Health

Clinic found dumping medical waste on Iblur lakebed penalised by BBMP!

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iblur lake medical waste

In a rare case, thanks to resident activism, a clinic in Iblur, which comes under the HSR Layout ward, was penalised by the BBMP. When a group of residents found medical waste like used syringes and cotton used to cover wounds, they immediately looked for the identities of the perpetrators. Soon enough, they found prescription receipts of Ganesh Clinic in Iblur.

Clinic found dumping medical waste on Iblur lakebed penalised by BBMP! 1

When the news came to the notice of BBMP health inspector Vinodh GM, he immediately went to Ganesh Clinic and fined them for their offence with a warning that they should not be found repeating this crime ever again. “We have warned them that if they are found violating the waste disposal rules again. their operating licence will be quashed,” says Vinodh.

Clinic found dumping medical waste on Iblur lakebed penalised by BBMP! 2

This is the second such instance in recent times where the culprits were penalised. About five month’s ago, Baliga’s Clinic staff was found dumping biomedical waste (open syringes and cotton swabs) in front of Salarpuria apartments on 5th Main in Sector 7. At the time, Vinodh had fined them Rs 10,000 for the crime. “The staff was unaware that Maridi Eco Industries was supposed to dispose off biomedical waste,” says Vinodh. “It was a case of misunderstanding. They have not repeated the offence since.”

Clinic found dumping medical waste on Iblur lakebed penalised by BBMP! 3

If you run a clinic and don’t know how to dispose off waste, you can contact Maridi Eco Industries who specialise in medical waste disposal. This is not just to serve a warning to all the clinics and hospitals dumping medical waste on vacant sites and lakebeds, but to also sound the awareness alarm of the consequences of indulging in such an act. According to a 2000 study of World Health Organisation (WHO), millions of people were affected by HIV viruses due to contaminated syringes. In addition, when such waste is discarded in landfills, not only is the groundwater contaminated but also a health concern for all the people involved in clearing such waste like pourakarmikas, janitors and nurses.

70% callers in HSR seeking counselling are students

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hsr layout helplines
A women and child safety helpline in BTM Layout receives an average of 10 calls a day, 70% of whom are students. According to the helpline officials, the biggest problems they face is addiction to smartphones, losing interest in studies and getting involved in love affairs.
 
 
70% callers in HSR seeking counselling are students 4
 
 
In rare cases involving warring adult couples who don’t listen to them, such people are referred to the helpline located inside the police commissioner’s office on Infantry Road. “So far, this has happened in about a dozen cases where either the people coming to us are highly educated and adamant or people with tremendous influence,” says Thamar SM, the helpline founder. “Such individuals are sent to the commissioner’s office, so they fear the law more.”
 
Most cases involving adults are about infidelity and personality classes between couples. “We offer legal guidance on the phone and counselling the wife and husband in person,” says Thamar about this free service. “We have one counsellor and one person who fields the phone calls.” They publicise this free service through pamphlets, but it’s largely word of mouth. A face to face counselling session can last between 30 minutes to two hours, according to him. Counsellor Meena had earlier worked with the Santvana Kendra, a government non-profit in BTM Layout.
 
HELPLINE
108/6, First floor, Tavarekere Main Road, near Balaji theatre (Off Forum Mall Road, behind Christ University
Phone: 91084-45555
 
Alternative number: Bangalore City Police: 100 (they will direct you to area-wise NGOs.

 

What’s your ‘dosha’?

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What's your 'dosha'? 5
The Organic World is the newest entrant in HSR Layout offering organic produce. What we loved most is the way they have these educational counters on how to check for nitrate content in vegetables and fruits with a tester, to pamphlets on the various doshas in our bodies.
 
Look at the pictures and answer the questions to know which ‘dosha’ you belong to and accordingly adjust your dietary requirements, according to Ayurveda. Your health is everything. This is for your information only and not a prescription for any ailments.
 
 
What's your 'dosha'? 6
 
 
 
What's your 'dosha'? 7
 
 
 
What's your 'dosha'? 8
 
 

 

Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution!

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Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution! 9
MC Sunanda is a fiesty 65-year-old woman who is a resident activist of sorts in Sector 1. She has successfully fought against polluters and illegal occupants in her neighbourhood in the past and her latest is against a tenant in front of her house. “The occupants of site number 1879 on 21st A Main have no water facility or drainage. They wash, cook and dirty the place. They use firewood and pollute the area. They urinate in the site itself. It is causing nuisance and is an ugly sight in the morning.”
 
 
Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution! 10
 
 
She has not only informed the landlord of this site but also complained to the BBMP way back in August, but no action has been taken so far. “I have also spoken to the site owner’s husband on the phone. They are aware of it. I have sent the pictures,” says Sunanda. “They wash the clothes, there’s no drainage, mosquitoes breed there, please ensure that they vacate the place. A family of four are staying there and they cook openly with firewood.”
 
