Vol. 12 Issue 2 Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore 04 Septemer, 2012

Exclusive

Vintu Augustine

Locals broke down the bound-

ary wall of a garbage dump and

set it on fire after a decade of il-

legal dumping.

Villagers took the law into their

own hands after repeated protests

fell on deaf ears.

The five acre dumping site near

Subbannaiaah Palya village, Kum-

balgodu was affecting the health

of children, according to villagers.

On July 31, a group of parents or-

ganized themselves and set large

heaps of garbage on fire after de-

stroying the boundary wall with a

hired JCB digger.

The whole area was filled with

acrid black smoke for three to four

days. The smoke subsided only

after rains hit the district.

The area had been a dumping site

of the BBMP for the last decade

and was well protected by a

boundary wall of cement bricks.

“For the last ten years, they have

been dumping the waste from the

west division of the city here. We

had been bearing with the stink all

these years,” said Muniappa,

a villager.

Many people, mostly children of

the village were affected by

breathing and respiratory prob-

lems.

People said that it was suffocating

to pass through the road near the

garbage site. But they could not

avoid it either as it led them to the

main road.

“So many trucks of waste used to

bring waste and dump it here

under the pretension that it would

be recycled,” added Venkatesh,

another resident.

The value of land was also af-

fected as no one wanted to buy

land near a garbage dump. “Our

land does not value anywhere near

the market price,” said one of the

villagers.

Villagers said that they had fre-

quently complained to the author-

ities, but never received a positive

response.

The fury of the people generated

by desperation over the constant

stink and health-related problems

finally gave way to the fire that en-

gulfed the whole area with suffo-

cating smoke.

The reaction of the people in the

form of violence directed at the

dumpyard has finally brought

garbage-dumping near Subbanna-

iaah Palya to a stop. A BBMP

official declined to comment when

asked about the issue.

Angry locals lay siege to garbage dump

Domestic violence cases in Ban-

galore have increased by over

240 percent since 2010.Only 766

out 2174 cases have been

through the courts, we can re-

veal.

Over 308 cases were reported in

2010 which rose to 1054 in 2011 -

an enormous leap with respect to

the growth in the domestic vio-

lence cases from 2010 to 2011.

A 240 percent increase in the num-

ber of domestic violence cases

was reported during the period.

According to C. Manjula, chair-

person of the the Karnataka

Women’s State Commission, on

an average, nine out of ten domes-

tic abuse cases go unreported, yet

the number is very high.

Rani Shetty, a counselor at Vanitha

Sahavani, a women’s helpline

said, “Saturdays are the worst days

as husbands end up beating their

wives under the influence of alco-

hol. Consequently, the numbers of

victims admitted in hospitals in-

crease by over 30 percent during

the weekends.”

Recently, Kannada actor Arjun

was thrown behind bars for ha-

rassing his wife Latashri. He had

been accused of allegedly harass-

ing her both physically and men-

tally for the last three months

under the influence of alcohol.

Assistant Commissioner of Police

Anand Sharma said,” It is a myth

that these cases are dominant in

the lower and underprivileged

classes, shockingly, a lot of the

complaints come from people with

a highly educated background’.

Whereas, the upper sections of the

society still manage to get an im-

mediate response for such issues,

other abuse victims hardly receive

any attention. Usually, the police

just issue warnings to the offender.

They believe that it is a personal

affair which the couples need to

sort out between themselves.

Manohar Hosea, a lawyer in the

Bangalore high court, said that one

of the victims, who filed a report

in 2007, is still running around the

courts to get justice.

The Domestic Violence Act, 2005

secures a woman’s right to hous-

ing, but it is applicable only after

the case has been addressed.

In the meantime, the victim may

be subjected to even more abuse

or left on the streets after being de-

serted by the abuser.

NGO’s like Ashraya women’s

center admit the victims do not re-

ceive any assistance from either

the courts or the police. Padma

Chidambaram, a counselor at the

same NGO, said that “we discour-

age the victims to keep in touch

with their husbands because when

they come to know about their lo-

cation, they often land up in the

NGO abusing the victim verbally

and physically”.

“I did not file a

case in the

court. It would

not make a

difference as

you do not get

justice on

time.

”

Cases of domestic violence spike: many cases unsolved Police reopen case of

dead Air Force cadet

An Indian Air force cadet had a

furious row with his best friend

a day before his body was found

on the railway tracks.

The police earlier believed that

Dhannajay Chaurasia had commit-

ted suicide, but have reopened the-

case after the victim’s mother told

them about the row.

Dhananjay Chaurasia was found

dead on the railway tracks on

Monday night. He was from Uttar

Pradesh.

