‘NEERUNDU NILAMUNDU’, a film by Bala Kailasam, is being screened:

Day: Saturday

Date: 10th October 2009,

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: ASHIRWAD, OPP. STATE BANK OF MYSORE, ST. MARK’S ROAD,

BANGALORE -560001; Phone: 080-22210154

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Simple steps to do if you see a tree being cut -
(Pls also read the full preservation of trees act for complete details , I’ve attached it with this email and am also pasting the link below -
http://hasiruusiru.org/joomla/images/stories/pdf/LawsAndPolicies/karnatakapreservationoftreesact.pdf)

Steps
Approach the contractor/workers cutting the tree. Ask them if they have the approval of tree officer, BBMP for cutting the tree.

If they dont have the order
Ask them to stop. Tell the that they are not authorised to cut trees and that they can be arrested for cutting trees without required permission. Please call the relevant tree officer.( Details in latter half of mail.)
Tell them the details – what’s happening and where. Ask her/him to come immediately and get the work stopped. If tree officer does not answer her/his phone, call their office number. If you dont get through to that, call the cops from the police station under whose jurisdiction the said road is located. Alert local residents and try and gather support (this could be counter-productive sometimes, they may want the tree to be cut) . And yes, pls take pics of the trees being cut.

If they have the order
Please have a look at the order and see what it says.
Does it have a BBMP seal? Does the order explicitly state that the full tree needs to be cut? Is it signed by the tree officer? Note – some times the tree officers permit the branches to be cut, but people use that to cut the whole tree. If permission is granted only for cutting branches, only branches can be cut, not the trunk. In case they have what appears to be a order, but the order looks fishy/incomplete, call the tree officer on cellphone/landline and inquire if permission has been granted.

In case they do have the order to cut trees and it looks like they have been granted permission, just double-check with the tree officer anyway. Call the tree officer on cell-phone/landline and speak to her/him confirming if an order has been passed to cut the trees in that location.

If they have the order and it looks like its genuine and the order allows felling of trees
If at the end you realise that the tree officer has granted permission to cut the trees, there is not much you can do at that moment to stop it. Ask the tree officer if trees are being replanted in the same area, to compensate for the trees being cut. If trees are not being replanted in the same area, thats a violation of the act.

Later, you can also file an appeal with the tree authority, BBMP against the
tree officer’s order.

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Environment Support Group is organising a workshop on ‘Understanding the
role and the importance of Wetlands in Urban spaces.’ The workshop will be
held on 26th September 2009 at the MariGowda Hall in Lal Bagh.

The various sessions are as follows:

-

Historical view of lakes in Bangalore
-

Current status of Lakes in Bangalore
-

Criticality of lakes for water security in Bangalore
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Urban Lakes as functional eco-systems
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Legal and Policy frameworks that govern lakes

The workshop aims to bring together Decision makers, Media, NGOs, Teachers,
Students and the general public.

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YWCA is one of the hosts of the International Film Festival spearheaded by the Bangalore Film Society along with other NGO’s on the issue of water which is to be held on the 4th 5th and 6th September 2009 at the YWCA Arathi No 7, 6th Block, Koramangala,Bangalore 560 095. Tel Phone: 25634813/22238574/ 9739047011.

Here are the names of the films which will be screened at Arathi. Water is becoming a
very crucial issue for all of us and for which we all need to be concerned
about.

Kindly make a note of the film to be screened on Saturday at 4.00pm Living
Water: In the beginning where the Directors of the film will be present and
will take up the discussion afterwards. So please come and be part of
viewing this film in large numbers.

There will also be an inauguration of the International Film Festival at
4.00pm on 4th September 2009 at Alliance Francaise. All are welcome to
attend the Inauguration.

For any further queries, contact Latha Paul, General Secretary,YWCA of Bangalore City, on

9739047011.

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Eco-friendly, “green” Ganesha Idols for the Festival

Here’s an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:

Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact

3419177 or 9342303247

or email Chandra Ravikumar at

chandraravikumar@hotmail.com

Here’s an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:

Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact

3419177 or 9342303247

or email Chandra Ravikumar at

chandraravikumar@hotmail.com

Perhaps this is one of the biggest desires everyone will have in the city, the Metro, with news claiming that the Metro network will be fully operational by September 2012..

