Agara Lake Memorandum

To,

The CEO

Lake Development Authority

Bangalore - 560001 

Subject: Agara Lake Revival & Restoration

Dear Sir,

Agara Lake was once the pristine lakes in Bangalore, located in Sarjapura ring road between Koramangala & HSR Layout the lake was scenic spot for residents of HSR Layout. It is spread over 39.58 hectares of greenery and water with a shore length of 2.1 kms.

In 2004, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), together with the Forest Department, restored the lake by developing greenery and joggers track protected with a fence around it. Following these measures the lake attract a variety of birds, like water fowls, coots, purple moorhens, grey herons, egrets, kites and kingfishers make it valuable lung space that many area residents cherish.

More than 1000 residents with families used to visit the lake garden from the surrounding area HSR Layout, Koramangala, Jakkasandra, Agara & Iblur to enjoy environs of the lake. But this didn’t last long, lack of basic maintenance, uncontrolled access & security has today resulted in heaps of debris dumped around, broken fence, reeking water, unkempt garden, tons of garbage, floating plastic.

Many concerned Citizen and Environment groups worked relentlessly, gathering support, meeting authorities and demanding action but got nothing more than a list of excuses, with no plan-of-action or timeline to fix the deteriorating situation of the lake.

Post the landmark judgment and cancellation of PPP lease in Feb 2012, lake was handed over to Lake Development Authority, very little rather nothing has been done since then.

We residents in eco foot print being the primary stakeholders of the lake are extremely concerned at the present situation of the lake and request the Lake Development Authority to swing into action and under take drastic measures to restore the lake.

The following are some of our observations and suggestion for restoring the past glory of our Agara Lake:

1. Formation of Joint Committee multi stakeholders related government departments RWA’s, NGO’s, Expert groups, Eminent local personalities for development of Action Plan for restoration of the lake.

2. Formation of Core Committee involving the community to examine and prepare a proposal to submit to the Government. The Core Committee shall also review and monitor the implementation of the required measures.

3. Conduct community consultation exercise and discuss the restoration plans, financial options for resorting the lake including and operation and management aspects of the lake.

4. Prioritize the restoration plans activity wise and explore convergence of schemes under related Govt departments for undertaking immediate measures for initiating restoration.

5. Initiate the options of inviting participation of corporate houses under their Corporate Social Responsibility program to part the financial requirements for restoration or management.

6. Involve Community in Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Management of the lake.

As primary stakeholders our agenda is to save the lake from deteriorating any further and to put to use a great source of water body that could recharge the depleting underground water tables for common good. The lake is indeed a land mark and we wish to save the lake and the greenery that is much needed in an already concrete jungle.

We are submitting this memorandum in full faith that you will take cognizance of all the above points mentioned and will act upon without any delay.

Looking forward to hearing from you at the earliest.

Thanking you,

Warm Regards,

Kavitha Reddy                                                                  Venugopal Reddy

Social & Environmental Activist                                  Environmentalist & Urban Planning Consultant

Find enclosed: Photos of the Agara Lake taken on 19thMay 2013 in the morning hours

CC: 1. Honorable Chief Minister Govt of Karnataka, cm@kar.nic.in

      2. Commissioner BBMP, H.Siddaiah IAS, comm@bbmp.gov.in

 

Deletion of the Voters form the Voter list

Date: 7^th May 2013

To,

Mr Anil Kumar Jha

Chief Electoral Officer

Office of The Chief Electoral Officer

Nirvachana Nilaya

Maharani's College Circle, Sheshadri Road

Bangalore 560 001

Sub: Deletion of the Voters form the Voter List

Dear Sir,

At the outset, we take this opportunity to congratulate the Election Commission Karnataka for successfully conducting peaceful elections in the state.

As you are aware voting is a constitutional right given to every citizen of India who is 18 years and above, unfortunately we are placing some facts on record which has denied the very right that the constitution of India has provided.

In the recent Assembly election that was held on 5^th May 2013, it was common sight of voters who had voted in the last elections came with the voter ID cards, were shocked when they were told that their names are not found in the official updated voter list. As political party representatives we had to face the angry voters who were denied the constitutional right.

We would like to bring to your notice that there has been a large scale random deletion of voter names from the voter list in Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency. We suspect vested forces operating in nexus with the relevant government functionaries in the wrongful deletion of the voter names and denying them the constitutional right to vote.

