Massive project to fix water leaks underway P10 Why is it cloudy and raining in Bangalore – now? P13 Where Golf is a way of life P15 A day trip to India’s golden city P18 Can you get a degree in wildlife in India? P30
Citizen Matters Local news like no one else does
Why Cauvery Stage IV water has reached Bangalore,but not your home bengaluru
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www.citizenmatters.in
09-Mar-2013
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A Step-by-step guide for getting things done in Bangalore From covering public services to property matters, school boards to driving licenses, voting to saving water to filing FIRs and more. www.livinginbengaluru.in Since its launch, The Living in Bengaluru book has become a hit with Bangaloreans, both recent settlers and long-time residents alike. Many bookshops including those in peripheral areas are seeing brisk sales. “This is a very welcome book, long overdue, which should be a prized possession of every citizen of this great city.” - T V Mohandas Pai
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Massive project to fix water leaks underway In the name of hygiene and cleanliness massive quantum of water is wasted in washing cars and automobiles, surroundings, watering plants and running water in common places. Will the elected representative and the concerned citizens come forward to sensitize the ordinary citizens in this madness of water wastage. Mohammed Rafiq
Even as a Rs 48 cr leak-fixing job is under way here, BWSSB’s incompetence in going a tree & branch distribution system for the ongoing 500 MLD 4th stage is making for a leak-enhancing job of it. Perhaps, this will ensure another lucrative contract in another few years’ time, and cuts thereof to the interested parties. Great going! Muralidhar Rao
A day trip to India’s golden city Some important experiments in fundamental physics were conducted in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) for a period of about 4 decades starting from 1950s. Neutrino, a fundamental particle , had been discovered near nuclear reactors in the 50s. But natural neutrino was first discovered in the mid 1960s in the deep mines. this discovery created lot of interest at that time. Later in the 1980s another fundamental experiment called the proton decay experiment was conducted . Apart from this , important experiments in the field of cosmic rays were also conducted. The reason for conducting experiments in mines is that it is relatively free of noise due to other particles in nature. I remember the climate of KGF in the 60s was quite similar to that of Bangalore.The story of KGF is
What makes Bangalore unsafe for walkers The BBMP engineers fail to build the good footpaths to citizens,First there is no specification or standard,seccond in some places they put tiles and in
probably similar to those of mining towns everywhere in the world. The only gold that one can find in that town today is in the ornaments worn by the natives ! Palahalli Vishwanath
How ruthless paperwork pushes patriarchy Wonderful! You have articulated my sentiments as well. I was surprised by how few women realize/claim their rights or see
some other places concrete and in many places there is no pavement. In commercial establishment the shop owners occupy the foot path and added to this vendors occupy the footpath.totaly pedestrians have no choice.Hope forum will take this issue with BBMP. Keerthikumar
anything wrong with these forms asking for father/husband's name. Try buying property with own money earned as a professional or leasing it out or selling it, everything needs a husband/father's name. Nobody questions it, instead people try to explain that this is "normal routine". I have been fighting over this issue everywhere i come across, got fed up finally and stopped speaking up. I am so happy to read your thoughts.
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shubha
CITIZEN MATTERS 3
In Focus
Pic courtesy: BWSSB.org
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In Focus
THE REAL STORY OF CAUVERY WATER, STAGE IV, PHASE II
Why Cauvery Stage IV water has reached Bangalore, but not your home How much of water from the Cauvery Stage IV, Phase II is reaching citizens? Which areas are getting it? If your area is supposed to be covered and you are still not getting water, here’s why.
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esidents of Sobha Daffodil apartment in HSR Layout Extension have been waiting for water for the last 4-5 months. They had paid around Rs 10 lakh to the BWSSB for water from Cauvery Stage IV Phase II project; they got pipelines laid and meters fixed. But no water comes here yet. "We paid a few crores some 3-4 years back too, for water. In the last few months, we went to the local BWSSB office some 10 times. Every time, we were told that water will come the next day or next week, but there has been no supply," says a member of the apartment owner association here, on condition of anonymity. Cauvery Stage IV project was supposed to have met the water needs of CMC areas in the city. About 500 MLD (Million Litres per Day) was supposed to come, but not even half of this is reaching the city now. BWSSB says that only 220 MLD is coming from the scheme. The project was commissioned on October 31st last year.
Why the delay There are two main reasons for the delay - one that many people are not taking new Cauvery connections yet, and two, that the Board has not
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In Focus completed pipe laying in all areas yet. Because of this, a large number of people who have already paid for the new connections, are still waterstarved. Stage IV water is supposed to be for the 7 CMCs and Kengeri TMC which were added to the city corporation limits in 2007. There were 110 villages also that were added to BBMP at the time; these villages are not supposed to get the new water. BWSSB has nine divisions in Bangalore, of which north, north west and east divisions are getting the highest amounts of Stage IV water. Overall, there are some 43,600 new connections in the city that are getting Stage IV water. Some of the new water goes to old connections too, augmenting existing supply.
"Public has to take connections first" In CMCs, pipelines were laid in many areas in 2005 as part of GBWASP (Greater Bangalore Water and Sanitation Project). The lines were laid, but no supply was given at the time. When people in these areas take connections, water will be released to them through these pipelines. Since road alignments had changed much and muck had clogged the pipes, much time was spent in doing trial runs to de-clog pipes and to repair damaged ones. BWSSB Chief Engineer T Venkatraju says that, now if everyone does not take connections, water cannot be supplied even to those who have taken them. This is because the ends of these pipelines are left open near individual houses, as there are no valves to stop the flow and water will spill out if connections are not taken to the houses. Of the 1.4 lakh households that were given GBWASP connections, only 40,00050,000 had taken connections, as of 6 CITIZEN MATTERS
If every single house in an area does not take BWSSB connection, water cannot be supplied to anybody. Why? The ends of these pipelines have been left open near individual houses, and water will spill out if connections are not taken to the houses.