Police claimed that a suicide note

was found beside the body.

However, forensic reports taken

after Chaurasia’s death indicate

seven mystery red spots on his

shirt which hint at foul play.

When asked about the spots,

Deputy Commissioner of Police,

East, said that the case was still

under investigation and that

further updates will be provided as

the case develops.

Police said they have been unable

to trace the friend he had a row

with, but the Superintendent of

Police said that more information

would be forthcoming in the next

couple of weeks.

News Digest

Red tape at govern-

ment offices stops

families from collecting

BPL cards.

Page 2

Plastic fumes choke

Cubbon Park;

authorities keep mum

Page 3

City lakes remains dry,

as departments feud

over upkeep.

Page 3

Four students from

same school steal the

show.

Page 4

25 o C I 0F

Partly cloudy

Wind: SW at 10 km/h

Humidity : 65%

Street kids turn to drugs

in desperation, says re-

port.

Page 3

Nijum RudraAmritha Ray

The garbage continued to burn for four days creating havoc in the village.

2 The Observer Thursday , 06 September 2012

Applicants for the BPL (Below

Poverty Line) cards are facing

problems in procuring them, as

newly implemented government

policies are leading to confusion

within the various departments.

The government has passed new

laws for all ration card owners to

submit their biometric data and an

income certificate to renew their

cards within three months.

According to the government

records, only 65,000 applicants out

of the 33 hakh applicants appeared

at the office of the Karnataka Food

and Civil Supplies Department to

collect their BPL card.

The problem lies in getting income

certificates and biometric data an-

alyzed to get BPL cards issued on

time. The process usually takes

more than 45 days to complete,

which the BPL families can’t af-

ford as Fair Price Shops are not

giving them their rations till

they’ve received their new cards.

Referring to the poor families in

Shivaji Nagar ,Mr. Riyaz Ahmed,

owner of a cyber café said, “Peo-

ple here are in urgent need of food

because they cannot afford to buy

it at the usual prices”. Mr. Ahmed,

was one of the 32 members, who

applied to the government for the

permission letter which sought to

understand the legality of the use

of the biometric system for the

BPL applications. “I can fight for

these people, but who will support

me?,” He asks.

The reasons for the delay is be-

cause of slow management by the

Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies

Corporation.

“There has been a lot of technical

problems in the office”, said

Sarita, Assistant Director of

KFCSC. She said that due to the

bulk printing of the cards and the

heavy graphical data involved, the

server in KFCSC keeps going

down.

Other problems contributing to the

slow procedure of BPL card is-

suance is the number of steps in-

volved which causes delay.

Applicants are supposed to apply

online and wait for food inspectors

in their districts for inspection.

Once the inspection is done, the

accepted applicants are sent a se-

curity code through SMS which

needs to be shown to photo centers

set up by the government.

Applicants are then informed

when they can collect their BPL

cards at Karnataka Food and Civil

Supplies Corporation Office, usu-

ally within 45 days.

“There are about four food inspec-

tors for each district, but there are

many BPL card applicants. So

everything is getting delayed”,

said Mrs. Sarita.

She stated that the food inspectors

are non-technical people who are

aged between 40-50 years which is

another reason for the delay.

BPL card applicants also need to

get an income certificate which

takes 21 days to be issued. They

wait in long queues outside the of-

fices.

“I came here at 5 A.M and now

it’s 1:30 P.M” said Mr. Ganesh,

who came to collect his income

certificate. He said he has been

coming to the office for the last

three days but the officials have

denied him a card every time.

Touts are also widespread in these

offices. “They asked me for 500

Rupees to get this work done in 5

days. It is extremely frustrating”,

Mr. Ganesh said.

Kriti Khandelwal

the elder ones dominate over the

younger members. Shinu says that

the elder boys help younger boys in

getting food and drugs, and

in return, the younger boys steal

food and money from passers-by.

“We can skip their meals but not our

inhalant bottles,” says another one

of Shinu’s friends.

Some of the street kids, who have

not turned into full-fledged addicts

as yet, work in factories illegally as

underaged laborers or as rag and

bottle pickers. “Our whole body

pains after work. We go to places

looking for rags. If we don’t do this

we will die” says 11 year-old

Nagesh.

Almost a thousand women have

gone missing in Karnataka in

the last two years, according to

statistics provided by the Banga-

lore City Police.

There have been 714 cases of

missing women registered in the

last 7 months, 304 of whom are

teenagers aged 15-18.

Of the 304, missing teenagers, 58

girls are still classified as missing

by the police.

Last year’s statistics conclude that

there have been 579 reported cases

of missing teenage girls, out of

which 109 are yet to be traced.

