City: Bengaluru

With ever growing and rapidly changing Indian cities, the gamut of issues that are affecting them are not only growing, but are becoming very specific to the local context. Decision-makers and designers are rethinking urban design to make cities more liveable and public spaces more accessible and safe. Tactical urbanism is gaining popularity as a method to tackle these issues. What's tactical urbanism?  Tactical urbanism is all about action. It is also known as DIY urbanism, Planning-by-Doing, Urban Acupuncture, or Urban Prototyping. This approach refers to a city, organisational, and/or citizen-led approach to building neighbourhoods by using short-term, low-cost, and…

In Part 1, we saw how those who cannot negotiate the digital world are severely handicapped in accessing COVID care. In this concluding part, we examine how the digital divide is impacting the immunisation drive, and explore how it can be bridged. Experts are equating digital handicap with vaccine hesitancy. They believe the digital divide is mystifying and complicating the vaccination process. Social technologist Kiran Jonnalagadda observes, “You can combine misinformation and unavailability and create hesitancy out of it. Imagine if you are told that there is no chance getting the vaccination, that slots are full and so on; then…

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, started a national helpline for COVID-related mental health issues. The nature of calls in the second wave are different from those in the first. From psycho-social issues in the first wave, callers are now trying to cope with hospitalisation, death, grief and the like. Dr K Sekar heads the Centre for Psychosocial Support in Disaster Management, which runs the helpline (080-4611 0007). He reveals that calls had plateaued by March, but are peaking again. "When we started the helpline in March 2020, we…

Who would have thought that in 2021, an American corporation known to harvest private communications for corporate profit would stand up against the Indian Government, defending the Right of Privacy of Indians. Ironically, here we are in the middle of the pandemic, worrying about how police can zoom in to suspend our fundamental right of expression, or walk into our homes and take away all that is ours, when the administration should, in fact, be ensuring that not one more person suffers, or dies, of COVID. We are living through most bizarre times. Holding on to the idea of a…

Testing sewage to detect clusters Karnataka will begin testing sewage water to identify potential coronavirus clusters and mutant variants of the virus. The surveillance teams which will be in 45 wards, will cover over 75% of 90 lakh residents by generating over 90 data points per week, the Urban Development Department reportedly revealed. This could be a cost-effective early warning system to assess the increase in cases before the number of official cases actually go up. Officials hope it will avoid city-wide lockdowns by focusing on micro-containment zones. Samples would be pulled from 45 wards every day for the next…

To understand and document the impact of COVID on Bengaluru's crematoria and burial ground workers, two members and a volunteer from the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Karnataka, visited 26 crematoriums/burial grounds between May 4 and 8, 2021 and interviewed workers. Based on these interviews and other publicly available information including circulars issued by the government regarding COVID related deaths and burials/cremations and visits to each facility, they have brought out a report titled ‘Dignity Disposed’. Here is an overview of their findings: Bengaluru has 42 crematoriums and 58 burial grounds according to newspaper reports. Additionally, there are temporary…

Never has a vaccination drive in India been conducted with a mobile application that requires online registration. As the second wave takes its toll -- with rising infections and reducing tests -- access to the country's limited health infrastructure is becoming all that more difficult, thanks to the digital divide. Whether it is looking for slots on CoWIN or raising an SOS alert for oxygen, medical relief for COVID has to be accessed and circulated through the digital medium. When SOS alerts on Twitter reduced in the last few days, there was a false illusion that the COVID situation was…

When the pandemic struck in 2020, it triggered a national lockdown that brought all economic activity across the country to a halt. Radha (name changed), a garment worker in Bengaluru, was at an absolute loss when her factory shut down from March to June. For her, the current lockdown is a chilling reminder of 2020. “Last year, I pledged whatever gold I had, to pay the rent. What will I do this year?” she wonders. Her landlord has not increased the rent, but even the water and electric bills are worrisome. Her husband, also an informal worker, has had no…

Electronics City houses technology giants like Infosys, Wipro, Siemens and HP. While people usually see the developed side of Electronics City with its high rises and IT parks, one often misses the reality, point out residents. According to the Hulimangala Resident Welfare Association, a diverse population of residents in the many villages and residential apartments in Electronics City do not have access to health care. This area, the association says, is eligible to be within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, but falls outside the city limits. Neither BBMP nor the Electronics City industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) have responded to the COVID…

As the BBMP began to streamline its bed allocation system, private hospitals in Bengaluru -- under the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) -- were quick to launch their own bed allocation system through their online portal. While 50% of their beds are set aside for patients coming through the BBMP's triaging system, Bengaluru's private hospitals and nursing homes are allowed to allot the other 50% themselves. PHANA was set up 20 years ago and currently has over 400 members in Bengaluru and many affiliate members across the State. The association set up 'Search My Bed' which gives real-time…