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In Focus
North
40 MLD
Parts of Yelahanka, to Jakkur and Thanisandra in Byatarayanapura constituency, and to four wards in Dasarahalli constituency (Shettihalli, Mallasandra, Bagalkunte and T Dasarahalli).
North west
60 MLD
Dasarahalli constituency, Peenya, parts of Yelahanka, Rajagopala Nagara, part of Hegganahalli, Chokkasandra, HMT ward and T Dasarahalli.
West
8 MLD
Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Kengeri, Ullal, Annapoornashari Nagar, Papreddy Palya, Mallathahalli, Kengunte, Jagajyothi Layout, Jnanbharathi Layout, Ideal Homes, BEML Layout 3rd 4th and 5th stages, Pattanagare, Channasandra etc.
South
0-15 MLD
Kothnur Dinne which includes JP Nagar 6th 7th and 8th phases, Vijaya Bank Layout and Bommanahalli.
25 MLD
Core areas like Indiranagar, Jeevan Bheema Nagar, Domlur, Ulsoor, Thippasandra, HAL, LIC Colony, Lakshmipura etc., which have already been getting water. Existing supply is only augmented with the new water.
South East
Does not get any water from stage 4. But once OMBR reservoir gets stage 4 supply completely, its stage 3 water will be diverted to central division. This will come to 20 MLD
Central
North East
6 MLD
Gets no water from stage 4 as these are core areas. Water will get diverted here only if there is excess after all CMC areas get water.
South West East
This division also has core areas that already get water. New water augments supply in Bhoopasandra and Nagashettihalli areas.
40 MLD
Water goes to KR Puram constituency, Mahadevpura constituency and Sarvagna Nagar constituency
Some areas are not getting water also because BWSSB is yet to complete about 25% of its pipe laying works.
Of the 1.4 lakh households that were given GBWASP connections, only 4050 thousand had taken connections, as of January end.
January end. On why this was done, Venkatraju says, "Many of these roads are only 3m wide, and hence valves could not be fixed along the roads, when the pipes were first laid. Roads are now getting flooded when water is released." Valves will be fixed for individual houses only when they take a connection. So unless everyone takes a connection, water will spill out through the open-ended lines. He says that this is the case in Devasandra, which is at the tail end
of the water supply system in KR Puram constituency. "For water to reach there, the people along the way, such as in Ramamurthy Nagar, have to take connections. Some 30,000-40,000 house connections were given in KR Puram constituency under GBWASP. But only 1000-2000 have applied for new connections." Venkatraju says that out of the one lakh houses in the constituency, only about 10,000 are getting water from Stage IV now. Similarly, he says that, in HSR Layout only 25% of people have applied for new
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In Focus
Map of stage 4 water coming into reservoirs (numbers in Red). The actual quantity to be supplied, is marked next to each reservoir, along with the phrase ‘To local command area’.
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In Focus by BWSSB shows that, currently cutting permission from BBMP. connections. Areas like JP Nagar 8th phase Experts lament this strange logic. about 50% of water is unaccounted had not been covered under "Mind bogglingly stupid" is how city- for. In the month of January, BWSSB GBWASP, and most are not applying based water expert S Vishwanath describes laying of open-ended has accounted for only 6.6 lakh for new lines to be laid. G Jagadish, lines in the GBWASP project. "Now connections while at least 16 lakh President of Federation of JP Nagar 7th and 8th at least, BWSSB should give free properties are phases, says, connections to everyone and start estimated to be “Mind bogglingly stupid” "Most people charging them for monthly water in BBMP limits. in 8th phase consumption, instead of waiting By conservative — S Vishwanath have individual for public to take connections. This estimates, some borewells; there was done successfully in places like 33,000 Million Litres come to the city every month are also community borewells. Vijayawada earlier," he says. Vishwanath also says that from Cauvery, but in January, BWSSB So, many of them don't want to BWSSB should have used the loop has accounted for only about 16,785 spend more on new connections. system of pipes, instead of the Million Litres. The other half of the In the long run, everyone has to current tree-and-branch system. In water was lost because of leakages get connections as borewell water levels are depleting, and as there the loop system, the supply lines are and illegal connections. A BWSSB engineer says, on are restrictions on digging new set up in a closed system and there are no open ends. Water is equally condition of anonymity, that borewells now." Jagadish says that main lines distributed to every point; but in unaccounted water is higher than the tree system, "water pressure usual now, as more water is lost due already exist here and that only becomes very low as it comes to the to testing and trial runs for Cauvery individual connections have to Stage IV. be taken. People here are also last point," he says. N S Mukunda of Abhyudaya, Why are residents not applying for dissuaded on seeing that those in 7th phase, who get Stage IV supply, a South Bangalore-based RWA get water only once a week, that too federation, says that the case of Cauvery connections? open-ended pipes show BWSSB's Venkatraju says that people for 2-3 hours. "BWSSB officers told us severe technical incompetence. "It is in CMC areas are not taking that water is being rationed now as not difficult to plug the end of lines, connections as they have been summer is coming," says Jagadish. Some areas are not getting or to put valves to regulate supply getting water from BWSSB tankers to groups of houses. The GBWASP already. BWSSB says they supply water also because BWSSB is yet project itself was a sham - public borewell water to households in to complete about 25% of its pipe laying works. GBWASP lines have were asked to pay for connections CMC areas for Rs 50 per month. even without BWSSB committing to BWSSB has been disconnecting not been fully linked with the feeder give water." GBWASP house pipelines of those lines coming from reservoirs. This While Venkatraju says that the who are not taking new connections. is the case in Central Jail Reservoir, Board has more than enough water This has been going on for a while, which is actually supposed to and is only waiting for public to take but is not being done in a large supply 43 MLD to areas nearby. As lines are not laid, no water is connections, Mukunda says that scale as it is also a difficult job; the BWSSB is only giving intention is to being supplied from here now. "This excuses. He says that get people to area is already getting water from The deadline for the basic necessities apply soon. Cauvery Phase 1, hence priority is public to take new - enough water, Once the line is low here. It is also among the outer reservoirs/tanks disconnected, villages that form BBMP (beyond connections was with good storage the house CMC), which are anyway not January 15th, which capacity, and proper owner will supposed to be covered in Stage was then extended to distribution system have to get the IV," says Narayan, Chief Engineer February 15th, and (Cauvery). do not exist. "About connection laid now has been stretched 45% of the water again at his to March 15th, as per Navya P K is Senior Staff goes in leaks," he own cost, after news reports. Journalist at Citizen Matters. says. The data given taking road dd-month-2013
CITIZEN MATTERS 9
City News BWSSB’S WATER LEAKS AND THEFTS PROBLEM
Massive project to fix water leaks underway BWSSB’s project in South Bangalore is surveying water leakage and fixing leaks and water thefts, to reduce the Unaccounted For Water by 40%.