“The project, consisting of seven underground stations, will be commissioned by September 2012. On completion, train service will be provided at an interval of four minutes initially, and it will be reduced to three minutes in due course,” BMRCL has committed to get the entire network ready by that month in an affidavit filed in the Karnataka High Court. Hope this deadline does not remain on the affidavit alone…

For all you Bangloreans who always wanted to have a say in shaping the city, heres your chance to be a part of it.

ABIDe, which stands for Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force is an initiative of Chief Minister, Karnataka, Mr B.S Yeddyurappa and comprises of several noted citizens and leaders who have come forward to build a better Bengaluru. Member of Parliament Mr Ananth Kumar is the Vice Chairman of ABIDe, Member of Parliament,Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar is the Convenor.
Since its inception, ABIDe members have put together a series of recommendations before the Government on specific issues
Ø  Regional Governance
Ø  Traffic and Transport
Ø  Heritage
These recommendations are contained in the reports published by ABIDe, and available online at www.abidebengaluru.in.  The recommendations also contain a blueprint for action by the government, to create rapid changes in the areas of focus.
At this juncture, the government is considering the Task Force’s recommendations to strengthen regional governance, and will very likely introduce legislation based on the recommendations in the coming months. At this time, we are keen to therefore seek the citizen’s inputs to refining the recommendations further, and to have your voice heard by the lawmakers as well. A series of public consultations is being scheduled in the city. The first such consultation will be held at the following venue:
National Games Village, Builder’s Club-Koramangala.
Date & Time: Sunday 12th July 2009 at 11 am
We hope you will attend this upcoming event, and help members of the ABIDe Task Force in gathering citizen inputs for subsequent action to build a better Bengaluru.
I look forward to seeing you this Sunday at the venue of the first public consultation.

Every time I drive by MG Road, or CMH Road for that matter, I wonder how long it’s going to take before we see an actual “Namma Metro” flag-off. I’m not keeping track of it every day, but here’s someone who is. Ravi Kumar who was on the author team at Metblogs is so driven about the Namma Metro project that he has two dedicated blogs – to give you regular updates. This way you can track the progress made, wherever you are in the world.

Workmen fix a gantry with the aid of two cranes near the Old Madras Road station on Route 1 of Bangalore’s Namma Metro project. Photo contributed by former Bangalore Metblogs author, Ravi Kumar, as he tracks the progress of Bangalore’s Metro project: Namma Metro at http://nammametrotales.wordpress.com. You can also see pictures of the project at his photoblog: http://nammametrophotoblog.wordpress.com

Citizen Matters, Bangalore’s own community news magazine, is planning a local
panel discussion & interaction on “Know more about water: water harvesting, water
quality testing, water diseases and more” at JP Nagar on 11 July, Saturday morning.
The panel will have both experienced citizens and experts demonstrating simple
techniques and ideas, and taking questions from the participants. The interaction
will run for around 1.5 hours.
at JP Nagar on 11 July, Saturday at 12.00pm to 1.30pm.

The panel
Mr Nagaraj (rainwater harvesting user at Jayanagar)
Mr Navneeth (Project Engineer, Indian Institute of Science)
Mr Sharada Prasad (Argyam, water NGO)
Dr Balagangadhar (Scientist, KSPCB)
Dr Robert Joseph (St Johns Hospital)

This will be an interactive session and will run for around
90 minutes.
Venue for this event is
Magnus School of Business
13th Cross, 6th main road
J.P.Nagar 3rd Phase
Thanka & Regards
Raghavendra,
9611106477
Ops & Mktg Lead, Oorvani Media
Publisher: Citizen Matters, Bangalore’s own newsmagazine

Citizen Matters online
http://www.citizenmatters.in

Citizen Matters print
http://www.citizenmatters.in/print
15,000 copies, available in JP Nagar+BTM only

”SHRADDHA CEREMONY”

The people of Bangalore deeply mourn the sad demise of our life giving trees, which lost their lives due to our callousness. We will be performing a , ”Shraddha” ceremony for them, on Sunday 24th May at 11am. Please join us to pray for the departed souls.

This condolence meet will be followed by a meeting on the next course of action to be taken to save LAL BAGH and our other PARKS

Venue

Park at 32nd Cross and Nanda Road Junction Jayanagar

Organized by

“Sanmathi” and “Hasiru Usiru”

Preferred dress : White dhotis sarees /dress