After Monkey Bar shuts down, employees and bar owners lament future of Bengaluru's pubs

Employment

The protestors laid down flowers and candles in front of Monkey Bar’s doors and mourned the loss of employment.

Theja Ram

Bengaluru’s iconic Monkey Bar shut its doors on Monday and over 200 employees of various bars and restaurants formed a human chain outside the outlet in Indiranagar to demand justice. Employees of Monkey Bar, DJs, local musicians and former employees of other bars that were shut down in Indiranagar all showed up outside the venue in a show of solidarity. The protestors laid down flowers and candles in front of Monkey Bar’s doors and mourned the loss of employment. Speaking to TNM, Pravesh Pandey, owner of popular brewery Big Brewsky, said that over 2,500 employees have lost their jobs in Bengaluru over the last few months as they were not able to procure a public entertainment license. Ever since the Bengaluru Police made it mandatory for bars and restaurants to procure an entertainment license, a number of establishments in Indiranagar have shut down. This license is necessary if establishments want to play either live or recorded music. Popular watering holes including Monkey Bar, BFlat, BTDT and Humming Tree have shut down over the last few months as their business model was dependent on being able to play live and pre-recorded music. “Around 2% of Bengaluru’s population is employed in bars and restaurants. The current scenario is such that restaurants and bars are not doing well. These employees gathered here to demand justice as they are unable to get jobs. The demand is to find amicable solutions so that people don’t lose more jobs and there is ease of doing business as well,” Pravesh Pandey said. Protestors were holding placards that read “give us our jobs back,” “open the restaurants,” “we want jobs.” However, they dispersed after 30 minutes to avoid causing inconvenience to commuters and residents of the area. Why are restaurants and bars shutting down? Most of the bars and restaurants have shut down as they were not able to procure an Occupational Certificate, which is mandatory for being able to procure the entertainment license. A few months ago, the Bengaluru police began enforcing rules laid down under Licensing and Controlling Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005, which requires establishments to get licenses for entertainment programmes. From 2018, the Bengaluru police asked all pubs and restaurants in the city to submit a variety of documents to procure an entertainment license, after the Supreme Court upheld the licensing rules. However, most of Bengaluru's core areas have violated building bye-laws in one way or another. The biggest problem for these commercial establishments is that their buildings were earlier low rise residential buildings. These residential buildings have been converted into commercial spaces. However, the problem lies in the fact that most of these structures have not given set-backs or followed fire safety norms. Since the structures are completely different from the original building plans approved by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and have violated the zonal regulations and building bye-laws, these building owners were unable to procure an OC. The BBMP itself has estimated that 85% of buildings in the core areas of Bengaluru do not have an OC. The Vikas Soudha and the BBMP Head Office’s Annexe 3 buildings too don’t have OCs. It was due to the massive scale of illegal constructions that the Karnataka government had proposed to normalise them under the Akrama Sakarama scheme. Since the issue of Akrama Sakarama is sub-judice, no action has been taken yet. Restaurant and bar owners say that imposing such rules for a license is problematic to local businesses. The impact “There are so many people who have lost jobs. We are not finding jobs in restaurants as most of them are on the verge of shutting down because of the entertainment license. We want to comply with all the laws but they should also ensure that it does not affect livelihoods,” said Gopinath, a protestor, who works with Azure Hospitality. Speaking to TNM, Sunil Shetty, one of the owners of BFlat, says that if the government does not find a solution, then many more restaurants and bars would eventually shut down. The Karnataka High Court, on November 21, had directed the Bengaluru Police and the BBMP to make a list of all the restaurants and bars that would shut down due to the entertainment license. “Some of the most popular restaurants and bars will shut down. We appeal to the officials and only ask that we arrive at some sort of consensus so that so many people’s livelihoods are not affected. We want ease of doing business,” he said.     

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Now, mannequins to ‘regulate’ traffic: Bengaluru police’s latest, bizarre initiative

Six years ago, Bengaluru police introduced cardboard cut-outs of cops to trick drivers into following traffic rules.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Courtesy: Bangalore Traffic Police