Flow and pressure management. Credit: www.niua.org
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0% of all the Cauvery water that gets pumped into the city - from a distance of about 140 km and to a height of 500m, at a cost of Rs 300 crores a year is said to be unaccounted for. This is either wasted as a result of leaks or is stolen or not recorded because of faulty meters, thus making it ‘Non-Revenue Water (NRW)' or ‘Unaccounted For Water (UFW)'. BWSSB has woken up to this alarming reality and is trying to address a part of the problem through a project funded by the Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JICO). 10 CITIZEN MATTERS
BWSSB is implementing a Rs 153-crore project that started mid-2012. The project contracted out to L&T is scheduled to complete in June 2015, with extended O&M (Operations and Maintenance) support for three years thereafter, till 2018. Currently survey work is completed in a third of the areas where fixing of faulty meters has begun. In other areas, surveys are underway. Venkata Raju, Chief Engineer, BWSSB shares that the project will cover an area of 52 sq.km. and will include the constituencies of
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Padmanabhanagar, Basavanagudi, Chamarajpet (a part of the area), Jayanagar, BTM Layout (includes Koramangala) and parts of Chickpet. The 52 sq km is divided into ‘District Metered Areas' (DMA) based on water pressures. Typically a single DMA will consist of 10003000 connections and the area is planned to be divided into 70-75 DMAs. BWSSB will go from house to house and inspect consumer meters and all known meters within the DMA will be marked for a pressure test. The pressure test will show up faulty meters
City News
Formation of hydraulically bound DMAs. Credit: www.niua.org
and leaks based on the inflow and outflow pressures within a DMA. The project also includes detection of water theft and replacing old and non-performing pipes. N S Mukunda, President of Citizen's Action Forum, who has been actively pursuing water related issues in Bangalore feels that the objective of the project is to increase the revenue for BWSSB by identifying thefts and faulty meters. The project scope mentions the replacement of Ductile Iron (DI) pipes, Mild Steel (MS) pipes and PVC pipes. An L&T engineer (who does
not wish to be named) says, "The old and non-performing water pipes are the ones that will be replaced". He goes on to clarify that MS, DI and PVC pipes are used for long distance, high volume water connection pipes and the pipes in old areas like Basavanagudi, Girinagar, Jayanagar will be surveyed and replaced where found leaky/faulty. Galvanised Iron (GI) pipes used for house service connections will also be repaired and replaced where necessary, he said. According to BWSSB, the current status of the project is that in nearly 25 DMAs the Pressure Zero Test (PZT) is complete based on which faulty meters and house service connection pipes in 12 of these DMAs have been fixed. PZT and faulty meters and house connections will be fixed in tandem, the repair/replacement of the larger pipes (DI, MS) pipes will be done only after the round of PZT tests are complete for all DMAs. BWSSB's pilot project to fix leaks was done in 2009. That project covered an area of 16 sq km (21 DMAs) that included 35,000 connections. The input water to the area was 84 MLD (Million Litres per Day). This project replaced nearly 19,000 consumer meters and 8644 house service connections. Close to 12,000 leaks were found
and repaired. The project that cost about Rs 48 crores brought down the leakage in the area by 14 MLD. This amounts to savings of more than Rs 8 crores a year. The details are available here. The objective of the current project in South Bangalore is to reduce the UFW from 40% to 16% at the end of three years. Mukunda remains worried. "Even if water leaks are fixed, the need for water is only going to increase. The government moots large scale projects such as bringing water from Nethravati river that is 370 km from Bangalore which will amount to 50,000 crores (every possibility of this going up to 70,000 crores by the time the project gets approved and implemented) and other projects like ‘inter linking of rivers'" says Mukund. He dismisses such plans as not feasible since they involve costs that the public cannot afford. He feels the government should be looking at rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of Arkavathy river and restoring lakes in Bangalore, but such projects get sidelined since it is tough to get a cut from projects that are simple and are low budget.
Shamala Kittane Subramanyan is a freelancer.
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Opinion Grey foam or Scum on Bangalore roads. Pic: Pavan Srinath
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Opinion
KNOW YOUR CLIMATE
Why is it cloudy and raining in Bangalore – now? In the last 50 years, it has rarely rained in the months of February and March. But Pavan Srinath finds interesting data that proves the adage, ‘When it rains, it pours!’.