Also, in the last seven months, 410

women over the age of 18 have

gone missing. Statistics from the

previous year reveal that there are

a total of 546 women who are pre-

sumed missing by the police till

this very day.

Superintendent of Women Welfare

Center of the Government Recep-

tion Office, Ms. Vasanthi said that

“from north Karnataka, women

are trafficked to states like Maha-

rashtra and Goa.”

When asked about human traffick-

ing she said "Two Bangladeshis

who were victims of human traf-

fickficking have been rescued

from Bangalore." She also said

that “these women are generally

trapped by agents — promising

them jobs and education. The

agents, after luring the women,

then traffic them to other states,

usually to work as cheap labor or

as prostitutes.

According to the superintendent of

the Child Welfare Center “the

number of missing children in the

state is also very high. Children

are chiefly used for begging on the

road,” she said.

Different conclusions are being

drawn on missing cases. Some au-

thorities say that these girls usu-

ally elope with their lovers, but

welfare organizations say that the

truth lies buried in the roots of

human trafficking.

Almost 1,000 women disappeared

in two years, official statistics say

Urmi Sengupta

Sidharth Shekar

BPL applicants waiting outside the KFCSC office - Kriti Khandelwal

Street kids turn to drugs in

desperation, says reportRed tape at government offices stops

families from collecting BPL cards

A NIMHANS study suggests that

three out of every four street kids

are using hard drugs on a daily

basis.

The study says that of the 281 chil-

dren studied, 197 were regular drug

users. A large section of street chil-

dren, close to 78.7 percent are using

various inhalants and cannabis.

In the Kempe Gowda bus station in

Bangalore, an 11 year-old rag picker

says regularly sniffs glue and other

inhalants like Dendrite and Erazex.

He says that it helps him stave off

hunger.

Another runaway, Shinu, is thirteen

years old and says he is from

Andhra Pradesh. He says that he left

home after his father beat him after

getting drunk. When asked if he

missed his home or his parents, he

simply says, “No. I don’t. The other

children are my family and the

street is my home.”

Shinu, along with a community of

eight other children, all aged 10 - 15

years, live together on the streets.

Like how all systems work, even

this community has a hierarchy and

Picture of

the week

A child scavenging for empty

bottles.

3 The Observer Thursday , 06 September 2012

Delays in issuing tenders have

halted development work at the

Bommasandra Lake.

Ashwanath Narayan,a Kodighealli

corporator says that six crore ru-

pees have been sanctioned for the

development and refurbishment of

the lake, but says that the issuing

of tenders for the project is still in

progress.

Ansari, a localite, said “A few

years ago, the untreated sewage of

Yelankhana was let into the lake.

The lake used to stink. And just

two years ago, after a lot of ap-

peals, there were high hopes for

the restoration of the lake when

the Lake Development Anthority

drained out untreated sewage

water. However, they did not re-

inject the water into it.”

However, the Executive engineer

of lake, Chandrashekhar, initially

said that he did not know about

any money which was allocated

for the restoration of the lake, but

later reneged on his original

stance, saying that if any money

had been sanctioned, then it would

have gone to the LDA.

Manjunath, who is a resident of

the area surrounding the lake for

the past three decades said that the

lake has been dry for the past six

years.

“During summers we face a lot of

water problems as our bore wells

also run dry. I have to spend Rs.

900 a month to call a tanker,” he

added.

“Lake water is important for both

human and animal around it. It

helps keep the bore wells around

the area alive and it gives a place

to dwell for aquatic life.” said S.

Viswanath, advisor of the Rainwa-

ter club, a body which monitors

and comes up with innovative

plans for better water manage-

ment. “Water can be restored by

letting treated waste water into the

lake. For that Bruhat Bangalore

Mahanagara Palike has to build a

sewage plant near it,” he said.

Manjunath remembers boating

across the lake as a child. Today he

feels bad that he cannot take his

children to the lake. His children

are clueless whether the lake even

existed, he says. “My children

don’t even know there was a lake

at this place,” says Manjunath,

pensively.

The lake is spread across 120 acres

of land extending across three

areas Vidyaranyapura, Kodighealli

and Dood Bommasandara.

The coordinators for the upkeep of

the lake shirk responsibility and

blame each other for the lake’s

continued neglect. They refuse to

accept responsibility.

Electronic shops near Kumbal-

godu are overcharging patrons.

A shop owner sold a 4 GB pen

drive with the printed M.R.P as

Rs.259, for Rs.380 to a student in

Kumbalgudu.

Various electronic items have

also reported to have been over-

charged by store owners in the

area .

