Articles by Shilpi Sahu

Bellandur Buzz…May 22nd 2014 This newsletter is shared fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.comMeeting the Corporator: Pathetic condition of Hosa RoadKasavanahalli main road or Hosa road connects Sarjapura road to the Electronic city phase1. It is home to 5000+ people. Daily 10,000+ people commute on this road. The whole road is full of deep potholes posing serious threat to the residents and commuters. Travelling on this road is a nightmare due to daily traffic jams, constant jerking and particulate pollution. There are no drains for the most part of this road and hence disposal of waste water is an issue…

The newsletter 'Bellandur Buzz' is shared fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.comKaikondrahalli Lake Update – Events and UpkeepSewage Diversion work, funded by BBMP, is ongoing since the last few weeks at Kaikondrahalli lake. It may be few more days before the work is complete. Regrettably due to delay in this work, some sewage is trickling into the lake, despite blocking the inlets. We are seeing dead fish and some polluted water stagnating on the edges.  Hopefully these can be remedied once sewage diversion is over and the monsoons rains flush this sewage out. We are also talking to experts on…

Rose ringed parakeet The Rose Ringed Parakeet is an occasional visitor to our backyard to eat seeds from the Rajamalli tree. They perch on one claw, use the beak and the other claw to zip open the pods and eat the seeds with a precision that would be difficult for us humans to match. These birds are very quiet when they perch but we often see them squawk noisily as they streak across the sky in groups of 4 to 6 birds. Contrary to popular terminology - these are not parrots. A good place to see parrots now is the Rio…

  Pic Courtesy: Girish S V   The Pied Kingfisher used to be a frequent visitor to the Haralur Lake before the lake was drained for renovation. While most kingfishers are predominantly blue in color, this one is black and white (referred to as Pied) and it has a very unique characteristic of hovering over the water before diving vertically into the water. Obviously this requires clear and unpolluted water for the Pied Kingfisher to make a catch. They nest in a hole excavated in a vertical mud bank about five feet above water. We can still see a few of…

This newsletter is shared fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.comVoting Day – Post mortem   The dance of democracy hasn’t ended! Election day. 17th April. Many of us went to our polling booths and did our good deed for the day, with a turnout of some 50-65% across the ward. Some of us couldn’t (thanks to voter roll mess ups) and some of us, sadly didn’t.   The Bellandur forum has been debating on this and active citizens want to understand the reasons - voter apathy is the biggest obstacle when residents associations try to get civic issues fixed - whether we…

Bangalore Central candidates at the BPAC debate. Pic: Shree D N Here are the Bangalore Central MP candidates' responses to common questions about the Lok Sabha General Elections 2014. This has been compiled by Bellandur ward resident, Nagesh. Candidates from all major political parties were asked some direct questions at the BPAC meet. A citizens' team from Bellandur emailed them a questionnaire. This document lists the verbatim responses of the candidates for both series of questions. Before you go through these responses, a few cautionary notes: The statements are reproduced “as is” basis. A fact-check may reveal that some of the…

Answers to the questions sent by residents from Bellandur ForumBy: Nandini Alva (Candidate for Bangalore Central from JDS)   1.If you get elected, what will you do, to prove to voters that you are honest and communicate to us about your work transparently? Will you commit to a monthly communication - email/website and/or public meeting? How can we residents send you our concerns and how will you act on those concerns? Nandini Alva: I will be launching a CitizensConnect platform shortly specifically to hear Citizen concerns and issues. This platform will have an office in each of the Assembly constituenciesunder…

Bellandur residents had posed a series of questions to all the candidates contesting from Bangalore Central for Lok Sabha Elections 2014. This is the email response we received from INC candidate, Rizwan Arshad.   1.If you get elected, what will you do, to prove to voters that you are honest and communicate to us about your work transparently? Will you commit to a monthly communication - email/website and/or public meeting? How can we residents send you our concerns and how will you act on those concerns?   There will be monthly updates on my official site and associated social networks.…

  Bellandur residents had posed a series of questions to all the candidates contesting from Bangalore Central for Lok Sabha Elections 2014. This is the email response we received from AAP candidate, V. BalaKrishnan.   1.     If you get elected, what will you do, to prove to voters that you are honest and communicate to us about your work transparently? Will you commit to a monthly communication - email/website and/or public meeting?  How can we residents send you our concerns and how will you act on those concerns?   I am committed to bring transparency in allocation, deployment, usage of…

Public Letter To PC Mohan, Bangalore Central from Bellandur Forum (RWA/Residents group of Bellandur - BBMP Ward 150)     Dear Shri Mohan,   Residents of our ward had been looking forward to hearing all candidates in a large public forum - unfortunately that has not happened. However we have a few questions for you, especially as the MP who has represented us in the last 5 years.   We will share your message with the 15000+ voters represented by the RWA members in our forum. Look forward to your response.   1. Give examples of 1-2 issues you have…