T
he weather in Bengaluru has become rather unusual these past few days - with dark clouds smothering the sky, accompanied by short spells of rainfall across the city. And this after a streak of particularly hot days - which went as high as a daytime maximum of 33.2°C on March 3rd, coming back down to a daytime high of 27.1°C yesterday (6th) under the influence
of clouds and spells of rain. With all apparently unusual weather in the city comes the talk of climate change and how the climate of the city is becoming worse every year. While the city's climate may indeed be changing, including under the influence of anthropogenic, global climate change, it is important to understand the nuances of Bangalore's weather,
climate and variability first. Let's start by asking simple questions in order to place the ongoing weather in the appropriate context. First, how often does it rain in Bangalore in February and March? Second, how much rainfall does the city get when it does rain? And third, what is the nature of this rainfall that the city receives? As expected, it rains rather
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Opinion
Satellite Map, 6/Mar. Courtesy:IMD
rarely in February and March. On any given date in the two months, it has rained for less than 10% of the time in the last 50 odd years. Correspondingly, the average daily rainfall quantities during the period are quite low. However, what is particularly interesting is that if one takes a look at how much rainfall has occurred on any given date in Feb and March when it did rain, the number turns out to be quite high! The adage ‘When it rains, it pours!' seems to be particularly apt for the months of February and March. What kind of rain is this, which comes but rarely, but pours a lot when it does? The clue is in the similar pattern one can observe in the latter parts of November and December. It turns out that Bangalore gets its rare winter and pre-summer rainfall from oceanic depressions and cyclones. Rare 14 CITIZEN MATTERS
but intense, the depressions get formed either on the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea and wash over the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively, while Bangalore remains on the fringes of both. The case this year is no different: there is a large depression centered on the Maldives that is driving the weather in South India, with clouds over Bangalore but forming one edge of the system. In all, Bangalore occasionally gets off-season rains from oceanic depressions in the months of February and March. While infrequent, they can contribute to significant rains in the city when they do appear. It is easy to claim that Bangalore's summers are starting early and thus the summer rains are starting early as well, but the evidence for such a case remains weak. Now, will such oceanic
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depressions over the Indian Ocean become more frequent or more intense due the climate change? The most honest answer one can give today is ‘Maybe'. Aside: Every year during the first few rains, a white foam or scum can be observed on the roads of the city. This is because the rain water mixes with a few months' worth of oils, tar and rubber that have accumulated on the roads over the winter. It is possible that they make the roads more slippery than usual. They don't appear after subsequent rains in the year.
Pavan Srinath is a public policy researcher and runs a portal called Know Your Climate, dedicated to a promoting a better understanding of local weather and climate. You can find him on twitter at @zeusisdead.
Features
BANGALORE GOLF CLUB
Where Golf is a way of life The Bangalore Golf Club, started by the English more than a century ago, is a landmark institution. Poornima Dasharathi listens to the story of the club and its course through history. dd-month-2013
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Features
A
very eminent minister to the Maharaja of Mysore, M A Srinivasan, had once compared the philosophy of Golf with the essence of Bhagavad Gita - "Address yourself to your duty, O Arjuna, choose your weapon, act, and do not look up to see the fruit of your action". Golf. Growing up in a nonArmy middle class background in Bangalore, my introduction to the sport was through the world of P G Wodehouse. Relationships were made or broken based on the characters' ‘handicap'. A sport that originated in pristine greens of Scotland - St Andrews being the Mecca of Golf - it made quite a journey across continents to the hot South Indian Deccan plateau in 1882.
Bangalore Golf Club - history Bangalore Golf Club was set up by nine Englishmen in the military Cantonment area. One evening in June, 1876, they met at the house of J.D Gordon Esq, C.S.I., and passed a resolution "To start a Golf Club, to be called Bangalore Golf Club, in this station". They were successful in getting land, in 1882, then used as a shooting range of the Pioneers regiment, to be leased to the "purpose of the game of golf" and "no agriculture or building should be constructed on this land". That's how Bangalore got its first Golf Club. The BGC has a unique mascot - a crow with a golf ball in its beak! Probably they were the earliest caddies of the course! Or perhaps, the Englishmen found it amusing that apart from the land hazards, they had to contend with the birds too! It must have been a very beautiful laidback English town back then. Full of parks, homes with huge gardens, avenues with trees canopies everywhere with the only 16 CITIZEN MATTERS
sound being the clickety clack of an occasional horse or a horse carriage.
The course At two in the afternoon, the BGC still looks very green and the Kumara Krupa road thankfully didn't have much of traffic. It was quite hot in the afternoon. Anand Sirur, a senior BGC member (who has been the Secretary and headed several committees), led me into the course from the Kumara Krupa gate entrance which is exactly opposite to the BGC club house. The earliest recorded reference to Golf on this place has been in 1869, explains Sirur. The Pioneer Regiment is said to have designed the first course, a 9-hole course. As more land was acquired, it became a proper 18-hole course. As we entered inside, Sirur explains the basics of the sport to a novice enthusiast with a penchant for history. Sirur is credited to have started Junior Golf Academy for discerning youngsters and brought the game much closer to every youngster's reach. Some of the famous golfers, of this programme, today are Chikkarangappa and Rahul Ravi. His enthusiasm for the sport and the trivia was very infectious and
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absorbing that the long walk to the clubhouse end wasn't exhausting at all. The course, I found out, consists of five Par 3's, 10 Par 4's and three Par 5's and plays to a maximum distance of 5636 yards over 18 holes. What this means is that it has some very long fairways and hence makes quite a walk if one plays the entire 18 holes. As one walks across the course, one can witness the expanse of the land. It must require a lot of water in this hot country to keep it green, I
Features
thought. As if reading my thoughts, Sirur informed that BGC uses recycled water to keep its ground green. The ingenuity and hard work of the club members has resulted in successful recycle plant set up in the BGC's grounds. It takes water from one of the city's sewage collection point and recycles it. The plant has a capacity of 1 MLD (million litres per day). If you stand facing the course from the clubhouse end, there are 18 holes starting from your right,
going all the way until the Windsor Manor traffic junction and then runs parallel to Kumara Krupa road and comes back to reach you to your left.
