City: Bengaluru

In part 1 of this story, we saw the economic impact on informal waste workers’ livelihood and the entire informal recycling sector due to the lockdown. We now see what policy changes have been proposed in the waste recycling sector and what action Bengaluru has taken on the ground. Let’s start with understanding the informal waste recycling sector -- this Indian ecosystem is quite unique . A formal study on Recycling Hubs showed Bengaluru’s informal recycling value chains crisscross the formal and informal segments of the economy at many different levels. Recycling sector - Value chain. Graphic source: Valuing Urban…

Second COVID wave subsiding As the second wave subsides and hundreds of COVID beds in government facilities fall vacant, medical staff and students are anxious to switch to non-COVID duties, especially at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Centre (BMCRI), the largest government facility for COVID treatment in the city. The number of daily cases has seen a dramatic 97% decline since the second wave peaked in April. But, the number of ICU cases has been less quick to fall. Over a seven-day period from June 20 to 27, the number of ICU cases declined by 28% from 518 to…

With Metro rail coming up along many stretches, Bengaluru is set to lose a large number of trees. But many trees have also been marked for transplantation. BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) has been giving work orders to contractors to transplant these trees. Currently, BMRCL is the only agency undertaking tree transplantation in Bengaluru, says BBMP Tree Officer H S Ranganatha Swamy. In Bengaluru, as in other Indian cities, government agencies had rejected the idea of transplantation for years, citing high costs and low survival rates. In fact, when 10 trees were transplanted from the first Metro stretch in…

“April-May is the peak period for us to collect a lot of newspapers and books; unfortunately, we were unable to procure any kind of waste," says Muniswamy, a  scrap dealer from  HSR Layout. With his shop shut, he had no income, yet he had to continue paying rent for the premises. Muniswamy’s experience reflects the story of countless informal waste workers across Bengaluru, after the pandemic led to multiple lockdowns, disrupting livelihoods.  Maheshwari collects waste hair by picking from streets, and also goes house-to-house  buying hair from individuals, and sells in bulk. She says, “With the lock down, I couldn’t…

What are the many types of birds, animals and insects that you can see in Bengaluru? What are those beautiful trees, shrubs or weeds that grow here? And oh, those flowers that bloom in our neighbourhood parks and avenue trees!  From the beautiful bee-eater to the humble purslane, there are many captivating life forms to spot and admire just outside our own homes! White Cheeked Barbet. Pic: Deepa Mohan Citizen Matters is organising a contest on “Biodiversity in my Backyard”, in partnership with Mongabay India, an environment and conservation magazine, and apartment management software platform ADDA. We invite students of grades 9-12 residing…

‘Stay safe’ is now a stock phrase. Everyone uses it when signing off an email, chat or conversation. Yet another term that has gained currency is ‘bubble’. A bubble is a safe environment where social networks follow a shared set of norms to keep everyone there safe. The pandemic has led to heightened safety concerns, and in turn created awareness around behaviours that can likely protect us from COVID. It is time we did the same with fire safety! A culture of safety is one that is cultivated daily, and only strengthened during an emergency. At a recent webinar conducted…

During the first week of June 2021, the daily bulletin from the Department of Health and Family Welfare(DHFW), Karnataka, was still reporting 300+ COVID deaths per day for Bengaluru Urban district. The corresponding daily positives was around 3500-4000. The general feeling was that the worst was over and things had eased up. But these numbers suggested otherwise, a fatality rate of close to 10%! A closer look at the "DOD" (Date of Death) column of Annexure-2 of the bulletins, however, showed that a lot of these 300+ COVID deaths were being back-counted from May, and some even from April. For…

For 15 years Sheela (name changed), a domestic worker, had been in the service of a single household, till the 2020 lockdown, when her employer left town and stopped answering her calls. She currently works at another house, earning less than half of what she used to. Caught up in bad loans, her husband died by suicide in November 2019 leaving her as her family's sole earner. The centrally sponsored Widow Pension scheme is erratic and unreliable, forcing her to search for other income sources. As a mother of two, Sheela has three mouths to feed, bills and fees to…

Genome sequencing for Delta Plus variant A 57-year-old from Nandini Layout tested positive for the Delta variant of coronavirus. He is the primary contact of his 86-year-old father, who was infected with the variant earlier this month. No additional cases of the variant have been reported from Bengaluru so far. BBMP has decided to start genome sequencing to ascertain if the Delta Plus variant of COVID is present in the city. Samples from 5% of COVID patients would be sent for genome sequencing. BBMP officials will also keep a close watch on wards with a higher positivity rate. The government…

Solid waste management is the gordian knot of urban issues deeply embedded in the larger contexts of consumerism, informal livelihoods, urban ecology, public health, and the political economy of urban development. The question of managing urban waste involves legal, political, economic and social challenges spanning urban infrastructure, technical and human capacities, workers’ safety and welfare, cooperation with local government and citizens, planning, public health, climate change preparedness and sustainable development. Vidhi’s documentary ‘Garbage Matters’ highlights the mounting problem of disposal of municipal waste in Delhi, the implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, and various judicial interventions on the issue.…