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The Observer

The Observer @theweeklyobserver

An IIJNM publication

Three youths caught red-handed while trying to steal motorbikes | P 3

Vol 17, Issue 1

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Bands look for other venues after bars and pubs reopen | P 4

Engineering students to boycott classes tomorrow to protest year back system Barnana H. Sarkar barnana.h@iijnm.org

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ver three and a half lakh students studying under Vesvesvariya Technological Institue (VTU) across the state will call for a Black Flag Protest, on September 1, against the CBCS (Choice Based Credit System), and for the cancellation of the Critical Year Back system.

Due to the imposition of CBCS, as mentioned by Mr. Ravinandan, a member of AIDSO, the students are facing a delay in the arrival of their results.

Sometimes results appear only five hours before the next exam.

Mr. Ravinanadan also said that the university has compiled two semesters in one, as a result of which students have to appear for 16 exams in 50 days. The university has a rule that failing in more than 4 subjects would cause a year-log for the student in concern. However, due to the year back system, that needs a student to appear for supplementary exam, the student has to work for two examinations in a semester.

Students protest outside the VTU in Belagavi. Source:vtulink "A Lot of corruption is going on", said Christan Almeida, the former president of ICYM. He said that students now are com-

pelled to sit for 2 semesters in 4 months. He also said that the reevaluation process which takes place after the examination, de-

lays the publication of results even further. Christan Almeida spoke about the corruption indulged in by a former vice-chan-

cellor who had left the administration with "no money and completely bankrupt."

The executive councils conducted a meeting on August 30, 2017 to discuss the issue, as informed by the central working committee member of ABVP, Sunil Kumar. The principals of all colleges were meeting at the main campus in Belgaum on Thusday. The delibareations continued till late in the afternoon. in the evening. They will be given a day's time to make the decision. "We are hopeful that tomorrow we will get fruitful results." said Sunil.

The protest has been going on for the past 6-7 months and no action has yet been taken by any authority. VTU SSC member, Shravan Kumar, said that more than 400 crore has been seized by the central government; he said that it was all to be blamed on the irregularities in administration.

Regarding the boycott, he said, “Hopefully it will have an impact on VTU administration...if nothing happens we will go for a hunger strike.”

Piling garbage in Shivajinagar raises a stink The trash is also causing people to fall ill Arlene Mathew Arlene.m@iijnm.org

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iling up of garbage in several areas of Shivajinagar results in stench and the littering of wet and dry waste makes it difficult for people to walk on the roads. While much of it is cleared daily, there are a few areas where no cleaning happens.

Garbage is seen leaking into partly broken drains. A few lowlying shops are prone to getting flooded with drain water. Afroz Khan, a street vendor, told The Observer that dirty water floods

his shop after showers. ‘‘Waste water enters my shop every time it rains heavily, causing me a lot of inconvenience. We have complained to the BBMP, but they do not seem to care.’’

Nanda Kumar, a regular customer at the Russell Market, noted that the stench and unhygienic conditions are keeping customers away.

Some shopkeepers complained that parts of Broadway Road had not been cleaned for weeks.

Noushad Pasha, a shopkeeper, said,‘‘This is affecting us. People are getting sick. Just last month, a young child died of dengue.’’

Abdul Ajaz, a fruit vendor, says that he learnt to work with garbage around him.

The health inspector at the BBMP office, Venkatesh, said that the BBMP is doing every-

Garbage dumped near Russel Market in front of Golden Chicken Shop, on Broadway Road thing that it can to clean the streets. People of the area are not aware of the hazards of dumping garbage on the roadside. ‘‘It is the duty of the people to segregate

waste, but they are not doing it despite our spreading awareness.

The responsibility of keeping the area clean lies with everyone, not just the BBMP.”

Asked why the roads are filthy despite the Palike’s claim that they are cleaned daily, the Assistant Executive Engineer of the Shivajinagar BBMP office, Ansar Pasha, said it has to do with the daily routine of the shopkeepers. ‘‘Many shopkeepers in the area open their shops after 11.30 AM. By this time, the BBMP would have already cleaned up garbage.

Hence it will appear that the place is never getting cleaned.

Also, the waste that is left behind is mostly soil and debris. We do not collect that.” He also spoke about the difficulty in cleaning up roads after rain. Many areas become inaccessible due to flooding.

‘We are trying our best to clean the place. The people should use common dumping bins. This would make it easier for us to clean them,” he said.