They sell electronic gadgets like

earphones whose price tag sticker

has been removed or

scratched. This is the same case

with pen drives in another shop

in Kumbalgudu where the price

is Rs. 350 for a 4GB pen drive.

According to the norms laid

down by the Legal Service India

(LSI):“maximum retail price

means such price at which the

product shall be sold in retail and

such price shall include all taxes

levied on the product.” The LSI

on its website also mentions that

it is an offence to sell goods at

prices exceeding what is marked

on the product.

Another shopkeeper of electronic

goods sells goods at marked

prices except on imported goods.

He said: “We always sell pen

drives under or on par with the

MRP, if they are imported from

Indian cities like Chennai and

Mumbai.” He added that they

only charge Rs. 20 extra if prod-

ucts are imported from China,

which is the transport cost paid to

the supplier.

The people of Kumbalgudu do

not have any idea about the prac-

tice and pay whatever is cited by

the shopkeepers. A resident of

Kumbalgudu Krishna said: “We

just pay and buy. We usually

don’t check the price tags.”

Patrons fleeced by greedy shopkeepers

Piles of plastic waste are being

burned inside Cubbon Park, as

visitors fail to obey the ban of

plastic inside the park premises.

More importantly, the ambience

and the greenery, which made the

park a hub for walkers and

tourists, is being destroyed by lit-

terbugs who fail to dispose of plas-

tic waste appropriately.

The accumulated waste, after

being collected is burnt in large

piles by the caretakers of the park.

And though the Horticulture De-

partment has appointed many

caretakers to manage plastic waste

inside the park, officials say they

are powerless to stem the tide as

garbage collection is irregular and

there is a lack of dump yards in the

area, further exacerbating the

problem.

Though the state government

banned the burning of plastic in

2005, under various wildlife and

environmental acts, the park con-

tinues to burn its plastic waste in

full view of the public.

Cubbon Park comes under the ju-

risdiction of Horticulture Depart-

ment of Karnataka. The park used

to spread across 370 acres, but

now, it has shrunk to a little less

than 200 acres because of the in-

fringing buildings of the Vidhana

Saudha, the High Court of Kar-

nataka and the MLA hostel.

This hazardous activity is done

generally at around 10 a.m. The

time is particularly chosen by the

caretakers so that the number of

people in the park is minimal.

This practice inside is the primary

cause of annoyance for many reg-

ular visitors. For instance, Na-

gappa, a regular visitor and a

citizen of Bangalore since 1951

says, “the burning of plastic

wastes inside the park creates air

pollution and it is very unhygienic

too. We, the common people and

the regular visitors of the park

have complained about it but the

authorities have not taken any ac-

tions in this regard”.

The workers and the care takers

have different tales to tale. Raju, a

worker of the park said, “The

burning of waste materials is not a

regular practice. Sometimes they

burn waste papers so as to clean

the park. As far as plastic waste is

concerned, it is being collected by

the workers of the park so that reg-

ular visitors of the park do not feel

inconvenienced.”

Plastic fumes choke Cubbon Park; authorities keep mum

Sumit

The dilapidated condition of the

service roads in Bellandur has

created a nuisance to the resi-

dents living in the apartments

along it.

It has been more than two years

now that a flyover was constructed

on the outer ring road in Bellan-

dur. The flyover, today, functions

smoothly but the adjoining stretch

of service road dug up during the

period still needs repairs. Big pot-

holes have resulted in narrowing

of the road which leads to heavy

traffic congestion at peak hours.

The residents of the Citilights

apartments located along the same

stretch are those who are directly

affected by the poor condition of

the roads . Mr. Jairam, secretary of

the apartment block said that nu-

merous complaints lodged with

the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar

Palike have fallen on deaf ears.

“BBMP officials blame it on the

Bangalore Development Author-

ity. A BDA official, Jairam, how-

ever assure us of proper action.

During the rains, the residents face

further problems as water col-

lected in the potholes overflows

into the parking area of apartments

situated at a lower height. . "After

all the complaints made and action

has been assured, we have ad-

justed with the situation. Do we

have another option?” asked

Swayam Sinha, a resident of block

61 B of the apartment.

The resident also find it very dif-

ficult in commuting to and from

their offices due to the frequent

traffic jams on this stretch .

City lake remains dry, as departments feud over upkeep

Neglected city road poses risk to motorists

Rohan D. Premkumar

Hawking during the festivities is

an avenue for low wage laborers

to earn extra money for them-

selves and their families.

For most Indians, Independence

Day might be just an occasion to

celebrate the freedoms which have

been achieved through continued

struggle.