In this connection we are raising some serious concerns and question as below:

1.    What was basis on which voters names were deleted from the list that was published for 05-05-2013 polling?

2.    Who was the nodal authority who initiated and authorized the deletions of the voter names?

3.    Was the consent of the voters sort before deletion?

4.    Was there enough evidence established before the deletion of the voter names either through door-to-door visits or in form of declaration from such voters?

We demand a detailed response for the above mentioned question and further request you to conduct a full fledged enquiry into the malpractices that have occurred in the process of voter validation and registration in the Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency.

In the interest of the voters who have been denied the constitutional right of voting, we would request you to instruct the concerned authorities to swing into action without any delay and validate and incorporate the deleted names of the voters and grant them the right that the constitution of India has mandated.

Further, it was also observed that the responsibility of distribution of the voter ID’s that vests with the BBMP authorities, but the shocking fact that came to light during this election is that in Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency bulk voter ID’s of the newly registered voters were handed over to the ruling government representatives and other unauthorized individuals by the BBMP authorities who were actually responsible for the distribution of voter ID’s to the right individuals. Similar cases have come to light in other BBMP Wards of Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency, we would request an affirmative action against the person/s responsible for distribution of the voter ID’s

We truly believe that that the state election commission would take cognizance of all the above concerns raised and act upon without any prejudices and ensure justice to the voters who have been denied the constitutional right.

We submit this memorandum on behalf of the voters who have been denied the right to vote due to the wrong doing of the government functionaries. We request you not to treat this memorandum as a political allegation but as a serious concern on behalf of the citizens who were denied the constitutional right in Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency.

We have enclosed copies of some of the voter ID cards and voter ID numbers who were denied the constitutional right to vote.

Looking forward to hearing from you at the earliest.

Many Thanks,

Warm Regards

Kavitha Reddy

Attachments

Unable to locate the details of the voter who came with voter ID cards we had sent sms on behalf of the following voter ID # to KAEPIC Voter ID # to 9243355223, the response for the same was ‘EPIC is not Correct. Please check your EPIC Number!!!’

• KT/13/076/165486
• MCL1440973
• UHN5400882
• MCL1420165
• UHN2997112
• UHN2997120
• MCL2990968
• UHN0663740
• UHN0167007
• UHN4444931
• UHN0663997
• KT/11/089/1377383

Below is the copy of the list of voters (family) who could not vote even though they have been residing in the same house for a long time and had voted in the previous elections in polling station 37 of Ward 174 Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency.

Relieving Questions

 

Published in ToI 'Times Neighborhood Sarjapur & HSR Layout' edition 19th April 2013

Few months back when the Union Minister Jairam Ramesh made an observation that in India we have more temples than toilets, there was a general unqualified uproar among the political class who like always demanded an apology even on a genuine concern.

As a resident of a ‘so called’ well planned and affluent locality like HSR Layout my observation is no different than the Union Minister. Construction workers waking up as early as 4 am to attend their nature calls in a close by empty site or darker areas away from sight of early morning walker is a regular ritual, the plight of women construction workers is indeed unimaginable. If one decides to ignore the woes of construction workers or hawkers around as temporary, think about the people who visit the commercial areas of the Layout. Recently I was at a well know food joint on the 27^th main, a older lady walked in requesting the person behind the counter if she could use the toilet, the man very reluctantly nodded.

Incidents like these are neither isolated nor unknown, somewhere the sense of building/planning for a basic facility like a public toilet is not a priority, and indeed it shows complete lack of civic sensibilities from the authorities. While generously doling out CA sites to institutions even in areas that may beat any planning sense the authorities have looked the other way when it comes to providing a basic facilities to a human being, depriving them of human dignity.

What could be more worst than the visuals of construction people walking with water bottles early in the morning, a lady begging to use a toilet at a food joint, a man relieving himself against a compound wall, I wonder when will the authorities wake up to reality?

The medieval mindset of class and gender bias has to change in our urban planning, it’s the primary responsibility of the authorities to provide basic facilities to everyone and make urban planning more inclusive. India is a welfare state and in the midst of commercial focus the idea of India seems to be somewhere lost in the planning by the authorities.

Urbanization is a reality, unless the authorities are not contemporary and inclusive in their outlook and planning we will be left with more and more ‘toilets in public’ with no public toilets across locality.

For the authorities it should be effortless to set-up few paid toilets and issue pre-paid passes to construction workers. Making it mandatory for owner of the property under construction to pay and avail passes for all its construction workers is definitely practical to implement.

Let’s not forget the hard fact that one may or may not go to a temple but everyone has to use a toilet. As a modern day quote rightly says ‘Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail’, it’s about time the authorities acknowledge the mistakes of mindless planning/development and fix the problems rather than leaving people to deal with their own plight.  

