Sunday, 23 October 2016

Agara Lake mini-Forest clean-up drive, 23rd Oct 2016





 


Agara Lake mini-Forest clean up drive was taken up to remove the garbage that is been getting dumped due to the near by BBMP garbage transfer point. The curse to this mini-Forest that is a creating of Citizen enthusiasm is the BBMP irresponsibility in managing garbage and the transfer points. HaSiRu Mithra team clean the mini-Forest, cleared all the garbage and also closed the gate that was being used to only throw garbage. We hope BBMP considers HaSiRu Mithra suggestions and shifts the transfer point, because if the transfer point is on the main road it will only get used to dump more garbage around.  

Saturday, 9 July 2016

#PotholePooje 11th Cross, 9th July 2016

‪‎PotholePooje‬ was organised by HaSiRu Mithra offering prayers to potholes in HSR Layout not to injure or kill citizens. Sector 2 RWA, Residents, School Children, Walkers, People who were driving through the area took part in the Pooje and prayed for every ones well being.
This was a unique protest against the apathy of BBMP n Elected Representative, even after repeated request the authorities have not taken any steps to fill the potholes or better the road condition.
For over 8 years asphalting has not need done in most of HSR Layout n the increasing bad condition of the roads are posing a great danger for citizens.
We home at least now authorities will take measures and address this serious issue of bad roads in HSR Layout.

Wednesday, 6 July 2016

#KillBills now a Bengaluru Campaign


#KillBills is now a citywide event, BBMP & B.PAC on 2nd July took the HaSiRu Mithra initiative across the city with over 30 Wards participating from all 8 BBMP Zones. BCLIP, Civic Hubs, RWAs, NGOs & Citizen groups took on the fight against 'Visual Pollution' to the streets. 

Every Ward had a local Team and had identified a distance of 1-2 Kms where they would be removing the Posters, Bills, Banners, Flex etc that were either stick, tied or simply dangled. HaSiRu Mithra has already completed the 27th Main stretch and 17th Cross from NIFT to Nandini cool joint junction, so the choice was obvious and it was decided that the stretch from Nandini cool joint junction to BDA Complex will be taken up. 

With volunteers from Govt Degree College the HaSiRu Mithra Team and the BBMP PKs and Staff lead by Mr Vinayak the fight against 'Visual Pollution' started at 7.30am. Everyone seemed more than happy to bring down the ugly Banners, Flex and were seen ripping off the Posters & Bills stuck of Trees, Electric Poles. by 10.00am the #KillBills team reached and cleared most of the 'Visual Pollution' around BDA Complex and the tractor was a full load of ugliness. There is hope that BBMP will file cases against these illegal and ugly Posters, Bills, Banners, Flex that are defacing the locality and city. 

HaSiRu Mithra will be submitting a report on list of offenders BPAC which will be then sent to BBMP for action. With more citizen participation and vigil it will not be difficult to put an end to the 'Visual Pollution' in Bengaluru. 

Saturday, 2 July 2016

Minutes of the Meeting 25th June 2016

Members: Ward 174 & 190 Contractor Team lead by Rupesh & Shankar Reddy, BBMP HI Mahesh, Lalitha, Kavitha

Objective: Streamlining of Garbage Collection & Transportation, Brining is transparency, Information sharing

Points discussed:

Segregation: It was indicated that during collection all the households who are not segregating waste has to be told to segregate waste and a proper escalation process to be followed in case of non-compliance, and action should be lead by BBMP HI.

It was also discussed that areas like Ibblur, Agara, RG Nagar should be given more emphasis of collections, as regular collection only can lead to reduction in black-spots and increase segregation.

The contractor of Ward 190 expressed his concern that other than the SSPalya area segregation is not happening in the Ward, it was suggested that if zones are created based on the number of households a targeted awareness drive like in SSPlaya can improve segregation.

Zones/Routes: Both Ward 174 & Ward 190 are divided into Zones/Routes with approximately 1000 houses each. This process will help in ensuring that the autos allocated are operated fully and will increase transparency in the collection process. The map of the same will be shared with all RWAs & Groups.

Bins in autos for Wet & Rejects separately: It was informed that Wet waste is collected both in Ward 174 & 190 directly in the auto leading to leaking water content on the roads and creating foul smell. The unhygienic and improper method had to be stopped, and since the rainy season is adding to the issue Bins in all autos has to be made mandatory. The contractors agreed that the Wet waste should not be collected directly but they have problems using the Bins as the transfer becomes difficult and autos may has to do additional trips to empty the Bins.

