Hulimavu floods: K’taka govt, BBMP announce compensation but affected families unhappy

Flood

Families affected by the floods say that they are grappling with damages worth lakhs and are calling for the BBMP and state government to hand them a fairer compensation amount.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Housing Minister V Somanna announced that the state government will pay Rs 40,000 and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Rs 10,000 to those affected by Sunday's flood in Hulimavu.  The flood was caused by a breach in the lake bund and affected over 800 families in Krishna Layout, Saraswathipura, Avani Sringeri Nagar, Royal Residency Layout and BTM Layout 4th stage. On Monday, sandbags were placed to strengthen the bund and ensure that there is no leakage of water.  However, the BBMP has identified only 319 houses eligible for compensation in a survey as of now, Deccan Herald reported. The families affected by the floods say that they are grappling with damages worth lakhs and are calling for the BBMP and state government to hand them a fairer compensation amount. The BBMP paid a relief of Rs 10,000 to families affected by the floods in Doddabidarakallu in October. Karnataka Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanath Shetty issued a notice to the assistant director (land records) of Anekal taluk and the tahsildar asking them to conduct a survey of the lake, ensure encroachments are removed, and submit a status report in February, 2020. BBMP Mayor M Goutham Kumar said that a survey of 58 lakes in Bengaluru will be conducted soon. A temporary relief camp has been set up at the Hulimavu Tennis Court which is sheltering around 300 people. Namma Bengaluru Foundation, which visited the areas affected by the floods, said that the incident was caused by the utter negligence of the contractor and complete absence of supervision by the civic authorities in BBMP or Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). The Foundation called for a detailed inquiry into the incident.  An FIR was registered under sections 431 (mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel) and 432 (causing inundation or obstruction to public drainage attended with damage) of the IPC, and under sections of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Isha Pant, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru South) told The Indian Express.

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PhRMA ends funding for high-profile addiction treatment group

The lobby cut its donation from $8.1 million to $6 million this year. It will end all support in 2020.

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Truecaller fixes flaw exposing user data after alert from Bengaluru based researcher

Technology

Information security researcher Ehraz Ahmed, who identified the flaw, said that it could be used to fetch the information of unaware users.

Prajwal Bhat

Popular caller-identification and call-blocking application Truecaller was forced to issue a security fix after a critical flaw, which exposed user data, was identified by a Bengaluru-based information security researcher Ehraz Ahmed.  The flaw allowed hackers to use the service's Application Programme Interface (API) to place a malicious link as the URL for their profile picture. "The bug allowed the hacker to replace the link of the profile image. By replacing it with the malicious link, the hacker could execute a script in the background," Ehraz said speaking to TNM. He added that the malicious link could be used to fetch the information of unaware users. "Let's say you are searching my profile and you came across the profile image with the malicious link in place. It looks like an ordinary image to you but your information is logged in the background," Ehraz explained. Users viewing the profile image either by searching or through a pop-up could be targeted with the link and the hacker could obtain the users' IP address and location details. It could be accessed through all versions of Truecaller including Android, iOS and the web version.  Upon detecting the flaw, Ehraz developed a proof of concept (POC) and showed it to Gadgets360, a technology website. The organisation alerted Truecaller about the flaw and connected them to Ehraz. After the company fixed the issue, the flaw was reported by Gadgets360. Ehraz reproduced the flaw by showing the process of documenting IP addresses of users in a log file. The script was also able to model numbers and software versions of the users affected by the malicious link. Truecaller, in a statement to media organisations, confirmed the flaw and stated that it was fixed immediately. "It was recently brought to our attention that there was a small bug in our app services which allowed the modification of one's own profile in an unintended way. We thank the security researcher for bringing this to our notice and collaborating with us. The bug was immediately fixed," a Truecaller official said. The official added that critical user data was not compromised and that the researcher waited for the engineers to patch the issue before making it public

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Unplanned urbanisation on Hulimavu lake floodplains worsened B'luru floods, says expert

Flood

Not just the Hulimavu lake, settlements around all the lakes in Bengaluru are a product of unplanned urbanisation and may face similar situations in case of such breaches.

