Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers.
🧐 Did you know? St Marks is the city’s oldest cathedral. Its foundation stone was laid in 1808 and it reportedly opened to visitors in 1812. In 1908 it became one of the first churches in Bengaluru to have electricity.
🛍️ Repurposing old paper bags
A Bellandur resident piloted a program to promote reusing paper bags.
What’s it about? After the ban on single-use plastics last year, many supermarkets and food delivery apps switched to paper bags. However, people dumped them after using them, creating unnecessary waste. Charu Sharma, a resident of Sobha Daisy apartments in Bellandur, was having none of it. She initiated a pilot project, raising awareness among residents to collect and repurpose paper bags.
- The project has seen the collection of over 400 bags. They were sent to nearby vendors who typically used plastic bags in their business.
- Odette Katrak from Beautiful Bengaluru suggested that residents drop the bags off in a designated carton, after which the housekeeping staff would collect them for reuse.
Why paper bags? This system can work until customers adopt the habit of carrying their own bags. While paper bags are not a sustainable choice, they are preferable to plastic bags due to their biodegradability.
- Odette emphasised the importance of switching to reusable and eco-friendly alternatives like cloth bags, jute bags, canvas, cane, and raffia, which have a lower carbon footprint than paper.
📉 Depreciating value of apartments without parking
The absence of parking facilities in apartments is reducing their rental and capital value.
What’s it about? Older houses in Bengaluru, built in the early to mid-2000s, often lack garages, resulting in on-street parking. If brokers in the city are correct, apartments without parking spaces are witnessing a decline in rental and capital values, with a 15-20% drop. Meanwhile, demand and rentals for gated societies with dedicated parking are increasing.
- Properties without parking are selling at lower prices than those with parking facilities.
- A 2BHK apartment with parking commands a monthly rental of ₹40,000. Without parking, the rent ranges from ₹18,000 to ₹22,000.
Commercial boom: The lack of parking facilities, coupled with municipal restrictions, causes frequent altercations. The commercial boom in areas like Indiranagar led to the encroachment of narrow bylanes by illegal commercial buildings and roadside parking. Such establishments infringe on areas marked for residential purposes.
🚇 Purple Line service disruption
Metro services disruption between Indiranagar and Baiyappanhalli inconvenienced several commuters.
Crowded stations: Overnight power supply works caused a disruption in the Namma Metro Purple Line services between Indiranagar and Baiyappanahalli. It’s led to overcrowding on other stations on the Purple Line, particularly Majestic. It hindered the morning peak-hour travellers’ commute, who were headed to the tech hubs in Whitefield and the eastern suburbs.
- BMTC buses were the only option for commuters travelling to Swami Vivekananda (Old Madras Road) and Baiyappanahalli stations.
- A commuter said they couldn’t board any trains at Majestic due to the rush. Guards sent away commuters arriving at the Baiyappanahalli station.
Why though? The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) began power supply system modifications at Baiyappanahalli station on Monday night. It was deemed a crucial step towards completing the 2.1-kilometre Baiyappanahalli – KR Pura section, the remaining link required to connect the entire Purple Line.
- While the work remained incomplete on Tuesday morning, the authorities announced the resumption of normal operations in the afternoon.
💸 Skywalk advertising dues soar
Advertising agencies have failed to pay over ₹50 crore in dues for renting space on city skywalks.
Mounting dues: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is short of ₹50 crore worth of payments from advertising agencies with allocated spaces in city skywalks. Nine agencies had secured tenders for constructing pedestrian overbridges and renting advertising space on them.
- The BBMP has sent 36 notices to the companies demanding payment of dues. Despite some of their contracts expiring, they continue using the skywalk spaces.
- The outstanding payment amount of ₹26 crore escalates to over ₹50 crore when considering the 18% penalty.
Cause and effect: Allegations of a nexus between advertising companies and certain BBMP officials have emerged as a key reason for the zero recoveries of revenue. S Amaresh, Managing Trustee of the Right to Information Study Centre, requested Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to initiate an investigation.
- A BBMP official mentioned the possibility of blacklisting defaulting agencies from future tenders.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
What’s your preferred type of meditation?
- I prefer mindfulness meditation.
- I prefer movement meditation.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
How do you think Namma Metro services can be improved?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The Rohini Nilekani Centre for Brain and Mind was launched at NCBS.
- The BBMP may spend ₹10 crore in 110 villages to address water scarcity.
- A pilot study by EMPRI has identified 12 firefly hotspots in Bengaluru.
- CSIR Director General N Kalaiselvi spoke about science and technology spaces in India.
- National Health Mission contractual employees demand employment regularisation.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have paid a traffic violation fine: 75.0% 🏆
- I haven’t paid a traffic violation fine: 25.0%
That’s it for today. Have a great day!