಬಿಸಾಕಿದ ಬ್ಲೇಡ್, ತಿಂದುಳಿದ ಊಟ, ಒಡೆದ ಗಾಜಿನ ಬಾಟಲಿ, ಸಿರಿಂಜು, ತರಕಾರಿ ಸಿಪ್ಪೆ, ಸ್ಯಾನಿಟರಿ ಪ್ಯಾಡು, ಪ್ಲಾಸ್ಟಿಕ್, ಒದ್ದೆಯಾದ ಕಾಗದ, ಕಾಂಡಮ್, ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿದ ಡಯಾಪರ್ – ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಒಟ್ಟೂ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಬಿಸಾಕಿದರೆ ಸಿಗುವುದೇನು? ಅದೊಂದುವಿಷದ ಕಾಕ್ಟೇಲ್. ಇದನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ನಿಭಾಯಿಸಬೇಕು? Read: ಎರಡು ಡಬ್ಬಾ, ಒಂದು ಚೀಲದ ಮಂತ್ರ – ಕಸವನ್ನು ಒಡೆದು ಆಳುವ ತಂತ್ರ.

Let us know what you think about this. Do you want to see more content in Kannada? If yes, on what topic? And in what way will you be able to support it? Write to us!

Citizens for the city

Chris Rao, VP and Country Head, UTC Aerospace Systems and Goldie Srivastava, Director – Communication, United Technologies India along with the 12 winning teams who will collectively receive a total grant of nearly INR 1 crore. Pic: UTC

India’s first-ever Neighbourhood Improvement Partnership Challenge sees a grant of nearly Rs One crore awarded to 12 projects. The initiative attracted 145 registrations and 86 proposals from Bengaluru. Read: 12 winners of NIP Challenge to execute neighbourhood improvement projects.

Ramesh Sreekantan has been documenting the BBMP’s response to a broken street light in Malleswaram since June 2015. Read the latest on the saga of the street light.

Living by the lake

The first Kere Habba of 2016 will be held at Kaikondrahalli Lake on January 9th. Lots planned with story sessions for children, traditional games, workshops, even a relay race.

Food for thought

What happens when officials are changed often? Their ability to bring in changes and improvements in their positions weakens. Read: Stop the frequent transfer of government officials.

Several huge trees were cut down on Bannerghatta road ten days back. Deepa Mohan says this will only lead to downward spiral of destruction and pollution.

Culturati

The stained glass windows at St Andrew’s Chruch. Pic: WestCoastMusketeer, Wikimedia Commons*

While this feature was a Christmas special, it holds good for the rest of the year too. Take a walk around the Cantonment area to soak in the sights of Bengaluru’s magnificent churches. Read: A walker’s guide to the churches in the Cantonment.

The heroes among us

You may have read some of Ritvik Mandyam’s posts on Citizen Matters. He is a class X student and our youngest blogger. This New Year, he needs your help to bring smiles to a 1,000 faces.

The week that was

• Following the series of people’s protests on the Outer Ring Road stretch demanding for better roads, BBMP has undertaken the pothole-filling and asphalting. A senior official from BBMP has informed the media that the five kilometre stretch along Sarjapur Road will be asphalted in the next three months.
• When BBMP Commissioner visited the Kannahalli waste processing unit on Magadi Road on Tuesday, he was met by protesting villagers from Seegehalli and Kannahalli. They demanded that BBMP shut down both garbage processing units, and have set January 3rd as the deadline to stop the entry of garbage trucks to their village.
• A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the High Court seeking directions to BBMP to take action against illegal hoardings in the city. Petitioner Sai Datta, a resident of Banashankari has said that the BBMP has incurred huge revenue loss due to improper advertisement management. The Court has issued notice to the State government and BBMP in this regard.
• On December 25th, which is observed as the Good Governance Day, several families in Malleswaram were felicitated for practising waste segregation effectively. The event was organised by local MLA CS Aswathanarayana.
• Chitra Santhe is back in Bengaluru. The annual art fair will be set up on Kumara Krupa Road on Sunday, January 3rd. Over 1,000 artists from 18 states will be participating.
• A Flipkart study on India’s online buying preferences in 2015 has revealed that Bengaluru bought the highest number of books when compared to other cities in India. Books continued to be most prefered category in online shopping.

Events this week

 Tales of the Night, January 8th

• On January 2nd, you can kickstart the new year with two stand-up acts – Comedy Galatta at Atta Galatta and Gender Wars at B Flat.
• Watch the Raul de Souza Quartet perform at Windmills Craftwork on January 2nd and 3rd.
• Discover some of the oldest parts of the city on A Journey into the Heart of Bangalore on January 3rd.
• Attend a talk by environmental journalist Darly D’Monte on Mumbai Today, Bengaluru Tomorrow at Bangalore International Centre on January 5th.Our co-founder Meera K will be moderating the talk.
• Watch a production of Neil Simon’s play The Star Spangled Girl at Alliance Francaise on January 8th.
• Joern Rohde, Consul General of Germany will be speaking on the topic, The influx of Syrian Refugees in Germany and other European Countries  at Bangalore International Centre on January 8th.
• Watch Tales of the Night, an animated feature featuring six exotic fables each unfolding in a unique locale, from Tibet, to medieval Europe, to the Land of the Dead at Suchitra Film Society on January 8th.

To know more about events in Bengaluru, click here

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