Articles by News Desk

Campaign for a smokeless Bhogi The celebration of the harvest festival brings with it a spike in air pollution across the city. The air quality index (AQI)  data from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board confirms the rise in particulate matter during this period. The Chennai Corporation has begun an awareness campaigns for a smokeless Bhogi. The campaign conducted by the TNPCB  and health department officials is aimed at sensitising residents, RWAs, students, etc on the hazards of burning certain items like rubber and plastics. The Environment department of the TN Government is also lending its weight to the campaign. The…

From vehicular emissions to garbage burning, to dust on the streets and industrial smoke, there are many facets to air pollution in Bengaluru. Karnataka government allocated Rs 96 crores in last budget to monitor air pollution across the state in its budget for the first time in 2018, but the progress of work remains unknown. This winter season where the temperature has dipped up to 6 degrees in some areas, has shown that the quality of city's air is declining and much needs to be done to improve it. A recent report published by Climate Trends has shown Bengaluru to be…

Recycling sewage, the only resort for Chennai Poor show of north-east monsoon and dry summers have become the new order in Chennai. As water scarcity turns out to be a burning problem, researchers from Anna University’s Geology department feel that recycling sewage water could be an effective and viable solution. According to ‘Predicting future water supply-demand gap with a new reservoir, desalination plant and waste water reuse by water evaluation and planning model for Chennai Mega City’ published in Elsevier’s Groundwater for Sustainable Development in October 2018, the city’s water woes can be solved by next year through recycling sewage…

Women come together for show of solidarity on Sabarimala A 35-lakh strong contingent of women formed a 620-km long wall across the state of Kerala to show solidarity with the women who defied tradition to enter the Sabarimala temple, and to demand the upholding of their constitutional right to do so as per the Supreme Court verdict in 2018. The participants of the wall pledged to uphold gender equality. The protest was organised by the Kerala government after the state saw a backlash for implementing the Supreme Court verdict that allowed the entry of all women into Sabarimala, which was previously…

Bengaluru left shivering after cold wave According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the city observatory at Sheshadri road recorded a minimum temperature of 13.1°C during the 24-hour period that ended at 8.30 am on Thursday. HAL Airport and KIA recorded 11.6°C and 11.2°C, respectively, Hesarghatta had recorded a minimum temperature of 9°C — the lowest temperature recorded in the city in a decade. This is attributed to the cold wave sweeping across north and south interior Karnataka, and the conditions are expected to remain for the next couple of days. City doctors say the number of patients with upper respiratory problems…

It is 4 pm. A man comes in a bike, parks it near the HOPCOMS shop near Mariyappanapalya Park in Rajajinagar, Bengaluru. He walks towards the water vending machine nearby with a 20 litre water can in hand, pays, fills it and leaves the spot. Just as he is leaving, we ask him what he does with the water. He says he uses it in his panipuri business. He is a street vendor whose business depends on this safe water dispensed by the vending machine, popularly known as water ATM. This water ATM was started in 2015 as a BBMP…

Road user survey: Kolkata most friendly; Delhi most hostile A survey of road users on behaviour and attitude towards safety was carried out by Ford India in six metro cities and four non-metro cities. The survey covered private drivers, passengers and pedestrians across the ten cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Pune and Indore. The survey covered various parameters such as compliance with traffic safety laws, precautionary measures and compassion for those in need of help. While on the subject of consideration for other road users, Kolkata and Ludhiana ranked most courteous, Delhi was ranked the…

2019 to begin with plastic ban The High Court has dismissed the writ petition seeking a stay on government's move to ban plastic of use and throw products. With this, the city is expected to begin the new year on an environmental friendly note. The government had banned 14 items including  plastic carry bags, plastic sheets used for food wrapping, dining table spreads, plates, plastic-coated tea cups, tumblers, water sachets, plastic straws and plastic flags, irrespective of their thickness. Justices S. Vaidyanathan and P.T. Asha observed that there should be a total ban that extends to the currently exempted products…

Gearing up for New Year eve Bengaluru has geared up for the new year celebrations. Following an alert by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), city police have been deployed around tourist and religious places over the next few days during the lead up to New Year’s eve. CCTV and drone cameras will be deployed in order to monitor any suspicious activity and movement of people. As many as 12,000 police personnel, along with 80 platoons of the reserve police force and 250 women police squads will be deployed. The management of pubs, bar and restaurants have been directed to ensure…

In the last few years, citizen-led movements in Bengaluru have garnered major headlines for various success stories as they took on governments and made the administration work a little more effectively. But the tradition of community groups working towards making their city a better place is an old one in Malleshwaram. Rekha Chari of Malleshwaram Swambhimana Initiative (MSI) and Suchitra Deep of Malleshwaram Social chatted with Citizen Matters on a Facebook Live, on the journey of the two groups, the hurdles of running a community group at a time when neighbours aren't aware of each other and the various mediums…