To make matters worse, the site owner K Kavitha has it on record that it’s a vacant site when there is a room with people living in it. “The site is let out for ironing of clothes and a cart is parked and thereby made commercial,” says Sunanda. Can a citizen give wrong declaration to the authorities and get away with it by troubling the honest tax payers?
 
 
Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution! 11
The wrong declaration that it’s a vacant site
 
 
Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution! 12
The site owner is paying tax for a vacant site when she has a shed with people living in it
 
 
We reached out to site owner’s husband Gopinath K and this is what he had to say: “I had visited the spot last month. Let me take a look at the issue again and then respond. I definitely understand the issues concerning the neighbours and will get back to you.”
 
Sunanda has this to all the site owners erecting temporary sheds to house people. “These site owners declare to BBMP as vacant site, but construct a shed and let it out without any plan sanction and sanitary connection,” says Sunanda.
 
She is just as angry with the BBMP for inaction. “Inspite of me giving all the details such as phone number and address of the owner, BBMP has utterly failed in discharging their duties. BBMP does not respect people who follow the law, instead it encourages people who violate it Is BBMP set up to protect law offenders?”
 
HER PAST SUCCESSES
A similar case had stared her in the face when a woman was staying in a shed diagonally opposite her house. It was yet another hygiene issue and when she gave a police complaint, the owner of the site where the shed was built got the maid to vacate it.
 
Two years ago, there were huts where about 10 people were staying and creating a health and hygiene issue. She called the police and got them removed too. “The owners want to preserve their site at the cost of our hygiene,” says Sunanda.

 

Residents stop mobile towers from being installed in Sector 4

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Residents stop mobile towers from being installed in Sector 4 13
Sector 4 residents stopped the installation of a mobile tower atop a ground plus two floor house by Airtel yesterday. It’s unusual for the telecom service provider to opt for such a low-lying house that could not only be harmful to the residents.
 
 
 
Residents stop mobile towers from being installed in Sector 4 14
Airtel planned to erect a tower on top of this house in Sector 4
 
 
Residents stop mobile towers from being installed in Sector 4 15
House No 228 is right in the heart of a residential area
 
 
According to the residents, the person responsible behind the installation attempt was the owner of house number 228. “Although Debnath is the house owner, the No Objection Certiticate (NOC) was signed by his friend living next door,” said resident Kavitha Reddy. “Residents around have stopped the work and the BBMP Joint Commissioner (Bommanahalli) confirmed that he was not even aware that such a permission was given.”
 
Now the residents have asked the Sector 4 Residents Welfare Association to up this issue with the BBMP and issue a warning to the owner of the house. “Just for the sake of money, people like Debnath and his neighbour are putting the entire locality in danger,” said Reddy. “Telecom towers are banned in residential areas and these people are violating the law and playing with the health of citizens.”
 
DO MOBILE TOWERS CAUSE CANCER?
According to the American Cancer Society, the radiofrequency waves emitted by mobile towers do not cause DNA damage that can lead to cancer. In London, you will be hard pressed to find a mobile tower, because they are all installed outside the city. What you will see instead of boosters inside the city. In a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by film actress Juhi Chawla in 2015, her lawyer cited this and asked India to follow suit. However, India’s telecom regulatory authority maintains that its standards are 10-times stricter than the global standards. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has made a public statement that the radiation from cell phones. mobile towers and Wi-Fi as “possibly carcinogenic”. In April 2017, the Supreme Court gave a landmark ruling in favour of a cancer patient who alleged that he got it because of a mobile tower next to his office. The country’s highest court ordered the deactivation of the tower.
 
CHECK THE MOBILE TOWER RADIATION NEAR YOUR HOUSE
A year ago, the ministry of communications set up a mobile tower radiation monitoring website. You can check out if your mobile tower is emitting harmful radiation that is above the standards specified by India. Just CLICK HERE and you are good to go.

 

Stray dogs attack MP Kupendra Reddy; 7 dogs impounded

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hsr layout stray dogs
Member of Parliament Kupendra Reddy was allegedly attacked by stray dogs in Sector 1, prompting the BBMP to impound seven dogs in the Koramangala animal shelter. Fearing that the dogs could be relocated or killed, animal activists rushed to the shelter and have filed a case against the BBMP in the Koramangala police station, and are demanding their release.
 
