CITIZEN JOURNALISM

The Cooum River, once a sacred river that shaped the history of Madras, has now become a sad sign of urban degradation. For the millions of residents in Chennai, it has transformed into a malodorous, polluted, and stagnant channel, burdened with solid waste accumulation and extensive encroachments along its banks. During a recent datajam organised by Oorvani Foundation and OpenCity, we used Geographical Information System (GIS) datasets and population analytics to investigate the underlying causes contributing to this crisis. The results show that rapid urbanisation, inadequate provision of essential civic infrastructure, and the absence of coherent policy frameworks, along with…

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…

Municipal elections rarely make global headlines. Yet the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City reverberated around the world. Far more than a leadership change in one city, it signals a profound shift in how urban politics is imagined, contested, and won in the centre of global capitalism and the largest urban centre of the United States. At its heart, it was a referendum on who gets to claim the city: the affluent few who see the metropolis as a portfolio of assets, or the millions who call it home. Mamdani’s victory, as the child of…

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and three other states are scheduled for 2026. Close on the heels of the Bihar elections, where the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the ECI has now announced that all poll-bound states and union territories will undergo a similar revision exercise. Form distribution has already begun in the Chennai district, and according to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), as of now, more than 40% residents have been covered in this exercise.  This makes it essential for every eligible voter in Tamil Nadu to verify their inclusion in the…

For the residents of Tansi Nagar in Velachery, Chennai, the arrival of the rains signals not relief, but a looming threat of flooding that damages their homes, property, and hard-earned possessions. These families are forced to vacate their houses, needing boats, tractors, and other makeshift transport to relocate. This grim reality affects more than 10,000 families living in the Velachery area, including neighbourhoods such as Annai Indira Nagar, Anna Nagar, Balamurugan Nagar, Venus Colony, Sarathi Nagar, Bhuvaneshwari Nagar, VGP Selva Nagar, Seshathripuram, EB Colony, and Balakrishnan Nagar.  Rainwater from this entire locality drains through the canal adjoining the Perungudi Railway…

Maximum City, Glamour City, City of Dreams, City of Struggles — Mumbai wears many names and identities. One of the world's most populous cities, it houses a staggering 2.17 crore people in just 603 square kilometres. Its carrying capacity in terms of accommodating a workforce was exceeded a decade ago, yet the daily inflow continues. Sky-high, artificially inflated real estate prices have pushed many to the distant suburbs, making the daily commute for work or study an arduous struggle. And yet the mobility solutions that the city administration and other powers that be come up with are not only inadequate,…

“For the last five years, I’ve only come to Govandi to report on crime or garbage,” admitted a reporter from a national newspaper during the Govandi Arts Festival 2023. “This is the first time I’m here to cover a story about art, and it’s one created by the youth themselves.” He went on to publish an article titled Govandi Arts Festival: Reimagining Inadequately Built Spaces Through Art and Creativity. It featured young artists who dared to tell their stories using their own voices and mediums. One might wonder why a place like Govandi, home to Mumbai’s largest resettlement population, burdened…

For years, domestic workers in Bengaluru and other cities in Karnataka have protested the lack of social security or legal mandates to protect them against exploitation. The State government has finally addressed some of their long-standing demands and released the Draft Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025, on October 15 for public consultation. This move follows the Supreme Court's directive calling for a well-defined legal framework to safeguard and regulate the rights of domestic workers. According to G Manjunath, Additional Labour Commissioner and author of the bill, the goal of the draft bill is to “provide rights-based,…

The deaths of over 20 children in the past few weeks, after consuming cough syrup that was reportedly contaminated with toxic chemicals, have sparked nationwide concern and left parents searching for answers. The deaths, which occurred in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have been linked to a medicine called Coldrif, which is a fixed-dose combination drug (FDC) used to treat common cold symptoms.   In August 2024, the Union Health Ministry banned 156 FDC drugs, citing serious health risks to humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also repeatedly warned about the dangers of contaminants in paediatric medicines. In a country where people…

The Karnataka government has introduced fresh amendments to the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA) Act, which could reduce buffer zones around lakes and drains to as little as 0–30 metres. On paper, this may appear to be an administrative change. In reality, it risks accelerating floods, pollution, and water insecurity across Bengaluru. Here’s what citizens need to know. How we got here Bengaluru’s lakes have long been central to the city’s ecology and culture. Recognising their importance, courts and planners have repeatedly mandated protective buffer zones: 2012: Karnataka High Court directed a 30-metre buffer around lakes and a…