Monitoring groundwater level is like keeping a tab on your income and expenses—if you are spending more, it is a warning sign. You can cut down spending or find ways to earn more. Similarly, a city must decide whether to reduce extraction in certain areas or improve recharge methods, such as rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, or preserving open spaces. So, does Bengaluru have enough groundwater monitoring systems? While a WELL Labs report estimates the city's groundwater consumption as 1,392 million litres a day (MLD), BWSSB’s groundwater outlook report states that the extraction is only 800 MLD. This suggests a significant…

As Odisha’s Jaga Mission progressed, the vision expanded from developing slums into liveable habitats with the active participation of the community, to developing the upgraded slums as empowered units of hyperlocal self-governance. The highlights of participatory slum transformation were discussed in the first part of this series. Taking forward the idea of collaborative problem solving, the Mission now sought to put in place systems to institutionalise decentralised participatory governance in the upgraded slum neighbourhoods. The objective was to transfer the management of neighbourhoods, encompassing the 4 lakh slum households across 115 cities in the state, to the Slum Dwellers Associations…