 
Stray dogs attack MP Kupendra Reddy; 7 dogs impounded 16
Representation purpose only
 
The incident happened yesterday morning (October 11) when the senior politician was on his morning walk. The four stray dogs that Sundara Rama Reddy (84 years) keeps in his house ran out when the gate was left ajar by the servant. One of them allegedly attacked Kupendra Reddy, prompting him to immediately lodge a complaint with the BBMP who rushed to the place and impounded seven dogs. “They are all sterilised dogs,” said Ravikumar of the Animal Husbandry Department, BBMP (Bommanahalli). “We will keep them under observation at the Koramangala dog pound and see if anyone has rabies. If someone has that disease, the dog dies on his own.”
 
The BBMP officials say that they are following the Supreme Court ruling and will release the dogs back to where they picked them up from. But the residents don’t want them back because of this attack incident. The animal activists fear that the dogs could be killed or relocated because of political pressure, and are demanding their release. However, the BBMP is quite categorical. They will keep the dogs under observation and let the rabies-infected dog die on his own, while the rest will be left back on 14th main, 21st Cross, Sector 1.
 
The problem is more compounded as an FIR has been lodged by the BBMP against the stray dog caretaker. “He’s feeding 20-30 street dogs who form packs and attack people, according to the residents,” said one official. “The residents are scared and want them to be relocated but we can’t help it as we are bound by the Supreme Court order.”

 

Resident launches door delivery of plastic and chemical-free groceries in HSR

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hsr layout organic food
Vandana Pandey, a new resident of HSR Layout, quit her cushy job as a software engineer a year ago, went on a cycling trip across Rajasthan and Gujarat for several months, and moved in to HSR Layout to start an online grocery store with a difference. Her ‘Suunya’ outlet delivers groceries which are plastic and chemical-free.
 
 
Resident launches door delivery of plastic and chemical-free groceries in HSR 17
 
 
Born in a farming family where she lived a zero-waste lifestyle in her small village in UP, she finally found a job that stays connected with nature. Soon, she plans to set up a warehouse where customers can visit and fill up their cloth bags and steel containers with nature-friendly goods.
 
You can place your order through Whatsapp and your paper and plastic-free goods will be delivered to your doorstep. “It’s a self-funded initiative on a small scale, started inside one room in my friend’s house,” she says. “Our focus is not so much on recycling but using resources wisely, because recycled products will eventually lead to a landfill,” says Vandana.
 
In the first phase, she is providing non-perishable food Items, and will soon venture into home and personal care, fresh fruits, and vegetables, with perishable items to be the last on her list.
 
Vandana is working with small and medium scale farmers of Karnataka who practice natural farming and don’t add synthetic chemicals, pesticides or fertilisers. “I believe food miles is part of sustainable living, and I want to promote local produce as much possible,” she says.
 
Why not call it an organic store? “When our air and soil is not organic and polluted, how can the produce be organic? There will be traces of chemicals,” she says. “All we can ensure is there are no external chemicals and pesticides.”
 
 
Resident launches door delivery of plastic and chemical-free groceries in HSR 18
 
 
If you are not sure of any so-called food is organic, Vandana has a simple tip. “Your body is smarter than your smartphone. Just connect with it, and it will tell you without any reports and certifications.”
 
Vandana wants each resident to ‘rethink, refill, reconnect’, and would like Suunya to aid the conversation on the waste we are creating. “Let us all together change the shopping environment and make conscious consumption, the new normal,” she signs off.
 
THE DELIVERY MODES
1. The minimum amount for home delivery: Rs 1000
2. Delivery Charges:
Picking up from my place in your own container: 5% discount
< 2km: Rs 50
2-5km: Rs 100
>5 to 12 KM: Only if there are 10+ order from the community with delivery at cost.
 
You can place your order through Whatsapp or call Vandana at 93802-90981.
 

 

Residents demand mechanised sweepers to contain vehicular and construction dust on main roads

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hsr layout pollution
With vehicular pollution, construction and roadside dust polluting the main roads of HSR Layout, the residents are now asking the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to implement mechanised sweeping of the main roads atleast.
 
 
Residents demand mechanised sweepers to contain vehicular and construction dust on main roads 19
 
 
“Where are the mechanical sweepers that were supposed to be deployed on all the major roads of Bangalore?” asks HSR resident and civic activist Kavitha Reddy in a tweet to CM and Deputy CM of Karnataka. “If the CM and Deputy CM continue to let the corporators and MLAs to decide on it, they will destroy the city further! Just visit the strech between Agara and Silkboard junction, were the roads have not been cleaned for years now.”
 
Says resident Shashidhara K who is busy installing pollution monitors across HSR Layout to gauge the impact, and his results are not encouraging: “HSR definitely need to eliminate construction dust, sand particles from streets (using BBMP mechanized sweepers), and also reduce vehicular pollution at the earliest. Air quality is very bad on the main roads and at intersections.”
 
 
Residents demand mechanised sweepers to contain vehicular and construction dust on main roads 20