Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Cloudy sky with thundershowers.
🧐 Did you know? The Daily News is regarded as the first English newspaper from Bengaluru. It was started by PR Ramayya, who established the Bangalore Press.
📚 Demand for Japanese fiction
Japanese literature is seeing a surge in demand across the city’s bookstores.
What’s it about? At several city bookstores, a common sight is displays of Japanese literature like Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yogisawa.
- The crime and thriller genres are the most popular along with graphic novels. Now, there’s a demand for more light reads. Among them are fiction books like What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama.
- At Blossom Book House outlets, a minimum of 50 Japanese titles sell every month. They’re most popular among millennials and Gen Z. Previously, stores used to get translations of popular authors. Now, they get the works of new and first-time authors.
Korean too: The popularity of Korean works is also quite high, though not as much as their Japanese counterparts. While younger readers prefer Japanese fiction, older ones go for self-help books from Japan and Korea.
🌳 Tree census worries
The BBMP’s tender for a tree census has concerned activists that it won’t be thorough.
What’s it about? According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the census will only focus on a tree’s girth and species name. These will be entered into the application developed by the Karnataka Remote Sensing Institute. However, environmentalists are concerned that the scope of the exercise is too limited.
- Among the suggestions proposed are to increase the parameters like approximate age, the date of recording, botanical name, and flowering seasons.
- Activists say the survey’s purpose should be to maintain the diversity of tree species and ensure ecological balance. Without certain details and data, achieving this will be impossible.
Response to the tender: According to BBMP officials, the tender has received good responses, and several agencies have come forward to participate. Once the contract is awarded, the census could begin next month.
🌊 Buffer zones to be cut
The government will cut buffer zones along the Kumudvathi and Arkavathi rivers near the city.
What’s it about? The buffer zones for the two rivers will be cut in accordance with decisions taken four years ago. However, an environment policy research group opposed the decision since it could hamper river rejuvenation.
- 1 km on either side of the rivers is called the buffer zone. The decision to reduce them by 50% was taken in 2019 and 2021. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said since the urban development department didn’t act on it, farmers in the region suffered.
- When the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) studied the issue and submitted its report in 2015, it asked the government to maintain the existing buffer zone till there was an authority to protect both rivers.
History: In 2019, before the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress government, then development minister G Parameshwara held a meeting where it was decided the buffer zone would be reduced by 50%.
🚇 Purple line performance
As ridership increased due to the new Purple line, passengers complained of long queues and low headway.
What happened? On Monday, the first day of the entire Purple Line being operational, ridership reached nearly 7 lakh. With the increased passenger flow came long lines at stations and poor crowd management.
- Monday saw more than 61,000 passengers on the stretch between Whitefield and Baiyappanahalli. Previously, the average daily ridership between Whitefield and KR Pura was 28,000. Metro officials expect the average daily ridership to reach 7.5 lakh.
- The Bengaluru Metro said it’s running 33 trains of six coaches each on the Purple Line with 180 trips daily. Due to the rush, they were forced to run Green Line trains on the Purple Line. Women found it difficult to board the first available train at many stations due to the crowd.
Overall ridership: For September, overall ridership was below 6 lakh. This was possibly due to the three bandhs on 10, 26, and 29 and several public holidays. On average, the September daily ridership was 5.8 lakh compared to 6.2 lakh in August.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you live in an apartment complex or a private house?
- I live in an apartment complex.
- I live in a private house.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite cultural landmark in the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The Bangalore Chorus will host a concert this weekend in aid of the Jeevaranthi Foundation.
- A hospital study showed the need for effective psychiatric emergency services to deal with mental health issues.
- Learn the history of Dasara for the city and its connection to Mysuru and the Bengaluru Palace.
- Gandhi Bazaar road has become a hassle and civic officials have scrapped the pedestrianisation portion of a wider infrastructure project.
- The Jewellers Association will organise the much anticipated Bengaluru Gold Festival between October 15 and November 30.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I prefer walking on a treadmill: 12.5%
- I prefer walking outside: 87.5% 🏆
That’s it for today. Have a great day!