With the Lok Sabha elections right around the corner, Citizen Matters caught up with Prashanth Goutham of Arappor Iyakkam. In this freewheeling discussion with Meenakshi Ramesh, Prashanth details the roles and responsibilities of an MP and what voters must look for in deciding on the ideal candidate.
[Meenakshi Ramesh anchors the Chennai edition of Citizen Matters and is actively involved in many civic initiatives. She can be reached at meenakshi@citizenmatters.in]
“Who walks on footpaths anymore?” asks Abhay Shanbagh, a Vile Parle resident in his sixties. He says the footpath in front of his house is not even fully visible because of the cars parked along it and sometimes on it. Neha Dholam, a domestic worker who walks about two hours daily in Ghatkopar and Vile Parle, has a similar response. She wonders which footpaths I am talking about since they are barely visible behind parked vehicles en route to her workplace. This is the lived reality of so many Mumbaikars even though over half of all trips in Mumbai are…
Walk down almost any street in Bengaluru, and you will spot them: missing slabs, wide gaps, and wooden planks covering openings. Uncovered stormwater drains have become a safety hazard across the city, creating serious obstacles and putting residents at risk of injury or death. Experts flag bad engineering design, poor monitoring, inadequate funding, and lax enforcement of liability rules as the major reasons for this public safety crisis. In Sanchar Nagar, Thanisandra, contractors dug up a stretch of at least 150 metres for stormwater drain works. A few weeks ago, a resident slipped and fell into the trench, getting badly…