Articles by Harshitha Padmavinod

Nearly 72% of Bengaluru gets contaminated water. Depending on whether residents get their water from borewells, tankers or from the Cauvery River, the quality varies from one area to another. According to a 2018 survey, 24% of Bengaluru households receive water from both borewells and Cauvery, with a hardness level above the prescribed limit of 200 milligrams per litre (mg/l).  Another study found Total Dissolvable Solids (TDS) range crossing 1,000 parts per million (PPM) per litre in Bengaluru, when the acceptable range is a maximum of 300 PPM. TDS refers to the amount of organic and inorganic material dissolved in…

“I’ve seen tiny black worms in this water whenever we store it. But since we don’t have any other source, I strain and boil the water before use,” said Tulasi, mother of two, tediously filling her buckets with Cauvery water from the common tap in Vinayakanagara slum, TC Palya. She stores a drum of water for a week despite her doctor warning her not to store water for more than four days. “What option do I have? We get Cauvery water only once a week for three hours. We get muddy borewell water twice weekly, which we use for non-drinking…

“We had to take Cauvery connections as the common borewell tap went completely dry last summer. Even then, we cannot get a bucket of water without using motors,” said Hajira Bhanu, resident of Triveninagara slum in KR Pura. This slum — 'declared' or officially recognised by the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) — is comparatively developed. Yet the only water source for nearly 60 houses here is the Cauvery, which comes very faintly for less than three hours, twice a week. The residents have installed motors in their homes to draw water, which is considered illegal by the Bangalore Water…

Although Mumbai has sufficient groundwater, experts opine that it is depleting at a fast rate due to rapid urbanisation and massive construction projects. There's also a lack of clear groundwater regulations and systematic records of private borewells and dug wells.  This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the rules, processes, and penalties associated with digging a borewell and extracting groundwater in Mumbai. Getting permission for groundwater extraction What are the rules for digging a borewell and extracting groundwater in Mumbai? In Mumbai, borewell digging and groundwater management are regulated under the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act 2009. According to…

Groundwater is a vital resource in Chennai, especially given the city's water scarcity challenges. Of the 51 revenue blocks in Chennai where groundwater is extracted, 46 were overexploited in 2024, as reported by Citizen Matters. That's why strict rules are in place to ensure sustainable usage and to prevent over-extraction. Chennai is the first Indian city to have a comprehensive automatic groundwater monitoring system, introduced in 2021, with 200 groundwater monitoring devices and 20 rain gauges across 15 zones, to assess the groundwater level across the city. However, experts point out that not much is being done with this data.…

The dependency on the Cauvery River for water and the depleting groundwater levels, keep Bengaluru on the edge of a crisis every summer. As the city expands rapidly, it faces a significant challenge – how to manage groundwater sustainably, while meeting the growing demand. Borewells are a common solution for water needs, but strict regulations govern their digging and usage. Bengaluru is classified as a 'notified area', due to overextraction in many places, so borewell digging and extraction are strictly regulated.  However, poor implementation of rules by civic utility bodies undermines their effectiveness. So, how can a Bengalurean dig a…

Every summer, Bengaluru grapples with its recurring water crisis, despite increased allocation of Cauvery water by the Supreme Court. The city currently has access to 24 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of Cauvery water, but even with this supply, the Chief Minister admitted last summer that Bengaluru still faces a shortage of 500 million litres per day (MLD).   So, will Bengaluru reach water sufficiency this year? Or will the struggles of 2024 — when some areas of the city faced acute water shortage — be repeated? Speaking to Citizen Matters, Ram Prasath Manohar, Chairman, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage…

“Air pollution is never recorded as a direct cause of death. It’s always a contributing factor,” says Dr Aparna Birajdar, a consultant pulmonologist in Pune. She adds that it is difficult to get data on the impact of air pollution in India because doctors are overworked and have little time to research, while most lung infections are multi-factorial. This is why air pollution and its health consequences are rarely addressed with the urgency they demand.  Moreover, studies of air pollution's effects largely focus on adults, with data on children scarce. In 2019, air pollution caused about 6.7 million deaths globally,…

“My child’s commute to school is a half-hour ride, but it takes an hour for her to reach home everyday. The commute itself makes her so tired and the dust is so high during the after-school hour that her cough almost always worsens when she comes back home,” says Tanu, worried mother of a second-grade child in Bengaluru. Tanu is just one parent among the vast numbers across our cities, as air pollution puts their children's health and well-being at grave risk. In 2021, 15% of all global deaths in children under five were linked to air pollution. As per…

Despite enabling over eight crore hospital admissions, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) remains riddled with challenges that make accessing its benefits a daunting ordeal for many. For countless eligible citizens, the promise of free healthcare often gets entangled in a web of bureaucratic hurdles, unclear eligibility criteria, and implementation gaps. The first part of this series explained how people can apply for benefits under AB-PMJAY. In Part 2, we dive into the systemic gaps and the struggles beneficiaries face in accessing the scheme's medical benefits. Proving your eligibility for Ayushman Bharat As per provisions of the…