The Clubhouse, the Trophies At the end of the walk, we reached the BGC club house which is as old as the course. The building structure looks like any of the City's numerous prestigious clubs with a difference; it overlooks the course. Stepping inside the ground floor, we entered the Pudy's Bar. The bar was
presented by the Captain Rajkumar Desaraj Urs (Pudy), in 1935, an avid golfer and the BGC's first Indian captain. A photograph of his on the wall depicts him in western attire. Spotting shields across nearly two centuries, one that captured my eye was an ‘Independence Shield' won in 1947 with the players' name engraved on it. But one of the oldest is the Challenge Cup played between Madras Golf Club (MGC) and Bangalore Golf Club (BGC) cup played by Madras and Bangalore teams that has 125 years of history! For me, the entire ambience of the bar looked like a setting straight out of a Jeeves' series. The dark wooden panels, cupboards full of shields, the huge wooden bust of a bull, a typical bar with a friendly bartender - all very English. Sirur's friends were very friendly; the ever smiling bartender was a second generation BGC staff. Their bonhomie, the golf anecdotes, their experiences playing golf tournaments abroad was infectious and time just click-clocked away. The clock on the wall with all the numbers fallen down and a ‘Who cares' displayed on the dial showed the attitude. Upstairs, I found a modern fully equipped gym, probably used by the players when they do not have the time to take a swing or maybe by their families and a party hall. But the best part of the first floor is the full view of the BGC. As we came out of the premises, my thoughts centred over the game, the club, its history, the players themselves and their stories and of course the vast green course. I could not help but feel, like them, that Golf is not just a game, but a way of life.
Poornima Dasharathi is a staff correspondant for Citizen Matters.
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CITIZEN MATTERS 17
See and Do WEEKEND GETAWAYS: KOLAR
A day trip to India’s Unlike in its heydays, Kolar is now a quiet town. But the goldfields, old forts make a great weekend trip option!
W
hat would it be, to stand atop a gold mill tailing dump and be a sole witness to century old gold fields, sophisticated mining machinery and the deserted British colonial township of yesteryears? Or how would it be to stand amidst a shakthi and tantric temple
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which dates back to Ganga period and hear stories of sacrifices and wishes fulfilled from the bygone era? If this is the kind of experience you are seeking then head out to Kolar, one of the prosperous towns of Karnataka during the British era.
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History of Kolar
Abandoned forts, temples, hero stones and some very old gold mines greet you in this history rich city. Kolar was the first capital of Ganga dynasty till about 4th century. The 22 odd forts were built by Gangas, Hoysalas and other
See and Do
golden city and temples take you back to the past and dynasties. The city was then known as Kuvalala and Kolahala Pura. The city got the name "Kolahala Pura", a city of turbulence due to the battle between Chalukyas in the north and Cholas to the south. Legend also has it that the name stuck after a violent battle between Parashurama (sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology)
and King Kartavirya Arjuna. After the Gangas, Kolar was ruled by Cholas, Hoysala and Vijayanagara rulers, Deccan rulers, the British and finally the Maharaja of Mysore. Kolar is also associated with stories of Ramayana. It is believed that sage Valmiki lived here and there are also legends associated with Sita and her sons Lava and Kusha of Ramayana epic.
Kolar district now has 5 taluks namely Kolar, Bangarapet, Malur, Mulbagal and Srinivaspur. The Kolar taluk is famous for its ancient shrines namely Kolaramma temple, Someswara temple and Antaragange.The KGF and Kotilingeshwara temple are in Bangarapet taluk while Mulbagal is famous for Avani, Kurudumale temple and Virupaksha temple.
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See and Do
Places worth a visit Kolaramma temple This temple is an ancient shrine dating back to Ganga period. The temple is dedicated to goddess Parvati who is the presiding deity of Kolar town. It is built in Dravidian style with a lot of renovations from Chola and Vijayanagara Kings. The main temple and its beautifully carved statues are attributed to Ganga Kings while certain structures in the southern part of the temple are built by Chola King, Rajendra Chola. The entrance to the temple and its pillars are the additions of Vijayanagara Kings. You can find many Chola inscriptions in Tamil, Kannada and grantha characters inside the temple dating back to the 10th century. You can also find a four and a half feet tall hero stone, belonging to Ganga period depicting a battle scene complete with horses, soldiers, elephants etc inside the temple. A few interesting facts about this temple are: The temple was a prominent Shakti worship site and a tantric temple. The proof for this lies in the stone slabs inside the temple. These stone slabs are memorial stones with pictures depicting sacrifices taking place in the temple. You can also view the depiction of tantric goddess with a bow on the temple walls. The temple houses two shrines, one for Kolaramma and the other for Saptamatras (seven mothers). The temple also houses a shrine for scorpion goddess, Chelamma. It is said that if you wish to ward off scorpion bites, you will need to pray to this deity.
