Prostitution in HSR rears its ugly head again

January 12, 2021November 19, 2018 by RW News Network

We scan all things HSR Layout on social media and we came across yet another sales call by pimps. In October, we had reported about how prostitution had gone bold and brazen and how the HSR cops had trapped them. We have informed the HSR cops to take action on them. They are publicising their services using the Twitter handle: @ovimaniz84. When you click on their message, it takes you to a ‘Locanto’ website that has more details like the one below.

Prostitution in HSR rears its ugly head again 2

This shows two websites that they are operating from. Please note that not only is prostitution prohibited, it is also quite risky to your health and life. There have been many cases where people have blackmailed clients by recording their sleazy footage, while some have robbed them at knife-point.

Therefore, it pays to remain faithful to your partner rather than resort to these adventures that could ruin you and your family. The cops can only police whenever they get wind of this by posing as prospective clients. However, you can prevent this prostitution by not being part of it. No clients, no business.

COPTALK

The local cops have informed us that any resident who feels suspicious of people movements in their neighbourhood can call up 100 and report about suspected prostitution in their areas. “Although they say HSR Layout because it’s a high tech area, the pimps identify an area in HSR but take them elsewhere for the actual act which might not be in HSR,” said one police official. “Also, there are 10-15 pimps involved. The moment you become a decoy and pose as a prospective client, these people follow you to check if you are a cop. If they get even a slight doubt, they will escape.”

BEWARE: OTP cyber crimes are most common!

January 12, 2021November 17, 2018 by RW News Network

Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution!

January 12, 2021November 14, 2018 by RW News Network

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! 6

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! 7 — The wrong declaration that it’s a vacant site

Resident complains against neighbour for causing pollution! 8 — 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.

The heartwarming story of an HSR pet that was lost and found during Diwali!

January 12, 2021November 12, 2018 by RW News Network

On Wednesday, November 7, Dr Sumana Kaushik lost Angel, a female golden retriever due to a negligent caretaker in Mangammanapalya. On Saturday, November 10, she was reunited with her six-year-old pet, thanks to four dog lovers of HSR Layout.

The heartwarming story of an HSR pet that was lost and found during Diwali! 10 — The message that did the rounds of social media

Dr Sumana had given her female dog to a pet trainer who had in turn given it to a woman in Mangammanapalya. During Diwali, with all the firecrachers going off simultaneously, the dog got scared and ran away. Thankfully for her, dog lovers Prashanth, Bindu and Sindhu Gowda, who had lost their dog a year ago, sheltered and fed this dog for three days when they found her strolling on Hosa Road. They also put up her photo on Facebook’s ‘HSR Canine Club’ group.

The heartwarming story of an HSR pet that was lost and found during Diwali! 11 — The ‘Found dog’ message that went viral on social media

The heartwarming story of an HSR pet that was lost and found during Diwali! 12 — Sumana after being reunited with her pet

The dog was reunited with Dr Sumana when Anshu Vyas, another HSR resident and a member of the pet club, saw a ‘lost dog’ message on Facebook by Dr Sumana’s sister in law. “After seeing both the ‘lost’ and ‘found’ posts, Anshu put the puzzle together and asked us to contact the Gowdas,” Dr Sumana told Residents Watch. “The rescuers have a nursery on Hosapalya where they took care of her for three days. Even now, my dog is scared after going through all the trauma. I thank Anshu, Prashant, Bindu and Sindhu who looked after our Angel. It showed us that God’s miracles are personified through such warm-hearted good souls.”

Mechanised sweeping of major roads by March; smaller stretches will have to wait

January 12, 2021November 6, 2018 by RW News Network

Mechanised sweeping of major roads by March; smaller stretches will have to wait 14

In February 2018, the BBMP called for tenders on mechanised sweeping of bigger arterial roads and awarded the contracts only last month. The work order could be issued anytime this month for the Bommanahalli zone. Every zone (there are 8 in Bangalore) will get two big machines by Feb-March 2018. Once that happens, atleast the Outer Ring Road should be largely dust-free. However, the service roads and the arterial roads within HSR Layout will take a longer time as you need smaller battery-operated machines for that. While the BBMP has announced this proposal, the tenders are yet to be called. “They could be called now or might take a year, we don’t really know,” says Bommanahalli garbage contractor Roopesh Reddy. “The bigger machines can only operate on roads that have a road divider in the middle. For all other roads, only the smaller machines will help.”

Although the suspended particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution levels aren’t much, we did notice recently that it spiked above the normal values at 7am. This clearly means that the early morning joggers and walkers will be most affected. And residents believe that the ‘sweep and forget’ mechanism of the BBMP is adding to the pollution levels. The solution is mechanised sweeping.