The Bengaluru Traffic Police have taken to installing mannequins wearing the traffic police uniforms in a bizarre attempt to curb traffic violations on the roads. Pictures show the mannequins wearing the standard traffic cop uniform: high-visibility jackets, white shirt, khaki pants, and steel-toe boots. Some have even been spotted wearing sunglasses. Chief of Traffic, Ravi Kanthe Gowda, says, “There are lots of people who commit traffic offences when there are no police around to catch them. We put these up so that the people know there is police presence around.”  The traffic police have installed around 30 life-size traffic police mannequins all over the city on a trial basis, using the assumption that drivers behave better on the road when there is some authority watching over them.  Bengaluru Traffic Police statistics indicate that the number of fatalities have declined in recent years. The figures for fatal accidents in 2017 was 4,455 and in 2018, it was 4,133. However, what has been noticed is that blatant traffic violations occur all over the city in the absence of the traffic police: signal jumps, cell-phone usage, and not wearing helmets. There is also a need for increased traffic monitoring as the number of vehicles on Bengaluru’s roads go up every year. Ravi added, “We’re changing the location of the mannequins every day, so that repeat offenders can be cautioned and we can use our workforce in spots that really need our attention.” However, this is not the first time that the police have taken to using a unique measure to make people obey traffic rules. In 2013, the Bengaluru Traffic Police had installed cardboard cutouts at busy junctions of the city. The move was met with a lot of ridicule at the time, but some road users said it had a positive effect on road traffic behaviour as they were actually tricked into thinking it was a real cop.   

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Hulimavu lake breach: Residents left to clean up as civic body indulges in blame game

Flood

Over 300 people living in Hulimavu’s Krishna Layout returned to their homes on Monday morning only to find that their belongings had been washed away in the water.

Prajwal Bhat

Theja Ram

Slush, mud, weeds and garbage had entered the homes of people living in Bengaluru's Hulimavu on Sunday afternoon after sewage from the Hulimavu Lake flooded their homes. Over 300 people living in Krishna Layout returned to their homes on Monday morning only to find that their belongings had been washed away in the water. Adjoining the Hulimavu Lake on the northern boundary is Krishna Layout. The back walls of the hutments in the colony are attached to the cement wall of the primary stormwater drain connecting to the lake. The houses in the area are boxed in with just a three-foot gap on the northern end of the locality for people to enter and exit. On Sunday afternoon, an earthmover had arrived near the lake's exit where the bund's wall was dug up to allow the water from the overflowing lake to pass through the rajakaluve (stormwater drain). The damage "Initially, we didn't pay much attention to it because it is a common occurrence. But when the water started flowing out of the kaluve (stormwater drain), some of us went and tried to put mud and stones to stop the water, but the force of the water was too much," says Shobha, a 35-year-old resident of the area. By 2 pm, the water began gushing into Krishna Layout from the three-foot gap in the northern boundary. Residents climbed up the roof and camped on the tarpaulin even as frantic efforts to stop the water flow began. "When the water came gushing down suddenly, we ran away from the house. Even the police could not do much as the force of the water was too high," said Ashwath, a 45-year-old gardener. The flash-flood devastated the residents of Krishna Layout as most of them are blue-collar workers. 38-year-old Valli, says that all her clothes and utensils were washed away by the floods. Her LPG cylinder had landed up at the doorstep of another neighbour. The blame game According to Arekere corporator Bhagyalakshmi Murali, two weeks ago, the state government had released Rs 6 crore via the Bengaluru Development Authority for the rejuvenation of the lake. This happened after the state government diverted the Rs 24 crore allocated for lake rejuvenation towards helping victims of North Karnataka floods. "When the floods began, we found that a contractor named Karthik, who was carrying out repair works of sewage treatment plants and stormwater drains in the area, had sent an earthmover to the lake. Karthik's men dug up a five-foot hole in the bund located at the exit point of the lake. His men did this without calculating whether the mud wall would be able to withstand the force of the water," he said. Corporator Murali says that the BBMP Assistant Engineer-in-charge of Hulimavu Lake rejuvenation, Shilpa K, informed him on Sunday that the BBMP had sent Karthik to start lake rejuvenation work. However, when TNM contacted Shilpa, she denied that the BBMP had issued the order to the contractor. "We do not know who did this. The BBMP just got funds for rejuvenating the lake. We haven't even floated tenders for the rejuvenation. How can we be blamed for issuing the order? We have written up a report based on what the residents told us. We are investigating the matter," Shilpa said. BBMP corporator Bhagyalakshmi says that the civic body is yet to procure CCTV footage from Krishna Kuteera circle, where the camera has captured footage of the earthmover that was deployed to dig up the bund. "We got busy with cleaning up after the flood. We will examine the footage, get a hold of the driver of the earthmover and question him. We will get to the bottom of this," she said.    