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There is a small pit near the shrine which is said to contain scorpions. During April and May at certain days a scorpion is said to come from this pit and sit near the deity. Someswara temple This is an ancient 14th century temple of Shiva and is every architecture enthusiast's delight
considering the heavy work done in the temple. Different parts of the temple have been built in different periods with the main temple being Dravidian style and the rest of the temple in Vijayanagara style .The magnificent entrance, the main temple, and the marriage hall are all beautifully sculpted in Dravidian
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style. The outer walls of the temple have delicately carved figures of lions battling with elephants, rosettes, men on horses and other mythological characters. The black granite kalyana mantapa is especially very ornate with intrinsically carved workmanship in all its four pillars
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and octagonal base. There is also a massive pillared Mukha Mandapa with 64 well carved pillars. The pillars have lion brackets projecting out of them and the some of the minor pillars have 16-sided fluted type pillar design. Some of the carvings also depict trade
activities of the olden days and have influence of European and Chinese style architecture. Antaragange Four kilometers away from Kolar is Antaragange which is also known as "Southern Kasi". The stream Antaragange which means Ganges of the Deep originates from rocks, goes to a small tank and then gushes out from the mouth of a bull and then to a larger tank. Above the bull's head
is a structure belonging to the Paleyagara dynasty's times. The foot of the hills is also said to have the ruins of an old town. Atop the hill you have granite Neelakanteshwara Shiva temple. The hills behind the temple are ideal for trekkers as it offers cave exploration, camping, rock climbing and hiking activities. For more details you can contact bmcindia. KGF (Kolar Gold Mine) The Kolar gold mine is one of the
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oldest mines and it is said to have produced a sizeable amount of gold during the British occupancy. It was the pride of Mysore Raj and India until it closed down in 2001. The mining of gold in Kolar can be traced as early as Indus valley civilization. The champion mine, one of the deepest mines in the world was operational from the 5th century. But large scale mining only happened in 1850 under the British. A visit to the place shows you the
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vast cyanide dump of the mines which have accumulated over hundred years or so. Climbing the dumps some of them 30 meters height, gives you an eerie feeling of the days gone by. The dump machinery and the closed gold mine town gives you a glimpse of the once thriving city filled with Anglo-Indians, geologists, mine supervisors and labourers from nearby districts. Now the KGF city has a large scale industry of earth-moving equipments established by BEML. Kotilingeshwara temple How would it be to view 90 lakh Shiva idols at one glance? This is what Kotilingeshwara
temple (which means one crore Linga idols) at Kammasandra, Kolar boasts of. Here you will find Shiva idols of all sizes. The biggest Shiva Linga is 108 feet high and is one of the largest in Asia. Opposite to this Linga is a statue of a bull which is 35 feet high. Apart from Shiva temple you will also find eleven other temples dedicated to various deities like Santhoshima, Hanuman, Ganesha etc. There is also a big Bilwa tree where scores of cradles and turmeric threads are tied by devotees wishing to conceive a child. Nearby there is also a small temple lake. The temple plans to get the
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See and Do number of Lingas to one crore very soon. People wishing to install an idol need to pay a minimum of 751 rupees to the temple. Kotilingeshwara temple also boasts of arranging free mass marriages and free midday meal facility for the devotees.
can visit in Kolar is Bangaru Tirupati which is an ancient shrine on rocks, Mulbagilu and Avani for trekking and ancient temples.
Getting there Kolar is 72 kilometers from Bangalore and is located on
Other excursion sites Other noteworthy places you
Bangalore-Chennai NH-4. If you are driving, then take the route Bangalore-Hoskote-Kolar. If you wish to travel by bus then you get buses to Kolar from Majestic bus stand. By train, you will have to alight at Bangarapet and then catch a bus to Kolar. The journey takes about 2 hours or so from Bangalore.
Where to eat? En route you have the famous Kamat Upachar hotel after Kolar
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bypass, where you can indulge in some delicious south Indian breakfast. For lunch, you can try out Woody's or Shanti Sagar near Kolar. You can also partake lunch at Kotilingeshwara temple if you reach before 2 pm. Accommodation is provided in Woody's and Shanti Sagar. For farm holidays, you can also try out
the Morritt farm holidays.
Accessibility Except for Antaragange which requires one to climb around 300 steps, all other places are easily accessible by children and elders. Beware of monkeys at Antaragange. So what are you waiting for?
Head out to this history rich city and check out its numerous forts, temples and ancient monuments of the yester years and enrich your history quotient.
Usha is a resident of R.T Nagar and a travel enthusiast.
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Features
NCBS. Pic courtesy: ncbs.res.in
THE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Can you get a degree in wildlife in India? Yes, you can, but only in namma Bengaluru! In the second of our 3-part series, look at the NCBS and how it’s innovating on research in the biological sciences.
“W
e are a pure science research institute that focuses on biological sciences but we are also probably the only institute that recognises the need to diversify. We have students from engineering and technology backgrounds taking up Ph.D courses with us," says Dr. Mukund Thattai, Professor (Computational cell biology) capturing the essence of the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, an offshoot of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Students have to appear for an entrance exam held by TIFR which is a common exam for about seven 30 CITIZEN MATTERS
institutes : TIFR, CDFD, NBRC, CCMB, NCCS, TCIS and NCBS. "The exam is balanced. It's not just knowledge-based but tests students on their logical thinking and problem solving skills. This increases the scope for students from disciplines other than the pure sciences to compete," reveals Thattai. Out of all the students that appear for the exam to get into TIFR, about 9000 students apply to NCBS alone. 200-250 applications are selected for the next round which comprises a three day intensive interview with the researchers at NCBS. About 35 students are taken
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into the institute and with a 30 member faculty. it makes for a good research partnership. Students are exposed to all areas of research on a rotational basis in the first six months. The faculty also help students ramp up by supporting them with study sessions on basics of pure science subjects, so that they are able to cope with the rotation classes. After which the students get to choose the research area and begin work on their thesis. After 1.5 years they appear before a Thesis Committee to present their subjects and scope and need to proceed ahead. Most students complete their research in
