Civic

Zumba on the streets: A new trend in Indian cities?

September 18, 2017 Navya P K

From Mumbai to Chennai and Gurugram to Kochi, many Indian cities are hosting car free days when streets or stretches are closed to motorised vehicles and become a stage for recreational events. Here’s a look at these and the thought behind them.

The story of a Gurgaon community that has kept 50000 kilos of waste away from the landfill

September 13, 2017 Monika Khanna Gulati

In just nine months, waste segregation by residents of the gated Nirvana Country community has achieved the above, and yielded five tons of compost. What does it really take to go green?

When Gurugram citizens took charge of cleaning a stormwater drain

September 6, 2017 Latika Thukral

Solving many of our everyday civic issues does not involve rocket science; all it takes is for citizens and administration to work together, as the successful cleaning of this Gurgaon stormwater drain shows.

Pilot redesign of Mumbai’s Nagpada junction shows the way for busy intersections

September 1, 2017 Amit Bhatt

The new design by WRI India, implemented on a temporary basis, intends to change the current approach of designing intersections – from one that prioritises motor vehicles to one that considers all road users.

Behind Mumbai’s darkest clouds, the silver lining: The human spirit!

August 30, 2017 Tejaswini Patwardhan

A city is not about all that crashes and crumbles. A city is what people make it. This was perhaps the most important among the many lessons learnt by this citizen on the day that Mumbai went under water.

A citizen’s call to fellow Indians on Independence Day eve

August 13, 2017 Naresh Sadasivan

There are problems galore plaguing our cities, towns and villages but they can be solved by collective action of a responsible citizenry, if only every one commits just three hours a week, says Naresh Sadasivan.

Who will pay for the development of our cities?

August 8, 2017 Prachee Mishra

From AMRUT to Swachh Bharat to Smart Cities, the wide range of schemes in place reflect the government’s thrust on urban development. But how will these schemes be financed? Here’s a primer on the options available and some recent policies meant to help cities improve their finances.

A guide to filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

August 2, 2017 Akshatha M

For aware and socially conscious citizens, who wish to right the wrongs they see around them everyday through legal intervention, the PIL is an important tool. Here’s a quick FAQ to help them along the way.

How Mysuru got a new mantra: Save Kukkurahalli Lake

July 31, 2017 Navya R

These Mysureans have convinced the government as well as the public on how Kukkurahalli Lake can be restored without destroying its natural ecosystem, by giving more importance to biodiversity than theme parks and boating.

Swachh rankings: Why Alappuzha with its award winning system is in the bottom 100

June 20, 2017 Navya P K

The Alappuzha model of waste management was presented as a zero-waste model at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015. Yet the city stands at a dismal rank of 380 in the recent clean city rankings. Navya P K finds out why.

Why India’s clean city rankings need a serious rethink!

June 16, 2017 Navya P K

The top ranked cities in the Swachh Survekshan 2017 undertaken by the MoUD do not segregate, process or dispose of their waste scientifically. In the first part of an in-depth study, Navya P K finds that the survey criteria are in conflict with the government’s own SWM policy!