Sanyukta Dharmadhikari

On Sunday afternoon, around 300 people found knee-deep water inside their homes in Bengaluru’s Hulimavu and BTM Layout area. Though the reason for the unprecedented amount of water that entered people’s homes was reported was a lake bund breach, the actual cause is a bit more severe and worrisome, experts say. For in the case of heavy rains, the people living around Bengaluru’s many lakes could face such inundation every time.  The area that flooded on Sunday is the floodplain of the Hulimavu lake. Floodplains are defined as the area of flat land alongside a river. This area is the first to get covered in water when a river floods or overflows and usually if left empty, the water percolates into the ground itself or has the space to flow away.  However, unplanned urbanisation in floodplains and the tendency of authorities not to follow plans have converted Bengaluru into a sort of a cement block that does not allow extra water to percolate or flow away.  “In a rational environment, what we have to do is to delineate the floodplains and avoid construction on those flood plains,” says Raj Bhagat Palanichamy, a GIS expert based in Chennai.  “In Bengaluru, unplanned urbanisation and not adhering to plans when the regulation in itself is minimal, has led to a rampant urbanisation process. These floodplains used to be agricultural land in Bengaluru. Now, we have built layouts and apartments on it. The effect of the Hulimavu lake breach could have been minimised if these flood plains had been conserved and left alone,” Palanichamy adds. This leads to excessive flooding even in the event of a small breach. Satellite image animation shows d destruction of flood plains in Gottigere -#Hulimavu- Madiwala valley due to unplanned urbanization Now there's no space to hold water during floods n no space for percolation either Today when Hulimavu lake breached it's flooding neighbourhoods pic.twitter.com/6KyhDmPcsb — Raj Bhagat Palanichamy (@rajbhagatt) November 24, 2019 According to the Karnataka government website, there are around 81 lakes in Bengaluru, out of which 34 are recognized as live lakes. While most were mainly formed for irrigation of the areas downstream, a couple of lakes in Bengaluru were formed to provide drinking water to the citizens living around the waterbody. Palanichamy says that the area around all the lakes in Bengaluru has now been urbanised.  “We are not protecting our floodplains. What matters is not the distance between the lake and the construction, we have to keep in mind where the water might flow, where the floodplain is - in Hulimavu lake case it will flow to the north - and we have to keep in mind the elevation of the area,” Palanichamy says.  So what can be done? “For newly expanding areas, it is important to delineate the floodplains and not allow any kind of constructions. For the already existing urban settlements, we need to delineate the area and the floodplains and build resilience plan around it with an engineering angle. Currently, stormwater drains in the city are not enough because half the time sewage is dumped into them. We have to figure out a way to reduce the sewer water flow and reuse the sewage water,” Palanichamy says. This may not just minimise the floods in case of a lake breach, but may also help during monsoons as well.  Read: Hulimavu lake breach: Residents left to clean up as civic body indulges in blame game Lost lakes, encroached drains: Why some parts of Bengaluru flooded worse than others      

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Coffee Day-owned wood processing unit DAFFCO shuts operations in K'taka

Labour

DAFFCO said in a notice that the services of all workmen at the factory stand terminated and that they will be paid compensation ‘subject to availability of funds’.

