Articles by Gangadharan B

Arvinda dreams of becoming a psychologist. But the 21-year-old transwoman from Hyderabad had to discontinue her education in 2023, after finishing her polytechnic diploma, so she could work and raise money for her sex reassignment surgery.   That's the price she had to pay for living as her true self. Arvinda now earns ₹25,000 a month after taking a job at a BPO, of which around ₹12,000 goes towards repaying the loan she took to cover her medical expenses and afford other gender-affirming healthcare, including regular hormone treatments.   “I had to take a loan just to be who I am,”…

Meenakshi (name changed), migrated from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru 18 years ago and now lives in a steel shed in Laggere. During rains, she collects the water leaking through her roof in pots to prevent flooding in the house. The situation is the same with almost all of her neighbours.  “I used to cover the roof with tarpaulins but they wear off soon. And I can’t afford to change them often,” Meenakshi said. She complained that the shed gets unbearably hot during summers and chilly during rains. “I spend most days of summer outside the house as it would be…

Namrata (name changed to protect identity) migrated from West Bengal to Bengaluru 15 years ago in search of a better livelihood. She is a domestic worker, and her husband is a waste picker. Though their livelihood has improved, the quality of life is still poor. The informal settlement in Belagere, where Namrata has been living for the past nine years, floods after each rainfall. “Water rises to our hip level, and we cannot sleep most nights if it rains,” she said. Also, stormwater drains run on two sides of the settlement. Wastewater from the drains mixes with floodwater, causing children…

Beyond Bengaluru's municipal boundaries lies a troubling pattern of neglect. Many lakes that are under the control of gram panchayats are slowly being lost to unchecked encroachments and poorly executed rejuvenation efforts. In a recent series, we discussed their deterioration and mismanagement, a trend experts point out, is widespread among lakes outside Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. In this interview, environmental activist and Friends of Lakes member Nagesh Aras dives into the root causes of this mismanagement. He highlights the urgent need for governance reforms and scientific guidelines to restore these lakes. Governance and mismanagement Why do lakes under…

Aruna runs a tiffin stall on the footpath along Hosur Road, close to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). Her setup is temporary—just a foldable cot to lay out her dishes, partially shielded by a blue tarpaulin. The stove and dosa tawa sit exposed to the elements. “When the sun is out, the heat becomes unbearable, and when it rains, we can’t make dosas at all. That directly affects our earnings,” she says. Every day, she spends nearly two hours setting up and packing down this makeshift stall, even though the tarpaulin sheets offer little protection from…

Ragiri Sankara is a cab driver based in Bengaluru. “Tackling the heat is a huge task these days,” he says. To be driving all day in the heat is very tiring; the car heats up very fast. “I pack different juices daily to keep myself cool,” he adds.  Gig workers, street vendors, waste pickers, construction labourers, and the urban poor face a higher risk of heat stress than the general population. Now that summer has ended and the monsoon is setting in, the government has once again failed to effectively manage heat stress in Bengaluru. The need for a localised…

Migrant workers and their families, street vendors, gig workers, domestic help and many more—where do these people figure in city heat mitigation measures? India's heat action plans (HAPs) are falling short where it matters most. About 95% lack vulnerability assessments, leaving communities ill-prepared for rising temperatures, reveals a Centre for Policy Research study. Most plans fail to account for local contexts, oversimplify the hazards, and overlook the most at-risk populations. Bengaluru does not even have a heat action plan. In 2024, architect and climate researcher Ujjvala Krishna, along with other experts from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and…

‘You should also report on Hegondanahalli Kere. A lake has been killed in the name of rejuvenation' — a message that I received from Chetan Gopal, Bengaluru-based lake conservationist and a member of the group ‘Friends of Lakes’, after my earlier story on Mullur Lake, another panchayat lake, was published.  Chetan regularly visits around 14 lakes in Sarjapura Road, Varthur and nearby areas, mostly outside the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limit, and his observations bear out what our article underscored — that lakes on the peripheries of the city face common challenges that have left them in worse condition…

When the residents of TZED Homes, a community in Whitefield, faced water shortages, they did not immediately resort to using tanker water. Instead, they opted for an unconventional solution — treating and reusing wastewater for potable purposes. It was a difficult decision, and even more challenging to convince all community members to accept. "Until four to five years ago, we could access water at a depth of just 80 feet. However, tankers extracting water from commercial borewells have significantly affected our aquifer," says Babu, a resident closely involved in water management in the community. But, their efforts have paid off…

This April 10th, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) announced a water tariff hike after a gap of 11 years. The Board also decided to increase the tariff by 3% on April 1st every year. For most households, the tariff hike would mean paying ₹20 to ₹30 more on their monthly water bills this year. While the middle class sees a slight increase, slum dwellers face exorbitant costs, highlighting a stark inequality in access to clean, affordable water across the city. Here is how the tariff hike will reflect in your water bill this May. For domestic users…