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2 BTM drain becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes Debanjali Kabiraj debanjali.k@iijnm.org

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he drain in front of Dollar colony in BTM Layout has not been cleaned for more than six months. Residents of the area say they face various problems because of garbage dumped into the drain. The drain is lined by piles of garbage and rubble.

Residents of the area say the stench from the drain is unbearable. Sumathi, a shopkeeper, says the drain has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Because her shop is opposite the

The Observer Thursday, August 31, 2017

Stray canines at Kumbalgodu pose serious threat to locals Athul M athul.m@iijnm.org

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he residents of Kumbalgodu and neighboring areas are having a tough time because of the stray dogs. The dogs torment even the kids of the area, with most cases of dog bites happening at night. This has been an issue over the last two years.

Ganesh, a migrant worker currently living in Nityanandanagar, said that stray dogs had attacked him two months ago for which he had to take vaccinations. Geetha, a shopkeeper, explained how, on a day-to-day basis, pedestrians get attacked by these dogs. She said, “Four people have been bitten by stray dogs right in front of my shop last July”. The residents say that they have been constantly raising this issue to the Gram Panchayat, but the authorities have paid no heed. This adds on to their frustration of not having the Panchayat take care of waste accumulating in these areas, which the dogs feed on.

According to the figures collected from the Kengeri Gollahalli public health centre (PHC), on an average, 50-55 people have been bitten by these dogs since the last two years. Over the span of June and July of this year, a total of 19 cases have been registered. A staff nurse at Kengeri Gollahalli PHC, K. Subha, says this has become a regular issue, and that people constantly come to the health center to take rabies vaccinations.

Asked about cases of people being bitten by

A scene from one of the residential areas of Kumbalgodu stray dogs, Gram Panchayat officials say they have received no complaints.

There are many organizations in Bengaluru that claim to work for these dogs, including the "Voice of Stray Dogs”.

The BBMP’s animal husbandry wing works to rehabilitate these animals.

However, R.Manjunath, the bill collector at the Kengeri Gollahalli Gram Panchayat says that they never had to forward any complaint to them because they never received any.

The issue of street dogs threatening people remains unsolved, with authorities concerned claiming they have no information about it.

New building for Kengeri Govt College under construction Residents complain the drain is not cleaned properly drain, she is prone to mosquitoborne diseases.

Divya Muthu, a resident of the area whose house is just adjacent the drain, says garbage is piled up by her house. The residents have complained about it but no action has been taken.

Padmaja Machavolu, a resident of Dollar Colony, BTM I Stage, who lives right opposite the drain, says garbage was cleared recently following complaints by many residents, but the job was not done properly.

Padmaja says: “The cleaners come for the sake of it, but do not do their work”. Chandrasekar Nisarga, a resident of the colony, says streets of the area get flooded after heavy rain. Rainwater doesn’t flow into the drain as all outlets are blocked by trash.

Dr A.V. Mallika, a physician who has a clinic in the Dollars Colony, says a few dengue cases have been reported from the area.

The Assistant Executive Engineer at the Madiwala BBMP office wasn’t available for comments. However the BBMP Councillor, K Devadas, said that he does not have any information about garbage piling up in the drain. If he is shown the location, he will take a look at it.

Being funded by local legislator, and not govt Rachel Priyanka Dammala dammala.r@iijnm.org

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he First Grade Government Degree College at Kengeri still does not have a college building of its own, despite having been set up 10 years ago. Reason: A 2013 stay granted by the Karnataka High Court on its construction.

While half of the students study in a rented building, the other half has its classes held in a few rooms at the Government Middle School, Kengeri, allotted to them by local legislator S.T. Somashekhar in 2007. A new building is now being constructed in the Government Middle School premises- an initiative by Mr. S.T. Somashekhar, which will have an approximate of eight rooms.

After repeated pleas to the Department of Collegiate Education since its establishment in 2007, the construction of a building for the college began with the sanction of 1 acre of land and release of Rs 20 lakhs, of which Rs 65,000

MLA S.T. Somashekhar has given funds to constucts a college building in the premises of Govt middle school. had already been spent. However, in 2013, a resident of Kengeri, Ravindranath, filed a petition in the High Court stating that the place is a civic amenity site and a college building cannot come up there. The court accepted the petition and stayed construction of the building.

The staff and students of the

college reportedly staged a protest demanding construction of a building for the college on August 3,2017. However, college Principal S. Gaviappa said none of the staff members participated in the protest. Some students of the college were incited to take part in it by members of the Kengeri Nagarika Hitharakshana

Samithi.

Asked if the presence of degree students in the premises would affect the smooth running of his school, Principal of Government Middle School, Mr. Srinivas replied in the negative.