However, while the BBMP has announced smaller machines to take care of the internal roads of neighbourhoods, mechanised machines on bigger thoroughfares like Outer Ring Road, Bannerghatta Road and Hosur Road are already operational but on a smaller scale. One such machine is stationed in HSR Layout for that purpose and it’s owned by the BBMP. Since it operates only at night (because of the traffic), you might not have seen it. It begins work at 10pm and is operational all night. Here’s a video of that in action on one of the neighbouring roads.

Until the smaller machines are tendered and put to work, which could take atleast another year, the walkers and joggers will have to put up with the dust pollution. Says resident Shashidhara K: “Morning walks are a challenge for many with so much dust in the air. The PM2.5 pollution increases due to much dust on the roads. The daily sweeping by BBMP increases this dust, since they just sweep and park it along the road side. What we need is a mechanism to sweep and pickup the dust at the same time. At least twice a week if they do mechanised, then all the dust will be removed.”

In HSR Layout, the residents complain that there is just too much dust on 27th Main, 22nd Cross, 19th Main, 17th Cross and 14th Main. “The places where large trees are present, the dust is a little less,” says Shashidhara, citing 24th main and 16th Cross. At 5 kms per hour driving speed for these machines, we can easily cleanup two sectors in a day, including the inner roads.”

Right now, the bigger machines have to operate 65 kmph/night and sweep the roads twice a week. Earlier, the BBMP used to dump the dust cleaned from the bigger roads in the vacant site opposite Rasaganga behind BDA Complex. When the site owner objected and fenced the entire area, the BBMP has begun dumping the road debris on a closed thoroughfare of Outer Ring Road. This is also ad-hoc because they are supposed to shift this garbage once every month to the landfills. With private garbage contractors coming on to the scene from early next year, this situation is expected to improve because these rules are specified to them. One big machines can sweep and collect the dust at the same time. In one night, it can collect all the dust on 65 kilometres of roads and unload it on to an empty site rented for the purpose by the contractor. Once every month, that road debris is supposed to be transferred to the landfill.

Why are traffic lights at Agara flyover and 19th Main not operational?

January 12, 2021November 5, 2018 by RW News Network

When the traffic lights are not operational, why put them there? That’s the question the residents are asking the authorities. This has happened at Nandini Cooljoint junction (which we have reported earlier) and also under the Agara flyover. Residents have seen that these lights have been non functional for the last many months.

But the traffic cops contend that the 19th Main junction doesn’t need traffic lights because of the rerouting of traffic at the 17th Cross and 22nd Cross junction. “It will be a mistake if they install or make the traffic lights operational here,” says former HSR traffic inspector Rao Ganesh Janardhan who had masterminded this traffic management idea. That the vehicle users are violating the one-way rule should not make us give up this idea, say the traffic cops.

But what about the non-operational traffic lights under the Agara flyover? “I had got them installed when I was around, but before I could complete the project, I was transferred,” says Rao Ganesh. “These traffic lights will work only after the Agara Service Road (the road opposite Agara village) is made one-way, but the apartments along that road opposed as they have to go ahead, take a U-turn and come back on to the Outer Ring Road if they were headed towards HSR or Silk Board. But we have to do this to ease traffic at this junction.”

Why are traffic lights at Agara flyover and 19th Main not operational? 16

Why are traffic lights at Agara flyover and 19th Main not operational? 17

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays

January 12, 2021November 5, 2018 by RW News Network

The government school building in Agara near Sector 1 has suffered damages worth about Rs 1.5 lakh. In the FIR, the school principal has alleged that some miscreants took advantage of the two-week Dussehra vacation and wrecked havoc in school. The result is that they have had to shift three classes and the office elsewhere in the building.

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays 19

Speaking to Residents Watch, 59-year-old principal Mary Angela said that these kind of incidents have been happening in the school for the last five years. “But this time, the damage is too much,” she said. “They have damaged water tanks, pipes and torn the sheet that covers three classrooms and one office room.” In addition, they have damaged the windows, doors and other school equipment.

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays 20

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays 21

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays 22

Agara Govt School broken into during holidays 23

“Every time, something like this happened at a smaller scale, we would ignore it and fix the things ourselves with donations from our well wishers, but this time the situation has got out of hand, so we decided to file an FIR to bring the offenders to book,” said Angela. “The loss we have incurred will come to about Rs 1.5 lakh. We cannot understand why some people are doing this?”

However, the principal has been seeking funds and permission from the education department to enhance the height of the compound wall from the present 3 feet to 10 feet. “If the department does this, we would be able to better protect our building and equipment,” she said. The school is also seeking donations for the repairs. If you want to do your bit, you could contact Mary at 93427-31840.

