City

New coins in E- ticket machines leave rail commuters stuck

The Weekly Observer

06 September 2012

By Hansa V MANUAL ticketing system has been restored as the eticket machines take in only old-five rupee coins, which are not being circulated anymore. Passengers have started depending more on the manual ticket counters as majority of them have only new-five rupee coins. This has led to a drastic drop in the printing of tickets by the machines to one or maximum two tickets weekly. Hariharan Narayanan, a fellow passenger who had come to drop his wife at the railway station said: "The city railway station has e-kiosk to dispense platform tickets. It accepts only old-five rupee coins. What is the use of such a machine?People hardly have such specific change, especially if the conditions are limited to old-five rupee coins. This has led to manual selling of platform tickets leading to human congestion, which was

E-ticket machine, city junction there earlier anyway. The machines were upgraded last after the budget session 2012. This means that the upgradation took place after the new-five rupee coins were minted. C.Narendra, Publicity Inspector of Railways, Bangalore said: "The machines were installed only recently. The machine is customized

Photo: Hansa V in such a way that it accepts only the size of old five rupee coins. The new five rupee coins are smaller and thinner and this is not acceptable by the e-kiosk machines." On asking about the delay of its upgrade, he said that they are aware of the fact that it has been put off for a while and are trying their best to update the machine's mechanisms. The ma-

Photo: Hansa E-ticket machine, city junction chines were introduced much before June 2007, when the cost of the platform tickets was Rs.3 per ticket.Post-budget session 2012, the machines were updated as the cost of the tickets was increased to Rs.5 per ticket.The change led to the programming of the machines to take in old-five rupee coins.

ABC Act slashes rabies cases in city

By Aheli Raichaudhuri THE Animal Birth Control Act has significantly slashed the number of rabies cases in the city. Most of these stray dogs were not vaccinated against rabies. As a result, it was becoming an epidemic in the city in the last two-three years. This usually resulted in the dog being put down or culled. The reinforced imposition of ABC had cut the number of stray dog bites cases to 2 cases a week in July-August 2012. In the 2009-10 census, the total number of stray dogs bites was 12,897. This Act has been in practice since the year 2001 named as Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules 2001. A report titled Presentation (BBMP, 2010-2011): Presentation of BBMPs ABC Program by Dr Parviz Ahmed Piran and was authored by the Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagar Palike. It gave details on the number of stray dogs and the total number of stray dogs bites registered in the city in till 2011. Dr. Chennappa, Veterinary and who has been a part of Dr. Ambedkar Development Co-operation, said, Although euthanasia has been banned, there are some extreme cases where the dog is terminally ill such as cancer and other incurable diseases. Congress MLA, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda, when contacted, asked for a questionnaire, but otherwise remained unavailable for comment.

Photo Corner

Bribe demands cause delay in supply of gas cylinders

By Reshma Tarwani LPG gas suppliers are ripping off customers in the city by demanding bribes. Delay in delivery coupled with malpractice in the supply of LPG gas cylinders in Bangalore, is affecting the middle income groups. Long delay and malpractices in LPG gas supply are causing inconvenience to the residents of Bangalore city. Distribution agencies on the outskirts of Bangalore are making extra money by converting domestic cylinders into commercial ones. While a commercial cylinder costs Rs.1800, a domestic cylinder costs Rs. 415 only. This malpractice, which occurs four days a week with bulk cylinders, is causing delay in the delivery of LPG cylinders. Officials in Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (KFCSCL) admitted that distribution agencies like Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Gas have been practicing the illegal conversions for long. The agencies situated at the outskirts of Bangalore have illegal connections and that too inter-state ones, said Chandrasekhar, Consumer Adviser, KFCSCL. "People are not transferring their ration cards when they are changing the state and they are the ones perpetrating these malpractices" said M.C Gangadhara deputy director (KFCSCL). Areas including Neelsandra, Vannerpaet and Ring Road are severely affected.

Photo:Satyajith G D A stitch in time. A Bangalore tailor waiting for customers.

Ashoka trees at point of extinction as there is lack of funds for its conservation
By Sneha Banerjee LACK of proper funding is significantly affecting the survival of Indias oldest medicinal plant, the Ashoka tree. Irregularities in the distribution of funds for the conservation of Ashoka trees are threatening the survival of the species. According to a spokesperson in the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), Vanmahotsav scheme had approved an amount of Rs. 25 lakhs for the conservation project of Ashoka trees (Saraca Indica) in 2008. However, they have received a sum of Rs.10 lakhs only till date. Mr. Ravindra, an associate of Indus Herbs, told that the medicinally important by-products received from the Saraca Indica tree are facing extinction in the market. The Ashoka tree was listed as endangered species by International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Two thousand metric tons of the Ashoka tree products were being used for commercial purposes in 2008, the trade figures suggested. Dr. Prabhu, working at the KFD said: The ecological imbalance has created irregular pollination which has affected the growth of Asoka trees. They have also been cut massively for timber and medicinal purpose, he added. The Patoli region near Dandeli in Karnataka had large acres of Ashoka trees. Patoli region faced biotic pressure due to agricultural and village development affecting the growth of this species. The vital medicines obtained from the Saraca trees are used to cure ovarian bleeding, uterine infection and hemorrhoid dysentery. Bramhi and Amla trees were sold in large numbers at the Lalbagh Horticulture event. These act as a stress relieving agent. Other endemic trees of Karnataka facing similar threat are Punar Puli, Hippai and Kedigai trees.

By Kakoli Mukherjee Even though India has been declared a polio-free nation, those already affected find their livelihood in what little they can do - creativity.