Features five and half years. "What we are really looking for are students with an open mind that are ready to experiment" says Dr. Thattai. NCBS also hosts innovative annual events such as Hackteria - an intensive two-week transdisciplinary collaboration amongst international and local artists, hackers, activists, scientists, and even artists and designers. The Institute recognises the current lack of visibility of research being done in such institutes among undergrads and that such visibility could help them make their next big career move. Thus Thattai points out, "We also have summer programs to encourage undergraduate students to intern with us. This could jump-start their research careers"
Research at NCBS An autonomous institute has come up in the vicinity of the NCBS campus: The Stem Cell Institute. Stem cell is a new field that is gathering momentum in the field of research. "The interaction between faculty at the Stem Cell Institute and NCBS is a further boost to our research studies," says Thattai about all that is happening in the campus. He also refers to the new dimensions to science brought in by Dr. Annamma Spudich, Scholar in Residence at NCBS, along with Dr. Indhudharan Menon, Professor at
in the field of experimental sciences at Stanford University and is now dedicated to what's closer to her heart, "History of Indian healing traditions". Her work was exhibited at the Cantor Arts Centre, Stanford University in 2003 and also at NCBS in 2008. The exhibition stimulated scholarly and popular interest and was acquired by the Department of Forests and Environment, Govt. of India. It is on view as a permanent exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Mysore. The catalog of the exhibition is available from the NCBS library. (www.ncbs.res.in). Dr Annamma Spudich. Pic courtesy: ncbs.res.in Dr. Thattai himself acknowledges, "20 years ago publishing a research paper in NCBS, by capturing the history and India was difficult, now we have so many well recognised institutes in tradition of scientific research. "Asia in the making of Europe," a India that publishing papers from book by Prof. Donald F. Lach, is one India is as easy now. In fact our that Dr. Annamma Spudich refers standards are equivalent to good to as she talks about the Indian institutes abroad and there is also ethnobotanical knowledge that good money for researchers in the made India the nexus of world trade field; the only area in which we during the colonial period. India are falling short is the number of being blessed with tropical climate students in India, and especially in was home to rich flora and fauna. Bangalore, who come forward to Thus biological sciences were not take up pure sciences as a career."Dr. only documented in our ancient Spudich says "NCBS has tremendous scriptures, there is also extensive intellectual breadth and its now documentation by Dutch and home to me". She has made a shift Portugal scientists and travellers from her research career in the field of experimental sciences at Stanford starting early 16th century. Dr. Spudich says "NCBS has University and is now dedicated to tremendous intellectual breadth what's closer to her heart, "History and its now home to me". She has of Indian healing traditions". Her made a shift from her research career work was exhibited at the Cantor
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Features
Along with exhibit "Such Treasure and Rich Merchandize: Indian Botanical knowledge in 16th and 17th Century European Books.�, a herbal garden incorporating 50 medicinal plants described in the Hortus Malabaricus was set up at the NCBS. Pic:courtesy:ncbs.res.in
Arts Centre, Stanford University in 2003 and also at NCBS in 2008. The exhibition stimulated scholarly and popular interest and was acquired by the Department of Forests and Environment, Govt. of India. It is on view as a permanent exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Mysore. The catalog of the exhibition is available from the NCBS library. (www.ncbs.res.in). Dr. Thattai himself acknowledges, "20 years ago publishing a research paper in India was difficult, now we have so many well recognised institutes in India that publishing papers from India 32 CITIZEN MATTERS
is as easy now. In fact our standards are equivalent to good institutes abroad and there is also good money for researchers in the field; the only area in which we are falling short is the number of students in India, and especially in Bangalore, who come forward to take up pure sciences as a career."
Unique programme NCBS also has an M.Sc. programme in Wildlife - in partnership with WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and CWS (Centre for Wildlife Studies). The course is announced once in every
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two years. "Almost every university in the US has courses in wildlife and conservation but not a single one in India offers them." is Dr. Ajith Kumar's (Professor and Course Director, Wildlife Conservation Society) concern. The intake of this programme is 15 students (every two years). "This is a passion driven course and people find their way to us" says Kumar, when asked why the course is not advertised more. This is proved correct from what Bhanu Sridharan (MSc in Wildlife, 2010-2012) has to share: In 2009, Bhanu walked into the NCBS campus to find out more about
Features
Dr. Mukund Thattai, Professor, NCBS. Pic courtesy: ncbs.res.in
the controversial road that was to be laid right through the pristine campus of GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra) where NCBS is also located. As her interactions with professors and students at NCBS increased, she was convinced that her bonding with the institute was destined to extend beyond just one story. She eventually enrolled for the Wildlife course. Now, even after she has passed out, NCBS remains her work space "I still work from NCBS; they are informal that way. So alumni can come back, use the libraries or work spaces around here and work," she says.
"The facilities in NCBS are fantastic. As part of my M.Sc. I did a scuba diving course, " says Bhanu enthisiastically, adding "I also used to be very uninterested in sports, but now I am trying to learn to play squash at the sports complex." She is also taking lessons in a new dance form called zumba, which is being taught on campus by a researcher from Germany. Inclusivity is another aspect that distinguishes this Institute. As Bhanu explains, "NCBS is open to students from varied backgrounds, as in my case itself - I hold a Bachelors degree in communication studies and getting a fully-funded seat abroad in Wildlife studies would have been difficult. But NCBS gave me that opportunity."
The Masters programme in wildlife is a fully funded course with a fellowship or stipend every month and the course also covers accommodation and food. They have a separate entrance exam that you have to watch out for on their website. "Most of our students who pass out opt for Ph.D or get involved in organisations working on conservation of wildlife in India and abroad." They have many dissertations and papers to their credit. Bhanu also expresses her deep gratitude for Ullas Karanth and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). Karanth is the one who started the course, raised the funds for it and contacted NCBS. He started out as an engineer and is now amongst some of the well known wildlife conservationists in India and abroad.
Shamala Kittane is a freelancer.
Life at NCBS It is not just unique programmes or innovative research that makes NCBS an exciting place to be in, you are made to feel at ease and the campus is actually so much fun. dd-month-2013
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Opinion WOMEN’S DAY
How ruthless paperwork pushes patriarchy “Your baby was born after you were married, no?” Sapna Prabhakaran, a Marketing professional, was asked when she went to her get her child’s birth certificate. On Women’s Day, a young Bangalorean woman reflects on how outdated this country’s forms are.
