Happy Dasara to all of you! Whether you are celebrating with your family and friends in Bengaluru, or heading out of town for the long break, here’s wishing each one of you a lovely weekend!

In this edition, we have a wonderful community initiative that is feeding the hungry and homeless in Bengaluru. In only eight days, the Feed Your Neighbor campaign has distributed a whopping 84,646 packs of food. Do check out the transport arrangements that have been made by the traffic police and KSRTC for the long weekend. We also have several citizen features – lessons we can learn from Canada, how rampant racism is the city, and what an ideal weekend in Bengaluru is like.

Also, Oorvani Foundation will be launching the second fundraiser for the year next week, so keep an eye out for our mails. Do remember that it is the support of readers like you that helps us continue delivering our unmatched community journalism in Bengaluru. We would love to have you on board this time as well.

Without further ado, let’s move on to the stories of the past week…

This week’s highlight: Feed Your Neighbour – Over 84,000 hungry stomachs filled!

An evening at the Central Kitchen aka Mahita Fernandez’s home. Batch after batch of fresh food is prepared, tasted, packed and despatched… all managed with military precision by Mahita (bottom left) and her lovely mother. Pic: facebook.com

Eight days back, a motley crew of good Samaritans started distributing food to the hungry and homeless in Bengaluru. Come tomorrow, they are likely to have fed more than a lakh hungry stomachs.

Read: Over 84,000 hungry stomachs filled thanks to the Feed Your Neighbour campaign.

Updates for Dasara weekend

Looking to head to Mysuru for the annual Dasara procession, or maybe head out of Bengaluru for the long weekend? You could choose to travel by the special buses that KSRTC is operating this season. Read: KSRTC special for Dasara: 1500 extra buses, round-trip to Bandipur for Rs 350.

If you are taking a bus out of Bengaluru for the Dasara weekend, this is a must-read. The traffic police has made special arrangements to cope with the possible rush at the railway station and at bus stands. Read: Traffic in City railway station and Kempegowda terminal to be affected.

Lights out

File pic.

With Karnataka facing a power crunch, BESCOM has been turning off the power. Want to know when your area could see a power cut? Here is the load shedding schedule for Bengaluru that has been shared by BESCOM.

Also read: Why Bengaluru is experiencing power cuts.

On the road, in the bus

Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) organised a conference to highlight the problems faced by commuters in Bengaluru, and to work out suggestions for the improvement of BMTC. Read: Consider peoples’ needs while deploying new buses, people tell BMTC.

BBPV also shared a list of changes that BBMP could make, to ensure that their services are beneficial to all. Read: Commuters’ wish list to make BMTC work for all.

Speaking out

Upset over the pollution caused by the KCDC compost plant, residents of HSR Layout and Somasundarapalya have planned for a protest yet again. This time, they will place two options before the authorities – close the plant or fix the problem. Read: Protest against KCDC on October 31st.

A Bengaluru resident shares her experience of going to the Koramangala police station to file an FIR. She says they police made her feel that they were there to genuinely help her out! Read: A happy, positive experience with the police.

Food for thought

Neighbourhood roads in Calgary. Pic: Sudha Narasimhachar

A visit to a foreign country can bring a different perspective to the way in which one views their own city. Post her trip to Calgary in Canada, Sudha Narasimhachar shares her thoughts on the things that Bengaluru can learn to emulate from cities abroad. Read: Lessons Bengaluru can learn from Calgary.

What is a typical weekend in Bengaluru like? If you’re lucky enough to reside in a tree-laden area, staying in at home might just be the perfect way to unwind. That said, a walk around your neighbourhood might just throw up some surprises. Read: A Bengaluru weekend.

Kannadigas vs. out-of-towners, brahmins vs. non-brahmins, fair vs. dark… Our youngest blogger talks about how racism based on ethnicity, caste and skin colour is rampant in Bengaluru. Read: The race for superiority.

The week that was

• A group of people allegedly harassed an Australian couple, Matthew Gordon and Emily Kassianou at a restaurant in Bengaluru on Saturday, as Gordon was sporting a tattoo of Goddess Yellamma on his shin. Reportedly, the group threatened and harassed the couple on the pretext of offending Hindu religious sentiments. The couple has claimed that the local police forced Gordon to write an apology letter for having and displaying the tattoo on his shin.
• The duo that killed Doddaballapur Sub Inspector S Jagadish last week has been arrested. The police had launched a manhunt for bike thieves, Madhu and Harish Babu, for allegedly stabbing the SI when he was chasing to catch them.
• BESCOM has announced load shedding up to four hours a day in some areas, and has declared a power holiday for industries from October 26th. The crisis is reportedly due to the breakdown of few power generation units, lack of hydel power availability, and issues with power purchase.
• IAS officer Subodh Yadav has been appointed as the Special Commissioner of Solid Waste Management, BBMP. He has replaced Darpan Jain. Another IAS officer Rashmi V Mahesh has been appointed as Special Commissioner for BBMP’s Welfare section.
• During Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s visit to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation plant at HSR Layout last Saturday, he was greeted by angry residents who demanded that the compost plant either be closed down, or measures be taken to reduce the stench. The CM said that Rs 60 crore has been allocated for managing the unit and a treatment plant would be set up to prevent pollution of Somasundarapalya lake.
• A PUC student S Poornima died after a BMTC bus hit her at Kempegowda Bus Station on October 20th.  She was hit by the rear of the bus when she was trying to cross the road near the bus station. The bus driver was arrested later in the day.

Do have a look at our events page to keep a track of all that’s happening on the arts and culture front in Bengaluru.

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