Category: Governance

When Lokayukta officials conducted a surprise inspection of Gottigere, Anjanapura, and JP Nagar 9th Phase in early April 2026, they found what residents of these neighbourhoods already knew: large heaps of uncollected garbage piled along roadsides, a city generating 5,000–6,000 tonnes of solid waste every day and visibly failing to manage it. Lokayukta Justice BS Patil summoned the Chief Operating Officer and senior officials of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML), directed them to appear for a hearing, and asked for a detailed report on the lapses and remedial measures. It is a familiar script. Inspection. Summons. Report. Repeat. Howoever,…

When Chief Minister M K Stalin flagged off Chennai's first batch of low-floor electric buses in June 2025, the programme was presented as a major step towards cleaner and more modern public transport. The first phase alone involves acquring 625 electric buses at a reported cost of ₹697 crore. The fleet includes 400 non-air-conditioned and 225 air-conditioned buses and is being operated from five depots: Vyasarpadi, Perumbakkam, Central, Tondiarpet-I and Poonamallee. The investment is substantial. Chennai has not inducted a fleet of this size in years. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and equipped with passenger information systems, CCTV cameras…

Rabindra Sarobar, affectionately known as the "Lungs of South Kolkata," is at a critical turning point. As a designated site under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA), Kolkata's living ecosystem requires dedicated protection. Authorities are not supposed to use the lake as a commercial revenue generator for municipal expenses. However, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), as the custodian of the lake, has failed to safeguard this beautiful green oasis in the heart of the city. Many Public Interest Litigation (PIL) matters remain pending before the Kolkata High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Yet, KMDA…

Uppal is a suburb of Hyderabad, located in the northeastern part of the city. It is known for housing landmarks like the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium and has schools, government offices, industrial zones and commercial centres. The area experiences high temperatures due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect that operates within the city limits.  Our examination of Land Surface Temperature (LST) data covered the years 2015, 2020, and 2025 and shows how heat zones have expanded with warmer areas becoming larger. In Uppal, rapid urban development has changed the thermal balance. Dense construction and fewer trees  are creating  persistent…

There was a time when Harrington Road was exactly what it was meant to be: a quiet, tree-lined residential avenue, one of Chennai’s older and more established neighbourhood corridors. Families chose to live here because it offered something increasingly rare — space, calm, and a sense of community. Today, that same road tells a very different story. Along an approximately 800-metre stretch now stand eight schools, where there used to be three — three hospitals, three auditoriums, eateries and commercial outlets. Individually, each serves an important purpose. Collectively, however, they have created a level of activity that the road and…

Mahesh* owns a small paan and beedi shop near 90 Feet Road. His family has lived in Mumbai’s Dharavi for 50 years. Over the years, they added additional storeys above their home, a common practice in Mumbai's slums. The rent from these upper floors helps Mahesh care for his ageing parents. Redevelopment would cost him both his shop premises and this vital supplementary income. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has given the go-ahead for the bioremediation of solid waste at the Deonar dumping yard to free the plot for housing “ineligible” residents (those lacking documentation) of the Dharavi…

Fifteen lakh trees. A place in the Guinness Book of Records. The Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has been on overdrive, promoting its new project to plant 15 lakh trees in spaces created in its new layouts. 240 acres have been earmarked across BDA’s faraway layouts. The saplings are to be planted across lake and nala buffer zones, parks and public spaces in new neighbourhoods like Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, Banashankari 6th Stage, and Dr Shivarama Karanth Layout, according to the BDA Chairman N A Haris. While such massive tree plantation exercises are by themselves questionable, there is also the question of a…

Across India, temperatures are soaring, and the impact is evident, from 300 suspected heat-related illness cases reported in Andhra Pradesh to 200 in Maharashtra, say news reports. Heat is unequally felt, with informal workers bearing the brunt of income loss and illness during the blazing hours. Another overlooked impact is heatwaves’ toll on menstrual and reproductive health, where access to washrooms and clean water exacerbates summers for women in low-income settlements, experts say.  Extreme heat exposure overlaps closely with marginalisation, says Vidhya Venugopal, Professor of Climate Change, Occupational and Environmental Health at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research…

A collective of citizens, environmentalists, legal experts and civil society organisations from across India has demanded that the Supreme Court withdraw oral remarks made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) during the Pipavav Port hearing on May 11, 2026. The group aims to ensure these comments are not misinterpreted as questioning the legitimacy of genuine environmental public-interest litigation, or the constitutional right of citizens and affected communities to demand the enforcement of environmental laws. In an open letter to the CJI, the coalition outlined urgent environmental concerns and the right of citizens to question irregularities in projects negatively impacting…

Summer in India has been merciless this year, with many states recording temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius and rising reports of fatalities. Despite these harsh conditions, urban support continues for development projects that clear trees, wetlands, mangroves, and forests near cities. A recent Article 14 report provides data on thousands of trees that will soon be sacrificed nationally for infrastructure projects. Those opposing such unscientific large-scale tree felling are often labelled 'tree-huggers', 'anti-development' and 'anti-nationals'. While capitalism accelerates environmental degradation and the world faces a growing climate crisis, societal divisions deepen.  Yet, we give trees too little credit: Beings necessary…