I
t has happened to every woman. You are filling a form for a bank account or a driver's license or an internet connection. And the tip of your pen momentarily hovers over the section that stubbornly demands a ‘Father/Husband's Name'. In nearly every form we fill, however irrelevant to the nature of application you are filling, this information is vital. You ignore the thought as if the field were a leering lout serenading you on the street with a song and comply to the necessary evils of paperwork. For the rare bubble of privilege some of us live in, raised as well as sons, earning as much as our male colleagues, it is understandably irksome to have to validate our identities via another person. It is not to our taste to be identified as a wife or a daughter where it is not warranted, but there are instances where doing so is inherently unjust and unfair to women who choose to not provide this information. When I sought stories and opinions on a social network on this subject, I got several email responses that highlight how paperwork prefers to slot us as primarily wives and daughters often denying us our positions as guardians. Aparna Ramachandra, an entrepreneur, has a hard time when 34 CITIZEN MATTERS
she has to fill forms for her son that always ask for a ‘father's name' never choosing to specify instead a gender neutral ‘guardian'. She often sees paperwork that makes no allowance for a single mother. She ran into trouble when applying for her son's passport because authorities had trouble comprehending that she was the legal guardian. "I have my father's surname and my son has my ex-husband's surname. It was too much for the guys on the other side of the window" she says. "Your baby was born after you were married, no?" Sapna Prabhakaran, a Marketing professional, was asked when she went to her local municipal office's Health department to get her child's birth certificate. The official in charge couldn't see how her last name could be different from that of her newborn. Sapna had retained her maiden name whereas her child would take on her husband's surname. This, to the Health department of Mumbai, was a "complex case". In each instance all matters were to be settled either by repeated follow-ups, pleading or bizarre affidavits. The Indian passport application form reasonably asks for the names of both parents and the spouse's name for all applicants.
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It also has a conditional section for name change post marriage, if applicable. And yet, women like Aparna are harassed by officials who either don't know correct procedures or fear taking a call on an application with exceptions. Nothing can be done, Shweta Baxi Tyagi, a Vice President with a Digital Media company, was told when she wanted her son's Aadhaar card to carry her name, not her ex-husband's, as the legal guardian. When she went back and showed them the rules mentioned online, the Aadhaar card was finally processed. Aparna finds it particularly unpleasant when "details" are demanded of her circumstance, of the absence of a male, by people who refuse to accept forms without an undue explanation. All these women and countless others are independent successful professionals whom the paperwork in this country is too skeptical to accept as being responsible for their children. It is not amusing that forms do not require men to list their spouses in official records but a woman is expected to fill her husband's name in the place of her fatherwho the law for a minor counts as a ‘guardian'. The Hindu Minority
Opinion and Guardian Act, 1956 specifies that for a minor child, the father is the natural guardian. This was challenged by Githa Hariharan in an 1995 petition to the Supreme Court and a consequent landmark verdict allowed a mother to be considered as natural guardian. A Planning Commission Working Group submitted a recommendation last year to make the mother the primary legal guardian in all official documents. The 1956 law curiously states that should a minor girl be married, then her husband is the natural guardian. Yet, even adult women must specify the names of husbands in official documents. In these times, when women of great power with a global audience cautiously claim to not ‘consider themselves as feminists' and when raising a voice against inequality can quickly earn one a charge of militancy, it seems unwise to protest such a thing. Is not a bit of paperwork a trifle against the larger crimes women suffer, you will ask. But how can our reality change without changing the comfortable imbalance of our words? I went around Bangalore this morning, collecting forms from banks, looked up forms online and found forms for everyday things as cellphone connections. While a bank is required by international norms to gather family information, what place does a husband (or father's) name have when applying for a cellphone connection? It is fascinating how gently and widely patriarchy is promoted. It is as necessary to change the vocabulary of everyday existence as the hope of making an honest statement of being truly equal. Because when a piece of paper needs to know your ‘father or husband's name', what it really does, is refuse to let you pass until your name is accompanied by a man's.
Patriarchy exerts a universal influence. It views us as eternal children, sons and daughters of our fathers, who are part of a continuous lineage, not people responsible and accountable only for and to themselves. Why must a woman preface her identity with a husband? And why must a grown man be known by his father in a context where the relationship is irrelevant? A lady studying in a statefunded institution in Delhi, who wishes to remain anonymous, in order to apply for a fee waiver for a post-graduate program, was asked to sign an affidavit to cite that she was ‘legally estranged from her parents, particularly her father' to prove to the institution that she was genuinely in need of tuition assistance. Public and private institutions, particularly educational ones will not hazard allowing young men and women to be dissociated from support systems. It is a setting I am now fairly used to. It involves waiting in a small office full of bureaucratic bustle (or torpor). My afternoon is at the mercy of a middle-aged man at a table who creaks grudgingly into action, processing a fine or a form or a complaint. He will see that I am a harried-looking young girl and by way of making polite conversation, he will ask me ‘what' my father "does". I have learnt through red tape in university and in government offices that this seemingly innocuous question is the conduit to a larger image. Purely by the knowledge of my father's profession or perceived income, a narrative will be constructed on my social, economic and sometimes political standing. A narrative I do not endorse or contribute to, but which will dictate every conversation between us hence.
In its own way, this is what paperwork patriarchy reflects. I stare at an application for a PAN card as it asks, simply, and stubbornly, for my father's name. It does not offer an alternative, or doubt that my father, deceased for years now, should be relevant to this document at all. Every time a form confidently asks a woman for a "father's name", it eschews the role of a female twice over. First, it eliminates the role of a woman who is a mother, and then it eliminates my role as an adult and an independent participant. In a recent essay about gender sensitivity in a different context, the writer Roxane Gay says that diversity is not about quotas or political correctness. But about "putting multiple points of view in a conversation". She says "It's about ensuring that no one is operating in the kind of cultural vacuum where they don't stop to consider context". It is only fair to ask for our contexts as single mothers, as independent unmarried women, as legal guardians of our children to be considered. In every instance, it is important to pursue the larger equality we strive for. Vocabulary is crucial. We need to acknowledge in forms and in paperwork that there are parents, not "fathers"." Spouses" or "Partners" and not just "husbands". Maybe then, when this fundamental parity of vocabulary is achieved at the very least, it will be okay for a woman to proclaim that she isn't a feminist.
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Siri Srinivas is a young working professional.
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