To see the manifesto created by many citizen volunteers,

click here

and keep this for ready reference.

It’s you and I who are concerned citizens of Bangalore, and together, we can make a difference!

Cycle Rally – 7th March 2010

The Event: ‘Go Green Bangalore’ – A Cycle Rally in Bangalore on Sunday, 7th March 2010, 6.30 am.

The Task: Cycling 21 kms : Kanteerva Stadium – Hebbal Flyover – Kanteerva Stadium.

The Cause:

· To commemorate International Women’s Day.

· To tell Bangalore that it is time to Go Green and Healthy.

· To urge the Government to create cycling and walking lanes around the city.

Participation: Anyone and everyone who believes in cleaner and greener Bangalore. Beg, borrow, buy a cycle and be at Kanteerva Stadium. Email us and we will send you the application form.

Conducted by: Women Adventure Network of India (WANI), this event is being held in Bangalore, Nagpur, Jamshedpur, Mount Abu, Baroda and Surat.

Contact:

· Vasumathi Srinivasan: vasumathis@dataone.in

· Smitha Srinivasan: smithasrinivasan@gmail.com

Have you ever wondered what to carry with you on a long ride? Have you been puzzled by how to administer first-aid to a fallen bicyclist? Have you seen bollywood movies where the hero beats on the chest of the his sweet-heart and brings her back to consciousness and wondered if that is really needed? Do you know why a male army doctor and an ardent bicyclist carried a sanitary napkin with him on our trip to Muthathi?

Find answers to all your questions on Saturday, February 20th at 6PM in the evening at our BOTS. Click

here

for location.

Dr.Major Srinivas, an army major and a doctor will be giving us a CPR and First Aid session on how to really be there for a bicyclist friend should he/she fall. He will also give us tips on how to take care of ourselves should we fall (god forbid). Let’s all thank the doctor for his time and effort in making this session happen. Let’s also thank Rohan (as always) for allowing us to use his facility and arranging a projector where the doctor will show a powerpoint presentation.

Please do show your support for a fellow bicyclist and your for own self by learning from the invaluable knowledge the doctor will impart. The best part, in the true BBC spirit of gaining critical mass for bicycling, this session is being organized for free.

1. What is Bus Day?

It is a daylong event promoting Public Transport in the city of Bengaluru on February 4th, 2010. It is an event calling all the citizens of Bengaluru to use Public Transport on Feb 4th for all their getting about in the city.

2. What is so special about Bus Day?

Bus Day has been suggested by few enthusiastic citizens . The idea behind Bus Day is to observe the changes which can be brought in the city in trying to respect · Environment · Traffic Situation · Health of individuals · Perception

3. What should be done on Bus day?

We should not use our private vehicle for one day. We use public transport, walk a little more, and tolerate waiting time.

4. Who are the people participating in Bus Day?

It is an event for all citizens of Bangalore, as well as for corporations existing in Bangalore. In other words all the individuals, companies, govt organizations, auto rickshaws, BMTC, Bangalore police… and everyone who lives in Bangalore and feels responsible for the enviroment of the city.

5. What is the responsibility of these participants?

Everyone has to either use or help others to use public transport. · As an individual we should not use our cars for the day, and only use public transport. Companies should permit all employees to come to the office by bus; Auto Rickshaws should take (hopefully) fair fare; the Traffic Police should take care of pedestrians on the day.

6. How can “Bus Day” be a success?

Bus Day will be success if we feel that roads are not congested….thatthe air is fresh..that there is less honking… If we can see a change in the traffic around us….if we cannot see the smoke rings around street lights in the night….if we can see winter fog instead of pollution fog …if,in the night sky,we can see the stars clear and bright.

BUS DAY has been planned for Thursday the 4th of February 2010 .On that day we request you to leave your personal vehicles behind and JUST TAKE THE BUS to commute!

1) Survey Link: BMTC requests you to pass this link to their survey on to everyone. It will be great if we can have the responses by sometime next week (earlier the better). An event flier ( timings, schedules and routes etc) will be emailed to the public, after receiving the responses.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGNvOGxYNzdacktOdXpJVFduc1dHVWc6MA

Environment Support Group ®

invites you to a talk on

Changing Ideas of Rights, Wrongs and Public Interest

(Enquiries into Changing Role of State vis a vis sovereignty, eminent domain, impoverishment and the return of the Contract)

On Friday, 27th November 2009
By

Usha Ramanathan

Time: 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm
Venue: Ashirwad, St. Marks Road (Behind Kabab Corner), Bangalore

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Mobilicity: Unconference

Imagine Bangalore as a city where it is pleasant and safe to walk to shops, parks, schools, or work. Where streets are safe to cycle on; for children, senior citizens and the physically challenged to cross. Where your work place is easily reachable by bus or rail. Where it is safe to bicycle or walk to the nearest metro station or bus stop. Where buses move quickly in bus lanes and get priority at traffic signals. Where you do not have to shout over traffic noise to have a conversation, and are not suffocated by traffic fumes at congested streets.

