Category: Governance

Two decades after the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) was announced, the project is far from completion. For farmers, it has meant years of uncertainty and mounting financial losses, while residents remain unsure about the usefulness of the long-pending road development. In an earlier article, we explored how the PRR project could lead to forced migration and threaten the livelihoods of farmers. In Part 2 of the series, we did a deep dive into the manipulation of compensation options that landowners strictly oppose. However, farmers and environmentalists raise different concerns: even if the road is built, will it truly ease traffic…

The Peripheral Ring Road project, once announced as a development that could benefit farmers, has, over time, turned into a burden. In a recent article, we examined how the project may lead to the displacement of farmers. The project, delayed for almost two decades and now rebranded as the Bengaluru Business Corridor, has caused farmers and landowners considerable suffering. Unable to sell or mortgage their lands, some landowners face significant financial distress. With the unavailability of affordable and fertile lands, farmers will now be forced to migrate. However, the concerns of the farmers and landowners are pressing: they believe that…

Stormwater drains are not just “invisible infrastructure.” They are the frontline of Bengaluru’s water security. When they fail, lakes die, groundwater gets poisoned, and neighbourhoods flood. Understanding this system is the first step toward reclaiming it, because without citizen awareness, the crisis remains hidden beneath our feet. In an earlier article, we explored how stormwater drains are the frontline of Bengaluru’s water security. Part 2 of the series shows how citizens can take action themselves by learning the typology of drains and conducting audits using simple tools. Accountability gaps in Bengaluru’s stormwater worksOver the years, Bengaluru’s SWD network has been…

Every summer, Bengaluru’s water crisis makes headlines; tanker prices soar, lakes dry up, and citizens protest encroachments, fish kills, and sewage inflows. While lakes and tanks often dominate the conversation, there’s another hidden system that quietly shapes the city’s water story: stormwater drains (SWDs). These drains are more than just channels; they are the veins of a valley city. Bengaluru sits on a central ridgeline that naturally divides its water flow into two directions: Eastward: draining into the Dakshina Pinakini (Ponnaiyar) River. Westward: draining into the Cauvery Basin via the Vrishabhavathi River. Ironically, what citizens often see as footpaths or…

Across Pallikaranai marshland, migratory birds can be spotted, searching for forage and water. Yet the wetland they depend on has steadily depleted. As Chennai has grown in an amoeba-like manner, ebbing with the promise of ‘development,’ the marsh has borne the brunt. In the 1990s, the marsh covered 2,450 hectares, nearly 70% of its original size. Today, barely 500 hectares remain. In recent years, the marshland has often entered public discourse. In September 2025, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), acting on an order from the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal, halted planning permission for development within the Pallikaranai…

Street vending represents a unique form of business in which the vendor's day begins and ends on the street. Vendors typically toil from dawn until late at night, often for 12 to 14 hours a day, yet many continue to remain economically vulnerable. Poor economic conditions prevailing between 1980 and 2010 forced a large number of individuals to drop out of school, compelling them to take up street vending of various goods as a means of survival. Today, India is home to nearly 10 million street vendors, accounting for about 15 per cent of urban informal employment. Recognising their contribution…

The KEB Junction on 27th Main Road in HSR Layout highlights a typical urban planning failure. The junction prioritises vehicle movement over pedestrians. Resident Sachin Pandith, along with the HSR Community Task Force, has been working to address these issues and make the area safer. According to Sachin, residents have been engaging with officials and filing complaints for more than five years, yet nothing has changed. Encroached footpaths, unclear signage, and unsafe pedestrian crossings have created a hostile environment for walkers. In addition, the poorly located bus stop leaves little space for buses to halt, often turning the stretch into…

In 2015, when her infant daughter began wheezing, Subashini R purchased a machine she had only ever seen in hospitals. Daily trips from Kattukuppam in north Chennai to Tondiarpet Hospital were expensive, costing at least ₹500 then. Although the nebuliser cost four times her daily healthcare expenses, it reduced long-term costs in a region struggling with the lasting effects of pollution. “Every doctor tells locals to leave the region due to the chemicals here,” says the activist, part of the Save Ennore Creek Campaign. A decade later, nearly every household in Ennore has a nebuliser. Her younger daughter now suffers…

“I am not fully convinced that my child's and my personal data will be securely digitised under the APAAR ID initiative. I withheld some information, yet I’m anxious about my child’s safety and how this might affect her future education,” says Chaitra N, parent of a class 3 student in Bengaluru. Many parents share Chaitra's growing unease about providing personal data for APAAR ID generation. Tanuja R, mother of two undergraduate students, also had her reservations. “We place our trust in educational institutions to safeguard our children and their records, which ultimately shape their academic futures. That’s why, despite my hesitation,…

The constant looking over one's shoulder, being followed on the street, inappropriate touch and harassment on public transportation — every woman is familiar with this narrative. It was these issues that were highlighted when groups of young women in Mumbai were asked to create tableaux, depicting their everyday experiences, during a  recent theatre workshop. While the workshop facilitators did not set a specific theme, something striking happened. Group after group independently chose to portray the same issues: street harassment, eve teasing, gender discrimination and domestic violence. These were no longer just abstract concerns but pressing realities shaping how young women…