- Kavitha Reddy

Women's Day Celebrations - HSR Layout

Join a Cause - Trailwalker 2013

Greeting from Team Mountain Girls!

No mountain is high enough and no valley low enough that the human spirit cannot conquer. Team 'Mountain Girls' is a tribute to that very spirit, scaling mountains and enduring one of the most hostile conditions or walking 100 kms in 48 hours beating the heat to support a cause.

India is no more fancied as a land of elephants and snake charmers. We have changed the tag of being an interesting nation to an important nation and are indeed the fastest growing economy in the world. We have made much progress as a nation BUT there is a HIMALAYAN gap when it comes to the education of the Girl Child. As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'If you educate a man, you educate an individual; if you educate a woman, you educate a family'. No nation can claim glory without its women being partners in its progress and society being inclusive where education and opportunities are not based on gender.

The challenge of inequality is indeed more challenging than any mountain or any valley, so come join us on our unique adventure of scaling mountains and walking the valley to create awareness and make a HIMALAYAN difference.

Strengthen our effort by helping us to raise funds for a cause.

Event                   : Oxfam Trailwalker 2013 - www.trailwalker.in

Event Date           : 25-27 January 2013

Challenge             : 100 kms l Team of 4 l 48 hours

Fund Target         : INR 200000

Cause                  : Education

NGO                    : Oxfam India www.oxfamindia.org

Team Name         : Mountain Girls

Team                  : Kavitha Reddy, Jigna Modh, Deepica Rao, Kinnari Sathe

Uniqueness          : All Women Team

Challenge Target  : 100 kms in 29 hours (Trailwalker 2012 we completed 100 kms in 32.5 hours)

Visit http://www.trailwalker.in/civicrm/pcp/info?reset=1&id=75#.ULW852daHWI 

Contribute generously (tax exempted under 80G), kindly send in your contributions by Cheque/DD/PO in favor of Oxfam India before 15^th December 2012.

Our Address: Kavitha Reddy, # 227, 31st Main, 7th Cross, Sector-1, HSR Layout, Bangalore - 560102

About Oxfam Trailwalker

Oxfam Trailwalker is the world's greatest team challenge to overcome poverty and injustice. With teams of 4 required to walk (or run) 100 km in 48 hours, it is a test of physical endurance, mental strength and team spirit. Oxfam Trailwalker is a global phenomenon which started as a training exercise for the Gurkha Regiment in Hong Kong in 1981. Today, Oxfam Trailwalker is a global event with 15 events in 12 countries. Over the last 15 years, more than 32,000 teams have participated in Oxfam Trailwalker and raised over US$ 120 million for Oxfam's work globally. Such huge resources have helped Oxfam create a world of difference in the lives of the most marginalized communities across 100 countries.

Strike to Stink

Over 16000 BBMP staff (including the contract staff) went on strike leaving the 5000 tons of garbage per day care-of-footpath. Striking workers seemed very happy at plight of the city and its citizens, holding all to ransom and our BMP Commissioner, City Mayor and State Govt looked inspired by our PM. Even after paralyzing the city administration for days, one of the strikers when asked by the media, why they are making the citizens suffer went to the extent of saying that they are doing this for the sake of the citizens, make me wonder….my my what the hell did I miss.

So when the strikers were making merry, household who do not care to read/watch news left their garbage bags in a row on their compound walls or let it hang on the gates - some leaking, some getting wet in the rains, some falling off and some bursting out. In support of the striking staff the famous street dogs of Bangalore took to streets showing their solidarity, and letting everyone know what they can do if the demands of the striking staff were not met.

Packs of dogs pulled down the garbage bags on to the streets exposing which household has babies and what diaper brand they use, lady from which household is having her periods and man from which household uses condoms, not to forget which brand. Some walked on the streets trying to ignore it all, some made futile attempts to kick ‘objectionable’ items to the storm water drains.

Some smart citizens took things into their own hands, carried garbage bags and flung it into the empty plots close by or simply threw it on the sides of nearest main road where there are no houses. The plight continued for days, rains for some reason decided to help the striking staff by adding to the raising stink on the streets of Bangalore, not that Bangalore streets were any better it just made it worst.

Garbage, Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Property Tax etc all came to halt rather piled up. 5000 tons of garbage per day and 3 crores of revenue collection per day seemed nobodies concern. Finally after 3 stinking days they have called off the strike (it seems). Did they get back to their senses or did the City Mayor agreed to their demands is irrelevant, the stink will continue and the citizens will always be the only one to suffer.