But for some people empolyed as

security guards, salesmen and un-

employed immigrants, Independ-

ence Day is an occasion to sell

themed paraphernalia such as

flags, hood ornaments and posters

to passers-by in areas like Cubbon

Park and Lalbagh

“When everyone is celebrating

their independence or a holiday

like Diwali, we are usually selling

items on the streets to supplement

our income,” says Kumar, who

also works as a security guard in

the UB City mall.

Kumar and his friends, who are

also part-time hawkers, say that

they earn up to Rs. 400 in profit

during the festivals. “We have to

earn extra money during the holi-

days. Our families depend on us to

provide them with some money

during the holidays,” says Ka-

maal, another hawker.

One of their major problems when

selling items on the street is the

police, they add. “They do not let

us sell items on the main road.

And though they are sympathetic

sometimes. We have to run when

we see them, because they might

fine us,” says Kumar.

Independence Day throws up unique hawking opportunities

A pasture land or a lake? - Nikita M

“My children don’t even

know therewas a lake at

this place.

“

-Manjunath,localite

Shreya Mukherjee

Plastic waste being burned at Cubbon Park - Shreya Mukherjee

NikitaMalusare

- Sumit

Pyusha Chatterjee

The Observer

Team

4 The Observer Thursday , 06 September 2012

Four students from same school steal the show

Madiwala police officers are in-

creasingly reluctant to solve

cases where mobile phones have

been stolen.

Officers refused to file complaints

in cases involving mobile phones

and even manhandled people who

requested a follow up on the com-

plaints.

Victims of theft claim that the of-

ficers consider these cases as

petty.

Victim Kiran Rajagopalansaid that

when he went to the police station

to lodge a complaint, the police

officer refused to take it.

He claims they didn’t even ac-

knowledg the case and verbally

assaulted him when he asked for

an update.

When Anirban Chowdhury, a res-

ident of Madiwala, went to report

his stolen mobile he claims police

refused bacause he mobile cost

below ten thousand rupees.

Z. Baing, the sub-inspector of

Madiwala police station, said that

these kind of cases are quite com-

mon. He also added that the latest

statistics point to an average of-

seven cases of mobile theft regis-

tered every month.

He added that the insurance com-

panies plays a role in provoking

the person who lost his/her mo-

bile into filing a complaint.

Baing also said that he is aware of

people who are involved in mo-

bile theft and promised to act on

any complaints the department re-

ceived.

Kiran Rajagopalan also said that

these incidents are not limited to

Madiwala police station but also

to Koramangala and other police

stations.

He said the incidents were affect-

ing people as they lose faith in po-

lice officers.

Cops refuse to file

reports against stolen

mobile phones

Four young girls from the same

school and class have been se-

lected for the under-16 girls’

cricket south-zone tournament.

The girls - Aksa, Rakshita, Rithika

and Pratheeksha are students of

Vanita Vidyalaya English Medium

School, Belgaum. They study in

class VIII.

They beat over75 other girls from

all over Karnataka.

It came as a great surprise when

the selectors chose all four girls

from the same school and grade,

something that rarely happens.

Selectors were impressed and are

confident in their performance for

the upcoming matches.

Mr. Nagaraj, Coach of the under-

16 girls cricket team said: “ From

the moment I started coaching

these girls, the four of them have

shown immense confidence, ea-

gerness and will to play,which I

rarely find, especially in girls.”

" We have high hopes for them for

matches to come in the future,”

said one of the selectors."

The girls are clear about what they

want to do in their lives and have

clearly decided that cricket is what

their career would be." said their

coach.

The south-zone under-16 cricket

tournament will be commencing

from September 3.

As the training sessions are going

on, the girls are equally excited

about the matches.

Aksa, south-zone wicket-keeper,

said: " The tournament will be a

turning point in my life. I really

hope that I play well and win for

the sake of everyone, including

my family."

The girls’ coach said that he also

believed that the girls would go on

to become very good cricketers, if

they keep up the hard work.

Deepu Aby Varghese

Priyanka Roy

Publisher : I ndia Institute ofJournalism and New Media

Address : Opp BGS InternationalResidential School, Kumbal-agudu, Kengeri, Bangalore,

Karnataka

News Editor : Rohan P

Sub Editor : Nikita M

Photo Editor : Kriti K

Page Editors: Shreya M, Sumit D,Pyusha C, Deepu Aby Varghese

Proof Readers : Urmi S, PriyankaR , Vintu A, Amrita R, Sidharth S

Printer : Lotus Printers, 32/25,@nd Main road, Sir M. V. Indus-trial Town, West of Chord Road,

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Mail us at: mail@iijnm.org

Rhetoric - Sidharth Shekhar

Budding stars on the path to glory - Deepu Aby Varghese