Students of the college and their parents were unavailable for comment.

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The Observer Thursday, August 31, 2017

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Three youths caught red-handed while trying to steal motorcycles They are part of a gang that stole Rs 80-lakh bikes

Anjana Basumatary anjana.b@iijnm.org

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broker named Mathew, threatened and demanded Rs 20,000 from four tenants for not renting an apartment under him. The tenants had rented the same apartment for a lesser amount via another broker.

Mrinmoy Roy, one of the tenants who is a Senior Operation Executive at Aegis Limited, said, “Mathew came around 8 PM on July 28th with a gun and demanded Rs 20000 from us.” He also threatened the broker via whom they had rented the apartment.

According to Mrinmoy, he and

Anjana Basumatary anjana.b@iijnm

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wo 18-year-old boys who allegedly stole motorcycles to lead a comfortable life and a 24-year-old man who stole bikes to take his girlfriend on long rides were caught on August 23, 2017,

by J P Nagar police.

JP Nagar Sub Inspector Eshwari Suresh said that Ranjith Ilangovan alias Vandel and Marimuttu Muniswamy alias Bike Raja, both 18, are from Ragigudda slum in JP Nagar.

The third accused, Wasim Akram, is from Sarabandepalya in Banashankari. They told police that they used to sell the bikes they stole because they were not paid enough as a bus conductor and a worker in a printing press.

Wasim Akram, a mechanic, posed as a rich man before his girlfriend; he never told her about his profession, police said.

Ranjith and Marimuttu were a part of 12-member gang that stole vehicles worth Rs 80 lakh in the past three months from different parts of Bengaluru. They had been caught before, but released because they were juveniles. They continued stealing vehicles after

Broker threatens tenants, extorts cash

Police at JP Nagar display the bikes stolen by the gang their release, police said.

Having turned 18 recently, they are now behind bars.

Acting on a tip-off, JP Nagar nabbed the three youths in front of the Central Mall, Ashok Nagar.

Police said they were trying to

break open the locks of motorcycles. They had sets of counterfeit keys, police said.

Ranjith and Marimuttu, who never went to school, stole to make extra money and live comfortably, police said.

Ranjith doesn’t have father, he lives with his mother, younger brother and sister. Marimuttu doesn’t have father either and lives with his mother, two elder brothers and two elder sister, a police said.

Drain work hits Chickpet shopkeepers hard Kritika Agrawal Kritika.a@iijnm.org

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he construction of a storm water drainage system on BVK Iyengar Road – under way for more than a month during monsoon – has badly affected the business of shopkeepers in the business hub in central Bangalore.

Pradeep Gupta, owner of Unique Lites, an electrical goods shop, complains “my sales are down by 50% due to this.” Tea stall owner Vijay notes “traffic has increased because the road has become one-way”. However, owner of Preetham Silks and Sarees in Pathi Mansion, Chickpet, said “my sales have not been affected too much because mine is a wholesale business”. But he has the same concern as the other businessmen: One-way traffic. Asked about the time period for the project, he said he had no idea of when the work would get done.

The project of constructing a drain was not supposed to be started in monsoon. According to the BBMP Councilor of Chickpet, Leela Shivakumar, “she told the contractors: Assistant Executive Engineer Indra Kumar and the

The apartment in Kundalahalli

The municipal work on BVK Iyengar Road is a great inconvenience, say shopkeepers and pedestrians

Assistant Engineer Mr. Prabhu and the local MLA to start the work after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, but the contractors went against her word.”

Officers at the BBMP’s Chick-

pet sub-division said they had no idea of what construction work is under way, saying it does not come under their jurisdiction.

They were also unaware of the problems it has created. Sajjan

Raj Mehta, former president of the Karnataka Hosiery and Garment Association and a trade activist in Chickpet, also had no idea of when this project will be finished.

the other tenants never agreed to take the apartment under Mathew, as he was asking for higher advance from them.

Mrinmoy had tried to track down Mathew’s office using an address one of the residents at Kundalahalli had provided him.

The address was of Poorva Enterprises in Whitefield. However, he couldn’t find any office at the specified address when he visited Whitefield.

Asked about Mathew, the shopkeepers in the area said, “Mathew has links with powerful people and police also cannot take action against him.” Mrinmoy also stated this as the reason why he has not filed a complaint against Mathew.