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KSRTC bus from Mangaluru overturns on way to Bengaluru: Driver killed, 25 injured

Accident

According to reports, the driver allegedly lost control of the bus and hit an oncoming vehicle.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus travelling from Mangaluru to Bengaluru overturned on Sunday morning and resulted in the death of the driver, leaving several others injured. According to reports, the driver allegedly lost control of the bus and hit an oncoming vehicle. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning as the bus was passing through Hirisave in Hassan district. The deceased has been identified as 29-year-old Abhishek, a resident of Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. He was driving the KSRTC bus, which had been carrying around 46 passengers. It has been reported that at least 25 people have been injured, while police officials have stated that the injuries are not serious. The injured individuals have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment where they are now recuperating. The KSRTC bus toppled in the middle of the road and blocked all the oncoming traffic for sometime, before it was cleared. This comes hardly a month after another KSRTC Airavat bus had overturned when travelling from Puttur to Bengaluru, leaving around 32 people injured. The incident took place on the Bengaluru to Mangaluru National Highway-75 near Ramanagara district. The injured individuals had been taken to a nearby hospital in Nelamangala for further treatment and a case was registered against the driver by the police for negligent driving. In another instance, a bus accident in Tumakuru on October 30 had left five dead and 40 injured. The driver had been attempting to overtake an auto when he lost control of the bus which led to it toppling. The incident took place following the Deepavali holidays as people were returning to their homes following the festival holidays. The people who sustained injuries were shifted to nearby hospitals. Read: 5 dead in bus accident near Tumakuru in Karnataka, scores injured

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Karnataka Exam Authority alleges website data breach, files police complaint

In its complaint, the KEA alleges that its website was hacked on July 6 and the personal details of many students who appeared for the Common Entrance Test may have been leaked.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) approached the Malleshwaram police on Thursday, stating that its website had been hacked and the personal details of scores of students appearing for certain exams may have been leaked. Following this, the police registered a case under the IT Act, 2008.  In its complaint, the KEA alleged that the hacking of data took place on July 6. However, there is no clarity on why the complaint was filed by the KEA after a delay of four months. According to a report in The Hindu, as early as May 2019, several students and their parents had received messages from private colleges about admission prospects after having enrolled for the CET (Common Entrance Test). Parents who were concerned by this had raised the issue with KEA officials but did not receive any response at the time. The KEA is the regulatory body for CET — which is an entrance exam for engineering, medical and dental courses — as well as entrance exams for agriculture and architecture courses in the state. According to the complaint, the KEA has alleged that the hackers are from a marketing firm, Leadtap Media and Marketing, who have sold private information to companies based in Karnataka, Telangana and Odisha. A report in the Times of India on July 25 had noted that the KEA website has only an IP address and no URLs, and this made parts of the website vulnerable to data hacks. An ethical hacker reported that he found access to the Directory of the website, which is the landing page from where all other parts of the site can be connected. The directory has access to student’s personal details, and allows access to the admin panel of the CET 2019. The admin panel contained sensitive figures such as the revenue collected by KEA as well as the personal data of the students including their contact information, exam answers and secret question code. 

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‘We were caught unawares’: Residents of Bengaluru's Hulimavu recount flood damage

Civic Issue

Within minutes, the sewage water from the Hulimavu Lake, which overflowed into the stormwater drain on Sunday, had submerged the 30 hutments in Hulimavu’s Krishna Layout.