Prajwal Bhat

Dark Forest Furniture Company (DAFFCO), owned by Cafe Coffee Day, has shut down operations at its factory in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru with immediate effect. The decision was confirmed in a statement released by a company official on Monday in which the tragic demise of Coffee Day founder VG Siddartha and financial constraints were cited as reasons for the closure of the wood processing factory. "(After the) demise of the founder and promoter, the other existing management team made efforts to revive the unit. However, it is to be noted that the company was simultaneously going through acute financial constraints and also lack of orders. Hence, we regret to inform all the employees that business/manufacturing/all activities at the factory located at Chikkamagaluru stands closed with effect from 25 November 2019," the company said in its statement. The company added that all workmen at the factory have been terminated and that they will be paid compensation "subject to availability of funds". There are 65 workers employed in the factory and the group of workers collectively approached the Chikkamagaluru Deputy Commissioner requesting that they be paid a fair compensation amount. “There has been no work in the last 25 days and in concillary meetings held with the management, we were told that the factory would continue operations. But today, when we turned up for work, we found that a notice was stuck on the front gate of Amalgamate Bean Company (ABC) stating that the factory has been shut down. We are demanding the company management to give us work or give us fair compensation as per the rules," said an employee working at the factory for over six years.  Workers also said that ever since the demise of VG Siddartha, the number of workers at the factory had reduced from around 120 to 65 after staff members and contract-based workers left the company.   Employees of DAFFCO after it closed its factory in Chikkamagaluru  The office of the Assistant Labour Commissioner in Chikkamagaluru confirmed that it received a letter from employees at the factory. A concillary meeting will be held between the management of the company and its protesting workers on December 2 to discuss the issue.  DAFFCO is a subsidiary of the investment firm Sivan Securities, which maintained a wood processing plant in Chikkamagaluru to manufacture furniture products for Cafe Coffee Day outlets and other establishments owned by Coffee Day. Sivan Securities was launched in 1984 by VG Siddartha. He invested the profits from his firm to buy coffee plantations in Chikkamagaluru district since his family has a history of growing coffee.  He set up ABC, a coffee trading company in 1993 and the premises of DAFFCO is behind ABC's facility in Chikkamagaluru. He had pledged shares of Sivan Securities for taking loans.  With the factory shutting shop today, police personnel were present at ABC today. As on March 31, 2019, the total debt of the group company Coffee Day Enterprises stood at Rs 6,547 crore, which is nearly 2.5 times the net worth of Rs 2,529 crore. In July this year, the business fraternity in India received jolt when Siddartha was found dead after drowning in the Nethravati River in Mangaluru in July. A purported letter written by him to his employees indicated that mounting financial debt, pressure from banks and tax authorities, and mistakes in business dealings drove him to end his life. 

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In pictures: Colours and celebration bring to life Bengaluru’s 12th Namma Pride

LGBTQ+

The 12th anniversary of Namma Pride was "The Walk of Tribute and Remembrance" to celebrate all those instrumental to the LGBTQ+ movement.

Sanyukta Dharmadhikari

“One, two, three, four, break open your closet door!” “Happy Pride!” “We’re here, we’re queer!” a hundred cheers rose to the sky on Sunday afternoon as people hit the streets — Bengaluru was celebrating its 12th Namma Pride.  Starting from one of the gates of the Kempegowda Metro Station, accompanied by dance, music and sheer joy, hundreds joined in to participate in the march organised by the Campaign for Sexuality Minorities Rights (CSMR), a coalition of several LGBTQ groups and individuals based in Bengaluru. “This is for everyone who is afraid to come out; today is there to encourage them, to support them,” said Johnson, beaming, waving a bright rainbow-coloured scarf around.  People across ages, genders and sexualities marched for pride in Bengaluru and some even got their children along. And the constant accompaniment to the joy? The sounds of drums, with the band thoroughly enjoying themselves — encouraging participants to just let go.  “This is one of my first marches since I came out, I am so excited to be here, the environment, it’s just awesome to be here,” Priyesh* told TNM, from under a large LGBTQ+ flag being carried by around a dozen people.  Started in 2008, Namma Pride has seen the numbers grow over the past decade. Sunday’s march covered a distance of about five kilometres, starting from Tilak Park and culminating at Townhall in Bengaluru. The 12th anniversary of Namma Pride was "The Walk of Tribute and Remembrance" to pay respects to all those who have been instrumental to the LGBTQ+ movement and remembering lives lost in the fight for equal rights. Parag, one of the participants, was in town from Pune, and told TNM, “India is changing and I am happy that Section 377 is scrapped, wow. And I am hoping for a lot more things, a lot more change in India.” But also looming over Bengaluru Pride 2019 was the controversial Trans Bill 2019, which is being debated in the Rajya Sabha. Held up alongside the LGBTQ flag was a large trans flag as well and many placards shouted slogans condemning the Trans Bill, demanding that their voices be heard too. “The number of participants from the transgender community was lesser this year... they were really, really unhappy and maybe they are dispirited because of the Bill. We look forward to the government changing things this year,” gay rights activist Anthony Peter Sylvester told TNM.  *Name changed

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How the Small-Donor Revolution Became a $200 Million Payday for Middlemen

Low-dollar, repeat contributions are a great talking point for campaigns. They’ve also resulted in a massive financial windfall for credit card processors.

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