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The Observer Thursday, August 31, 2017

CITY

Liquor ban goes, but bands seek other venues Scouting for other spaces to perform Barnana Hemoprava Sarkar barnana.h@iijnm.org

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ue to the ban that was imposed on serving liquor within 500 metres of highways, the bands, performing original music at pubs in places such as Brigade Road, Church Street, M G Road, Koramangala, and Indiranagar have been losing out on their performance spaces.

With most musicians having given up on their regular 9-5 jobssuch as those in the IT sector and in medicine-for the sole purpose of going forward with their passion for music, they are now unable to make ends meet. Shivangi Vyasulu, who has attended at least 500 live gigs in the city, said, “The reason you go to a venue is so that you can unwind after a tiring day, have some

drinks and listen to good music.”

However, when venues stop serving alcohol, people are less willing to open up or sing along with the band. As a result, the band does not get the kind of response it used to from its audience. They instead prefer staying back at their jam pad to work on new covers and compositions.

The bands are planning on moving to the in-house music scene for their performances.

However, they do not consider it to be a better alternative, as a house-gig can accommodate only 30-40 people at a time. Moreover, since house-gigs are more confined, people want the bands to play music according to their preferences. The bars are actually the places where the composers could meet the Record-Label owners, maybe sign a contract or receive invitation for performing abroad. That is unlikely to happen at a house-gig, as bands will not, possibly, have the freedom to play music composed by them.

However, recently, bars at M.G.Road and Church Street

The Byto Blues band performs at a pub in Bengaluru have started serving alcohol after 9 PM; with some serving only wine. Akshat Kiran Kavidayal, the bassist and vocalist of the band Indi Graffiti, said, “I’ve never been a fan of mixing alcohol

with music…de-linking music from alcohol could help bring in more audience if music is played at neutral venues.” Vikram, a freelance drummer currently playing with a band called Sirious

Apple, said, “It depends on the kind of genre you are playing, like if I am in a metal gig, I would want beer. But then the Indian Classical bands would not prefer it. I am kind of okay, with no alcohol being served in the venue.”

Although most musicians are eagerly waiting for the live gigs at the pubs to resume, they are not much hopeful about the gigs happening anytime soon. “The gigs take at least a month to organize, so it will take at least a few more months to pick up. The promotion takes time.” said Harshith Hedge, the manager of the band 1 Fret Away.

While the musicians wait for the pubs to once again organize gigs and live performances, they are currently recording their own albums or singles. Many musicians are known to be working on producing a video against GST which has also affected the local music scene.

“Let’s see. We have no other option than to wait.” said Shivangi, while speaking about the campaign against GST.

Promise of help remains just that for ST Bed Layout residents Ayushi Singh ayushi.s@iijnm.org

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he residents of Srinivagilu Tank Bed Layout have not been paid compensation for the loss they suffered after heavy rain and water logging in their area as promised by the Bangalore Development Ministry.

M.G. Thimmaiah, a resident of ST Bed Layout, IV Block Koramangala, says their request for compensation to the Bengaluru Development Minister K. J. George during his visit to the area has had no effect.

“We are struggling to get our lives back on track. We have put in our own money to get repairs done,” Thimmaiah said.

Improper drainage and heavy rain led to digging of newly built roads in order to get the sewage systems and drains cleaned. This further led to bad road conditions said the residents. Mr Thimmaiah’s wife, said “We had lodged several complaints regarding lousy work on the drain that burst during the rain. But no action has been taken yet” K.R. Ramareddy, another resident said that his daughter, a medical student, lost all her notes and text books with the rainwater entering their house. “I have spent about Rs 3 lakhs on repairing my house, with absolutely no help from the BBMP or other authorities.” Said K.R. Ramareddy.

During his visit to the Layout on August 19, Mr. George had instructed the BBMP Commissioner and Mayor to consider the residents’ requests for compensation.

The festival of Ganesh Chathurthi was celebrated with gaiety and enthusiasm in Bengaluru on August 25. A large number of people are reported to have switched to eco-friendly idols of the elephant god .

Credit: Kritika Agrawal

The Observer Team EDITOR – Anjana Basumatary NEWS EDITOR – Kritika Agrawal COPY EDITORS – Arlene Mathew, Rachel Priyanka Repair work in ST Bed Layout, Kormangala, after damage caused by waterlogging and improper drainage.

“We are middle-class people who work hard and such ignorance from the government in times of need is really disappointing” said Komala, a teacher and resident of ST Bed Layout.

There have been about 50 water logging complaints earlier that received no response.

The residents have hired construction workers on their own to get the repairing done.

Dammala, Ayushi Singh LAYOUT DESIGNERS – Barnana Sarkar, Debanjali Kabiraj PHOTO EDITOR – Athul M