This strike episode lack any moral stand, also stinks of arrogance and disregard makes a Bangalorean like me wonder why I should pay the additional garbage cess that was quietly slipped in to the property tax recently!!

- Kavitha Reddy

My Himalayan Quest

                    Climbing Mountains for a Cause

Belief: There are a Million ways to Success but there is only one way to Failure - ‘Not Trying’

Am a successful professional with 15 years of corporate experience, having worked with companies like IndiaLife Hewitt and TeamLease Services in Sr Management roles.

As a teenager I always enjoyed Adventure and participated in Rock Climbing Camps and Treks. Wanting to do more in this field, I took to Adventure and Mountaineers full-time in 2009. Armed with a vast and successful corporate background and a burning passion to ‘Evolve adventure as the most effective learning tool, to revive the spirit of adventure among people from all walks of life, and be environment cognizant’ I started BASECAMP Adventures a company that focuses on Outbound Learning and Adventure.

As a qualified mountaineer from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, with many successful climbing expeditions and several high altitude treks in the Indian and Nepal Himalayas, I felt that there is a need to do more in my own possible way and make a difference. As a mountaineer the best I can do is to climb mountains, and so begins this unique adventure - ‘My Himalayan Quest’: Climbing Mountains for a Cause and to also spread awareness, through a series of expeditions over the next 7 years.

My Himalayan Quest

No mountain is high enough and no valley low enough that the human spirit cannot conquer. ‘My Himalayan Quest’ is a tribute to that very spirit, scaling mountains and enduring one of the most hostile conditions to support a cause.

India is no more fancied as a land of elephants and snake charmers. We have changed the tag of being an interesting nation to an important nation and are indeed the fastest growing economy in the world. We have made much progress as a nation BUT there is a HIMALAYAN gap when it comes to the education of the Girl Child. As Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘If you educate a man, you educate an individual; if you educate a woman, you educate a family’. No nation can claim glory without its women being partners in its progress and society being inclusive where education and opportunities are not based on gender.

The mountain of inequality is indeed more challenging than any mountain, so come join us in our unique adventure of scaling mountains to create awareness and make a HIMALAYAN difference. Strengthen our effort by participating in this climb or by raising funds for the cause or by sponsoring the climbing team.

Planned Expeditions

   Mt Bhagirathi - II, 6512 mts in Gharwal Himalayas, June 2012
   Mt Kamet, 7756 mts in Gharwal Himalayas, May 2012 (29th highest peak in the world
   Mt Manaslu, 8156 mts in Nepal Himalayas, Sept 2012 (8th highest peak in the world)
   Mt Everest, 8848 mts in Nepal Himalayas, April 2013 (highest peak in the world)

Objectives of the My Himalayan Quest
   To put Karnataka on the world mountaineering map
   Raise Funds towards
       o Girl Child Education
       o Women Empowerment
       o Spreading Awareness of Global Warming & Environment
   Any prize money received will be donated to NGOs – Kaagaz, Myhtri Mahila Koota, Oxfam India

Expenses towards My Himalayan Quest
   Mt Bhagirathi -II       INR 25000
   Mt Kamet                 IMF, Govt of India
   Mt Manaslu              INR 400000
   Mt Everest               INR 1900000

Sponsorship/Contribution can be given by cheque in favor of Kavitha Reddy a/c My Himalayan Quest.

Team-up Against Poverty

Hi,

Blogging this asking for your support.

I always believed in rolling up my sleeve whenever wherever I can make a difference, I have supported and lead campaigns that are close to my heart. In a large and diversified country like India every citizen has a responsibility to do whatever they can in their capacity to make India a better place than what they inherited.

Challenges are many and are complex indeed, there is no single solution to address India’s problems. The problems have to be compartmentalized and has to be addressed locally in every village, taluk, town or city. In my small but strong attempt to reduce the gap between the rich & poor, urban & rural, privileged & underprivileged, I have teamed up with 3 of my friends with similar views to walk 100 kms in 48 hours and raise funds for various poverty eradication programs in India through www.trailwalker.in & www.oxfamindia.org

I request you to support our team by making a donation, ‘Team – Jaffa Cakes Jelly Babies’ page http://www.trailwalker.in/index.php/component/civicrm/?task=civicrm/contribute/pcp/info&id=27

Appreciate if you can spread the message among your friends and help us reach more people and raise more funds.

Regards,

Kavitha Reddy