It was insisted that cleanness is critical and contractors have to find methods to lift the filled Bins to unload to compactor. It was agreed that in 1-2 Zones Bins will be tried for few weeks and the contractors will work on modalities to implement across zones. It was also told that this is an important issue and unless the cleanliness is not maintained no amount of efforts will bring results or satisfaction among residents. 

Audio: It was insisted upon that there has to be an Audio/announcement system that makes basic announcement about segregation and that it’s mandatory to segregate. Both the contractors have agreed to install Audio system in the autos in 15-20 days time. 

Information Boards: It was agreed that all autos will have A4 size sticker that will include Zone/Route #, Driver name, Driver #, Supervisor #, BBMP HI #, Ward #. It was also agreed that on providing the information the stickers will be sponsored by a NGO.

It was also told that all the autos should have pictorial representation of Wet, Dry, Reject waste Bins and 2-3 lines in Kannada & English about Waste Segregation, it was agreed that basic design will be provided so that it can be painted on both sides of the autos. 

Information handouts: There will be a handout/poster designed with Zone/Route #, Auto # Driver name, Driver #, Supervisor #, BBMP HI #, which will be shared with all RWAs, Groups, Citizens so that there is access to information and people can interact with them directly. Direct interaction of the citizens will also help in relationship building and better the quality of segregation.

Transfer point: Is a concern, with the ORR in front of Freedom School as the Transfer point the park and the area around is affected, the schools around have expressed displeasure due to the stink and the monsoon is adding to the misery and making the entire place unhygienic. An alternate Transfer point has to be considered, there are limited options but unless the transfer is not in a closed environment the random dumping will continue. Even though the Ward 174 contractor is getting it cleaned, the place is ending up as a black-spot and also spreading to the mini forest. This issue is still open and some thinking should go into this so that there is a permanent solution.

Sweeping: It has been noticed that both ward 174 & 190 road sweeping is not done on a regular basis, more so Ward 174, the contractor & BBMP Hi agreed that it is an issue that is pending and will be addressed shortly.

Point clearance: Many spots in Ward 174 & 190 are re-appearing every day, eg 7th Cross, 27th Main, Hosapalya bus stop and road behind Agara Govt School are some highly visible ones. It was agreed that just cleaning everyday will not address the issue, there has to be plan/solution that is long-term. BBMP HI suggested that weekly drives with citizen involvement, putting up few benches, planting few trees and getting a street vendor is occupying the black-spot will eventually erase the black-spot. It was also agreed that we will take up 7th cross point and beautify the place on a trial basis.  

Next immediate step: 1. BBMP HI to share information requested for stickers & information handouts. 2. BBMP HI to share date for 1st weekly clean-up drive in advance.

Thursday, 23 June 2016

TREEathon 23rd June - Govt PU College



 





















HaSiRu Mithra #TREEathon supported by Kaagaz Foundation & Civic Hub (a BPAC initiative) continued. Based on the inputs by Sector 1 RWAHaSiRu Mithra members met up with Govt Pre-University college Principal and identified opportunity to plant over 30 saplings. 

College students who are also part of College NSS, lead by Principal Mr Venugopal and supported by the Teaching staff had kept over 30 pits ready for planting of the saplings. The students has meticulously dug the pits maintaining proper distance between each pit and in a neat row.  

With much enthusiasm the students planted all the 30 saplings consisting of  Honge, Tori Matti, Mahogany, Indian Badam. The saplings provided by Kaagaz Foundation are over 2-3 years there by the survival rate of the saplings is much higher. Students also took an oath to maintain the saplings, nurture them and take care of them till they are on their own. 

Re-enforce the commitment to environment, cleaner and greener surroundings among minds is very important, being environmental cognizant can lead to a more sustainable living. 

It was wonderful to see the level of involvement and participation by the students and one can hope that with constant focus on the environment and issues related to the environment the young minds will we more better equipped to address the issues more effectively. 

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Black-Spot Fixing - 12th June 2016


On 12th June 2016, Karthik lead the Clean-up drive, Black-spot fixing & Beautification of a filthy dump point in SSPalya. Supported by members of HaSiRu Mithra, Citizens in the locality and most importantly by BBMP. The team cleared the long stretch of garbage and beautified the area with wall paintings and messages of cleanliness.  

Many spots cleaned and beautified by HaSiRu Mithra team are still intact, hope this one will stay good as well. Citizens who care about the locality are taking many steps for the betterment of the locality and to keep the locality Clean and Green, hope this inspires more citizens and who in turn not throw garbage at random spots and create black-spots.