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies

January 12, 2021November 3, 2018 by RW News Network

The issues are just too many to warrant a separate story. Therefore, we are collating all the recent complaints made against various civic agencies, so they can address these complaints immediately, if they still haven’t.

STREETLIGHTS

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 25

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 26

STORMWATER DRAINS

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 27

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 28

DUST POLLUTION

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 29

ILLEGAL SPEEDBREAKERS

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 30

ROAD CONDITIONS

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 31

GARBAGE DUMPING

Top 6 complaints against HSR civic agencies 32

Maid robbed on dark stretch; resident fights and gets streetlight!

January 12, 2021November 2, 2018 by RW News Network

When the authorities don’t listen, the residents should never give up. Sector 2 resident Lalithamba BV did just that. When she heard that last week, one of the maids lost her purse to three ruffians who luckily spared her life, she called every authority imaginable to ensure that there was a streetlight on this dark stretch of the road where the robbery took place.

Maid robbed on dark stretch; resident fights and gets streetlight! 34 — BEFORE

Maid robbed on dark stretch; resident fights and gets streetlight! 35 — AFTER

The theft happened on a dark stretch of Somasundrapalya Main Road near Shyla wine shop. “The stretch near Shyla wines was completely dark as there was no street light,” recalls Lalithamba. “After our follow-up, BBMP fixed the street light today. Finally, there is light before Diwali!”

If you, dear resident has done something as commendable, Whatsapp us (98805-85748) your story with pictures or videos or both, and we will be glad to publish it on our channel. Importantly, let us know the other dark stretches in HSR Layout where streetlights are direly required. Use the ‘comments’ section or Whatsapp us with pictures. Just make sure it’s in HSR or HSR extension areas only. And if you like this story, please share and show that you care!

Residents protesting sewage overflow on 11th Main for the last 6 months!

January 12, 2021November 1, 2018 by RW News Network

The problems of the 6th Sector residents appear to be never-ending, like it is for many other sectors in HSR Layout. The latest story is about how the residents residing on one stretch of 11th Main are forced to put up with overflowing sewage on the roads for the last six months and counting.

Residents protesting sewage overflow on 11th Main for the last 6 months! 37

“This is happening opposite House Number 96,” Gopal told Residents Watch. “The doctor who resides in it has contacted just about everybody, from corporator to MLA to the BWSSB engineers, but a permanent solution is yet to be found. Whenever we complain, they just do a patchwork, but within a few days, the overflow happens again. I have even tweeted to the BWSSB chairman but it has been of no use so far.”

Residents protesting sewage overflow on 11th Main for the last 6 months! 38

When the residents complained initially, the BWSSB tried to clear the blockage with a small machine. “When that didn’t work, they said they would get a bigger machine, but that hasn’t happened yet,” says Jalan. “Ideally, they should lay a new sewerage pipeline along the entire length of 11th Main to permanently resolve this problem.”

KLM mall chokes traffic on 27th Main

January 12, 2021November 1, 2018 by RW News Network

The KLM mall that claims to be the ‘common man’s mall’ is indeed attracting the common man by the thousands. However, it did not expect the crowd to get so much that it cannot accommodate the teeming multitudes inside its premises. Therefore, the footpath on 27th Main Road has been encroached.

Since there is no parking arrangement in its basement like many other commercial establishments in HSR Layout, the vehicles are being parked all along 27th Main Road, 22nd Cross Road and around. The result is that the traffic flow is getting choked at the junction of 22nd Cross and 27th Main Road. Here is a video of what it looked like this evening.

Traffic cops have been deputed here to manage the evening rush. They were also instrumental in getting KLM to remove the encroached footpath on 22nd Cross. May the KLM mall be a lesson in how permissions should not be given by the BBMP to such establishments in HSR Layout without adequate parking arrangements.

We urge BBMP engineers, BBMP Joint Commissioner, MLA and corporator to ensure that such establishments don’t come up without taking adequate precautions to avoid inconveniencing the general public and the traffic flow.

Resident harvests and places groceries in community fridge for the poor

January 12, 2021October 30, 2018 by RW News Network

On October 23, Residents Watch wrote about a community fridge placed by Saibaba temple on the 19th Main footpath, so the poor can make use of it. Today, Sector 7 resident Ratnakar BNS Ratnakar did his bit for the underprivileged.

Resident harvests and places groceries in community fridge for the poor 42

Resident harvests and places groceries in community fridge for the poor 43

He decided to donate the harvest from his terrace and community garden to the community fridge. “I placed cabbage, brinjal, and Amaranthus leaves harvested today,” he told Residents Watch. “Hope the same will be relished by the users. We should encourage more such community fridges across HSR. I feel elated.”

We are elated too. If more residents start caring about the underprivileged, the world will be such a better place.