Theja Ram

It was a Sunday morning and 23-year-old Puneeta, who had finished work early, was sitting outside her 10ft x 20ft kachha house in Bengaluru's Hulimavu, when she heard noises of gushing water. Puneeta, who works as a domestic help in the area, lives in a colony close to the Hulimavu primary stormwater drain and such gushing noises were not new to her. At around 11 am, the noises began getting louder and Puneeta became suspicious. She climbed on top of the tarpaulin roof of her house to see what was happening in the stormwater drain located close to her house. The water level had risen drastically. However, this did not scare her as she says it is a common sight of the rajakaluve (stormwater drain) being full, especially after the monsoon. Puneeta was sitting outside her house with her sister and drinking a cup of coffee when the water suddenly began gushing towards her house. "We were caught by surprise. We were not prepared for something like this. I saw the water coming towards our house so fast. My sister and I began shouting and we gathered a few clothes and immediately locked up the house so the water would not enter," she said. Within minutes, the sewage water from the Hulimavu Lake, which overflowed into the stormwater drain on Sunday, had submerged the 30 hutments in Puneeta's colony in Hulimavu's Krishna Layout. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials had dug up the bund to allow water to flow out as the lake was full. However, the bund's wall collapsed and the water flooded the homes of residents in a 2 km radius of the primary stormwater drain. "There were around 50 to 60 of us living in around 30 houses in our colony. Water entered everyone's houses so quickly. We all left and went to our friends' and relatives' homes. Some of us stayed back hoping to be rescued but no one came for hours. At around 1 pm, the water had flooded the roads and houses located beyond our small colony. By that time, the water had entered the houses even though we had locked the door. That's when we decided to move out on our own," Puneeta said. She and her family members are currently living with a friend in Arekere area. While people in the colony of hutments faced the brunt of the flood on Sunday morning, by 1.30 pm, the water had reached the road and the homes of people living near Vivekananda Road, where 32-year-old Bashir lives with his wife in a small room. Bashir works as a mason, while his wife works as a domestic help in the Hiranandani apartments located in Hulimavu. "I could see the water flooding the houses near Krishna Layout. I went on top of my roof at around 1 pm to see what was happening when I heard people in the tea shop nearby talk about floods. The water was quickly coming towards my house. My wife and I packed up our things and dumped it in my Tata Ace (autorickshaw), which I drove to an area that was higher than where we lived," Bashir said. By 2 pm, Bashir's house too had flooded and the cars parked on the roads adjacent to his house were all submerged. Bashir says that the Fire and Emergency Services personnel, NDRF and the local police arrived at around 1.30 pm to begin rescue operations and many residents, living in kachha houses and hutments in Krishna Layout and surrounding areas, were moved to the Hulimavu Government School where a temporary relief camp has been set up. "The rich people all live in apartments and their houses did not flood. Garment workers, masons, house helps and daily wage workers -- we were the ones affected by this the most. We all got together and helped the police and others to erect a dam by using mud and debris. For now, the water flow has been stopped. I am still throwing out water from my house with buckets," Bashir says. Bashir and Puneeta say that their homes and belongings have been destroyed and the one big question on their minds is whether they would be offered any compensation for the loss they have suffered. "We don't have money to even have a proper roof over our house. Our belongings were floating in the sewage water. Who will help us now?" Puneeta asks. Bengaluru Mayor K Gautham Kumar, however, denied that the BBMP officials had come to dig up the bund. "Some people, we don't know who it is, tried to connect a pipe to the bund by digging a hole. This led to the flood. We are trying to find out who did it and action will be taken against them," he added. BBMP Mayor added that the civic body's officials would go to Hulimavu to assess the damage on Monday morning before taking a decision on the compensation. 

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Lake bund breached in Bengaluru, scores of houses flooded in Hulimavu and BTM layout

Flood

NDRF was pressed into action, to rescue people who were stuck as their houses were flooded.

Prajwal Bhat

Twitter/amaljohn123

In a surreal shock to residents of Hulimavu area in Bengaluru, their streets and houses were inundated after a breach in the bund of Hulimavu lake on Sunday afternoon. Vehicles were inundated by the flood and water entered several houses in Hulimavu Layout prompting personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to be pressed into service. City Mayor M Gautham Kumar said that the breach occurred when someone used an earthmover near the bund to lay a pipe. This human negligence caused much hardship for many people in the area. Speaking to TNM, Mithana, a resident of the area said, "The water began logging slowly at 1:30 pm but by 4:45 pm the water rose to a high level and rescue operations began. Most of the houses here are low-rises and this has affected around 300 residents." By 6 pm in the evening, the lake water had entered commercial establishments in Vivekananda Road, flooding basements in the area. Residents in the area reported that there was construction work taking place near the bund of the lake causing the breach and the subsequent flood. An official in the lakes department of the BBMP told TNM that the bund where construction work took place was the exit of Hulimavu lake. A video tweeted by a Twitter used called Amal John clearly shows even vehicles partially submerged. What you see here ladies and gentlemen is superb urban planning, incredible drainage management and an efficient city administration all coming together. Wow. #HulimavuLake #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/0BdICCytC6 — Amal John (@amaljohn123) November 24, 2019 Two months ago, the BBMP had closed the exit of Hulimavu lake by constructing a bund. The sewage from Gottigere lake and the canal in Bannergahatta started flowing into Hulimavu lake and the lake was filled up due to recent rains in southern Bengaluru. On Sunday, when the bund of the lake was tampered with, it was not closed properly, according to the official. This led to the sides of the bund crumbling and it was no longer able to withstand the water. The official added that if rajakaluves were cleaned up, it would have been able to withstand the water coming from the lake but since it was not done, the lake water mixed with sewage water in the rajakaluves entered the streets. Personnel of the NDRF assisted by local officials in Hulimavu managed to make a makeshift wall and stop the flow of water from the bund.  Yet another lake breaches in Bengaluru...#Hulimavulake floods Bannerghatta road pic.twitter.com/QVd0IAEWnd — Sandeep Moudgal (@sandeepmTOI) November 24, 2019 #HulimavuLake pic.twitter.com/fcBGTIuU66 — Rebos Kirab (@SOBERBARIK) November 24, 2019

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