City: Delhi / NCR

In April 2023, even as picturesque images of a rain-soaked Delhi circulated on social media, farmers in the region were in fact living through one of their worst nightmares. The Indian Meteorological Department recorded 20.1 mm of rain in the national capital, marking a 23% increase from the monthly average of 16.3 mm. Things got worse during the months of July and August, as the Yamuna River overflowed, devastating numerous fields. Weather events such as these are just one among the plethora of challenges faced by urban farmers in Delhi.  Ask Abhishek Dhama, a resident of Palla village in Delhi.…

"There isn't much garbage coming to the landfill now," says Rahim, 36, a waste picker working in the vicinity of Bhalswa. "Earlier, we would retrieve e-waste alone worth 500-700 rupees, but now it's dwindled to a mere 150-200 rupees." Saira Banu, 40, another waste picker, says "Whatever waste gets dumped these days, the trucks pick them up at night, leaving almost nothing for us. It's no longer as profitable as it used to be in the past years." Saira has been working for over two decades around Bhalswa. "I used to come here from Jahangirpuri to collect waste before marriage,…

Paro, 26, a resident of Shraddhanand colony in Bhalswa, and her friends wait patiently for the water tanker, surrounded by buckets and barrels – a routine that repeats twice weekly. "We pause all our tasks to ensure we secure enough water. It's only available twice," Paro remarks. For years, Paro and her fellow colony dwellers have relied on water tankers. The local groundwater, tainted by the adjacent Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi since 1994, makes it a necessity. Meena, 36, standing alongside Paro, succinctly notes, "Khate (landfill) ki wajah se pani achha nahi hai." [The water quality is poor because…

Only the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) even mentioned this in its 10-point poll promise list. The menace posed by stray animals — cattle, dogs and monkeys — in Delhi. None of the other contestants to the Delhi Municipal polls had thought this was a serious enough problem to make it a campaign point. While Congress ignored the issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a single line in its 12-point manifesto: “We are committed to provide better parking facilities and solving the problem of stray animals”. While other issues such as clearing of landfills, sanitation, street vendors etc. were stressed…

This is the second story of a two-part series on why finding a sustainable solution to regulate Delhi’s legal and illegal street vendors is so difficult. You can read Part I here. Kuldip Singh Sawhney, president of the Sarojini Market Shopkeepers' Association, says they moved a case against the street vendors in the Delhi High Court in September 2021. “Our plea was that according to the Master Plan 2021, the vendors holding capacity of this market is 60 to 80. On an adhoc basis, 65 vegetable stalls were allowed and there are 125 Thareja vendors. In addition, 324 of the…

This is the first of a two part story on why finding a sustainable solution to regulate Delhi’s legal and illegal street vendors is so difficult. Ask the best-dressed girl in Lady Shri Ram College or Miranda House where she bought the smart top she is wearing, chances are she will tell you “SN (Sarojini Nagar market)”. The checked cots wool shirt or cushion covers and tablecloth with exquisite embroidery in that posh Gurugram apartment would most probably also have been “picked up “as a “bargain” or to “help the craftspersons/roadside vendors”, from the footpath in Janpath. Ditto for the…

It was an encouraging clean air start of October for Delhi. The capital recorded five good AQI days in the first two weeks of October. But the good news ended there. The annual nightmare of poor to severe and very severe air quality in Delhi and adjoining areas soon returned. And with it, the annual nightmare of strict and systematic implementation of the different stages of the revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR which had kicked in from September 11th. Air quality had continued to deteriorate before and after…

Friday nights are when the rich go out for dinner and fun. On September 9th, a class 11 student took his friend out for dinner in his MG Hector. But before the night turned into morning, the juvenile had hit and run over a 23-year-old food delivery partner who died soon after he was rushed to hospital. The brat at the wheel had abandoned his car and fled the accident spot, but was apprehended by the police who registered an FIR. On August 31st, a 17-year old smothered to death an 18-year-old differently abled boy he was meant to be…

“3424 million litres run-off quantity is the missed potential, which sometimes becomes a liability in the city,” says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the Delhi-based pro-environmental think-tank that has long been making a case for rainwater harvesting in parks and open spaces. “If managed efficiently, the run-off can be stored, recharged and moderated during peak rainfall”. Delhi has had a bad water year this summer. Even the “piaos” that many large hearted people set up outside their homes in different parts of the city to distribute water have gone dry this year,  The gap between demand and supply…

Even as we write this, the blaze at Delhi's Bhalswa waste dump — a colossal mountain of unsorted and unsegregated waste in the national capital — continues to thwart the efforts of the Delhi Fire Services personnel as they fight the flames raging since April 26th. Of course, such fires at waste dump sites are not uncommon; this is already the third such incident this summer after earlier outbreaks at the Ghazipur landfill site. Methane gas emissions during decomposition of the dumped waste in unaerobic conditions, combined with high air temperatures, make these sites veritable tinderboxes. Sometimes, reckless or deliberate…