The key to realising this vision is Sustainable Transport.

Join us at the city’s first sustainable transportation Unconference!

Mobilicity

At MobiliCity, a diverse group of citizens and experts will engage in open dialogue, share ideas, and propose forward-looking strategies and solutions for accessible, equitable, efficient and environmentally sustainable transportation in Bangalore.

Date: 21 November 2009
Time: 9:30 AM
Venue: CiSTUP, IISC

Mobilicity is co-hosted by Praja and CiSTUP.
To know more about Mobilicity, go to mobilicity.praja.in.

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I was sitting in my car at a traffic light the other day and happened to look upwards. What a beautiful sight I thought to myself. The branches of the tree grew outward, with its leaves covering nearly the whole road extending till the other side providing shade from the sun to me and other commuters on 2 wheelers, cycles and other forms of transport. For a moment, I just stared upwards at the cover of leaves feeling lucky that we still have that in Bangalore.

But for how long? We’ve all seen how many trees are getting felled. How the Metro has destroyed some of our best roads. But we’ve got to make efforts, we have to do everything possible to retain our green cover, plant more trees, start thinking in a more eco-friendly manner.

It’s heart-warming to see people cycle to work nowadays – all geared up with their helmets and face masks – what a great step it is towards de-clogging our roads. It’s one less person in a car. Imagine, if even a few thousand of us got onto bikes and cycled to work, what a change this city can see! I tried cycling to office myself one day to see if I could manage the traffic. And yes – it was bad – but I made a start. Now, at least I know I can do it.

And I don’t think it’s that big a deal once you start. Yes, there’s traffic. But you’re being a part of the solution, not the problem when you start looking at eco-friendly ways of commuting instead of the fuel guzzling alternatives. Try it out sometime – maybe once or twice a week. It’s worth it. You’ll realise that a 10km distance on a cycle is actually not much at all.

And besides you’ll have the intense satisfaction that you’re doing your bit towards making Bangalore traffic more bearable. Many people say they “can’t” do it, that they can’t handle the traffic. But I don’t believe this is true – anything is possible – you just need to start. Even in our vehicles we have to battle traffic. It’s the same thing on a cycle, except that you’re on 2 wheels and it’s actually sometimes easier! I went from not knowing how to cycle (last year) to slowly making my way around on cycle in Bangalore and hopefully will be more confident in traffic in a couple of months. It’s an effort but it’s definitely worth taking!

Here’s an initiative that believes in “Doing good while doing well“. Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to use the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world.

When : July 17, 2009
Where : Bangalore – From home to office/college and back home
Who : You, me and every Bengaluru resident.

And not just the 17th, let’s sustain this everyday!

More details here:
http://gogreen4netimpactbangalore.eventbrite.com/

Facts we should worry about:
1. Bengaluru’s population is about 8 million.
2. Bengaluru is considered to have the highest density of traffic in the world.
3. Traffic population is doubling every 5 years.4. Road space used by a person in a bus is 3% of a person in a car and 5% of a person in 2 wheeler.
5. Air Quality Index (AQI) is between 150-300 in different areas of Bengaluru. AQI>100 is severe air pollution.
6. Bengaluru has the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world.
7. About 40 lakh ltrs of petrol and 80 lakh ltrs of diesel is consumed each day in Karnataka alone

”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

Earlier this week(April 13 and 14), the Bangalore Metro Rail corporation (BMRCL) has demolished over 500 feet of Lalbagh’s wall and cut down 5 eucalyptus trees inside Lalbagh. BMRCL proposes to have a Metro station inside Lalbagh itself – Bangalore’s distinctive botanical garden!

Lalbagh is protected by a separate, stringent law. In a highly undemocratic move, the Karnataka Government changed the law by moving an ordinance to acquire Lalbagh land for the Metro, rather than prefer a debate over the changed law, in the Assembly. The opposition has also failed to protest this undemocratic move.

Lalbagh and Lakshman Rao Park on R.V.Road, (also called the AC Road, Nanda Road ), both major landmarks and heritage of Bangalore are being destroyed for the Metro. This when the High Court is hearing PIL over alternatives in Metro alignment.

What seems like a minor portion of Lalbagh gone today will surely lead to greater portion of the park being taken away to create parking zones and malls that the Metro plans at its stations.

When they sought clearance, Metro authorities claimed trees on Nanda Road will be pruned, and not felled. Now they want to cut 323 trees on Nanda Road(R.V.Road) alone.

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The central business district is encircled b y these new HOHO (Hop on Hop off) bus routes, I manage to stand in front of one HOHO point near UB city and took this map for all….haven’t’ you tried hopping on one!!