In depth – Citizen Matters

2020 is around the corner, can we stop Delhi from running dry?

June 24, 2019 Akshita Nagpal

If a 2018 Niti Aayog report is to be believed, the capital is among 21 Indian cities that look poised to run out of groundwater by next year. Here’s what has brought Delhi to this ominous brink, and what needs to be done to avert Doomsday.

Surat fire a shrill alarm, but has the city really woken up?

June 21, 2019 Darshan Desai

More than 5,000 unauthorised constructions have been demolished in the crackdown following the horrific fire in a Surat coaching centre in May, but in a city that has routinely legalised illegal buildings and never looked inside to check compliance with fire guidelines, is the present knee-jerk reaction really enough?

Kolkata’s ignored groundwater crisis could lead to much more than just water shortage

June 18, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

Increasing contamination due to deepening of the water table, serious health hazards and even instability in built structures in the city — indiscriminate extraction of groundwater could spell more doom for the city than it seems to be aware of.

Why 3.5 lakh doctors in the country are planning to strike work this Monday

June 15, 2019 Ankita Gupta

Following an assault on junior doctors at a prominent state run hospital in Kolkata, doctors across the country have united in support and joined their protest. But what led to the current situation and why are doctors in Kolkata unwilling to budge from their stand?

With just around 2.5 lakh passengers a day, is Hyderabad Metro failing the test?

June 14, 2019 Kolla Krishna Madhavi

The city’s largest infrastructure project ever, Hyderabad Metro was expected to carry about 17 lakh passengers per day by 2017. But with only two partly operational lines, slow expansion and poor last mile connectivity, the targets appear elusive and raise many questions about the project itself.

Inside Dehradun’s Bindal slum, where the city’s waste pickers live

June 11, 2019 Rishabh Shrivastava

Despite the crucial role they play in the city, efforts to improve the living conditions of Dehradun’s waste pickers — mostly migrants — have been minimal and they continue to live in unsafe conditions, with little or no assistance from the Municipal Corporation.

Rs 550 crore spent on clean up, yet Ludhiana’s polluted Buddha Nulla only grows more toxic

June 8, 2019 Raj Machchan

Buddha Nulla, formerly Buddha Dariya, symbolises Ludhiana’s decay; its water grows more polluted and contaminated with carcinogens as governments fail to curb dumping and spend crores in sporadic cleaning efforts.

Smoggy, but unfazed: Mumbai needs to take air pollution more seriously than it does

June 5, 2019 Apekshita Varshney

For many Mumbaikars, ‘air pollution’ is a Delhi or at most a North Indian problem. Yet, Mumbai air itself says otherwise on many a day. But are city authorities really aware and equipped to take the steps they need to?

Can Bhubaneswar’s smart city infrastructure withstand summer heat stress?

May 30, 2019 Basudev Mahapatra

Extreme heat stress caused by high ‘wet bulb temperatures’ and urban heat island effect come into play in Odisha’s capital, that is often the hottest city in the country during summers. But what do these terms imply, and how are they a threat to the upcoming smart city?

Dumping waste right into Bhagirathi: What Uttarkashi’s garbage problem tells us

May 21, 2019 Rishabh Shrivastava

Uttarakhand generates approximately 1406 Tons of solid waste per day and none of this is getting treated. It is high time we address this huge challenge faced by cities and towns of Himalayan Uttarakhand.

Contrary to 2018, Shimla has enough water today, but will it last?

May 20, 2019 Ashwani Sharma

In the summer of 2018, Shimla’s peak tourist season, not a drop flowed in the taps of the town for over a week and thousands of visitors had to leave. May 2019 has seen a remarkable reversal in the water situation, but can the town afford to be complacent?

Alarming spike in cancer incidence, yet Kolkata does little to control pollution

May 15, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

From flawed solid waste management to vehicular emissions, Kolkata’s abysmal quality of air has many causes. When will the government wake up?