June, 2019 Citizen Matters

Seven action items that could make India’s electric mobility vision a reality

June 28, 2019 Pawan Mulukutla

The push from the government for electrification of mobility in our cities has been unmistakable, and several cities/states have started deploying EVs in public transport services. But to scale up the adoption of EVs across the board, some more action is needed on these fronts.

Udta Himachal: Is Shimla set to be the new drug capital of the country?

June 26, 2019 Ashwani Sharma

50-60 percent of youth in Shimla are caught in a massive drug menace, as addicts, peddlers or both, says the owner of a rehab centre in the city. Other surveys yield similar findings. What has led to this and why is an effective crackdown missing?

Why Bengaluru must phase out diesel vehicles on war footing

June 25, 2019 Vimal Simha

One diesel SUV accounts for the emissions of about 25-65 petrol cars! And yet cities, where vehicle emissions are the biggest cause of particulate matter pollution, have not been able to shun them. Can we take the steps needed to mitigate the diesel threat or will citizens and environment continue to pay a heavy price?

As Chennai, Bengaluru grapple with water shortage, time to consider a compact with Cauvery

June 25, 2019 Vishwanath Srikantaiah

Cities can no longer rely on romanticized local water resources, but must place themselves in a river basin and take responsibility for the ecological health of the river as a whole. Take the case of the Cauvery in the context of the water starved southern metros.

2020 is around the corner, can we stop Delhi from running dry?

June 24, 2019 Akshita Nagpal

If a 2018 Niti Aayog report is to be believed, the capital is among 21 Indian cities that look poised to run out of groundwater by next year. Here’s what has brought Delhi to this ominous brink, and what needs to be done to avert Doomsday.

Surat fire a shrill alarm, but has the city really woken up?

June 21, 2019 Darshan Desai

More than 5,000 unauthorised constructions have been demolished in the crackdown following the horrific fire in a Surat coaching centre in May, but in a city that has routinely legalised illegal buildings and never looked inside to check compliance with fire guidelines, is the present knee-jerk reaction really enough?

How to recover your dues from a bankrupt or fraudulent employer

June 20, 2019 Soumya Shekhar

Many Kingfisher employees have been waiting for pending salaries for over six years now. Pilots of the recently grounded Jet Airways also fear a similar fate. And there are thousands across the country awaiting dues from smaller, less known employers. What could be the way forward for them?

Kolkata’s ignored groundwater crisis could lead to much more than just water shortage

June 18, 2019 Gurvinder Singh

Increasing contamination due to deepening of the water table, serious health hazards and even instability in built structures in the city — indiscriminate extraction of groundwater could spell more doom for the city than it seems to be aware of.

Young, single and working in Kochi? Here’s why finding a home may be your biggest challenge

June 18, 2019 Sangheeta Bhattacharya

With thriving infrastructure, a blooming arts and entertainment scene and an encouraging start-up culture, Kochi has a growing population of young creative millennials, many of them single. But ask them about their experiences with rentals, and horror stories emerge. Especially if they are women.

All for Rs 10K or less a month: The lives of Noida’s migrant rickshaw pullers

June 16, 2019 Vishwas

Around 20,000 tricycle rickshaw pullers live in Noida, mostly migrants from other states, who came here in pursuit of the ‘urban dream.’ But they find themselves constantly struggling to meet all ends, as they lead sub-par lives, far from their families and roots.

Why 3.5 lakh doctors in the country are planning to strike work this Monday

June 15, 2019 Ankita Gupta

Following an assault on junior doctors at a prominent state run hospital in Kolkata, doctors across the country have united in support and joined their protest. But what led to the current situation and why are doctors in Kolkata unwilling to budge from their stand?

With just around 2.5 lakh passengers a day, is Hyderabad Metro failing the test?

June 14, 2019 Kolla Krishna Madhavi

The city’s largest infrastructure project ever, Hyderabad Metro was expected to carry about 17 lakh passengers per day by 2017. But with only two partly operational lines, slow expansion and poor last mile connectivity, the targets appear elusive and raise many questions about the project itself.

Lip service for women commuters: The tale of Dimapur’s ‘Pink Bus’

June 12, 2019 Ninglun Hanghal

Launched in 2018 with the express aim of facilitating safe and comfortable commute for women, the Pink bus services have neither lived up to their original promise, nor made any significant difference to the overall fleet of public bus transport.

Bhopal all set to become ‘smart’, even if hot and barren!

June 11, 2019 Shuriah Niazi

Countless trees have already gone under the axe and several thousands are at risk in Bhopal’s Tatiya Tope Nagar, where a government housing project under the Smart Cities Mission is in progress. Environmentalists fume at the toll that such projects are taking.

Inside Dehradun’s Bindal slum, where the city’s waste pickers live

June 11, 2019 Rishabh Shrivastava

Despite the crucial role they play in the city, efforts to improve the living conditions of Dehradun’s waste pickers — mostly migrants — have been minimal and they continue to live in unsafe conditions, with little or no assistance from the Municipal Corporation.