CITIZEN JOURNALISM

I’ve lived in Bangalore since 2005; whenever visiting friends want me to take them to Bangalore Palace, I chuckle and confess I haven’t been there myself. We’ve all experienced living in a city whose joys and woes we haven’t fully explored. Guided walks can help us connect more deeply with our cities when familiarity might have bred contempt or, simply, blindness. It was to help residents deepen their understanding of Panaji, Goa’s administrative capital, and to visualise possible futures for Panaji, that Transitions Research, in collaboration with the Travelling Dome, organised guided walks on Friday, 15th March and Sunday, 17th…

Any pet parent will tell you that dogs need a safe space where they can be free and get their requisite daily exercise. Leashed walks can fulfil only a part of their exercise requirement. Especially dogs belonging to larger breeds are more energetic and need to run free to expend their energy and to grow and develop well. This is especially difficult in a city like Mumbai where traffic concerns and the territorial nature of street dogs makes it impossible for pet parents to let their dogs off the leash even for a moment. My German Shepherd herself has developed…

The Cauvery River is located 100 kilometres away from Bengaluru, 350 metres lower than the city’s elevation. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has to spend approximately Rs. 3 crores per day as electricity charges to pump the water over such long distances. The city’s dependence on Cauvery as its primary water source prompted us to analyse this issue at the recently held 'Bengaluru Water Datajam', held by Opencity.in. Since the extraction of water from the Cauvery is recent (just 50 years ago), how did Bengaluru operate its water needs before the onset of rapid urbanisation? Since, we…

In North Chennai’s Vyasarpadi, candidates from different political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections are on the last leg of their campaign around the neighbourhood. This is an oft-repeated tradition among politicians, especially in working-class localities, where they offer guarantees like electricity, water, monthly financial assistance, free buses, job opportunities and more, promised through government schemes.  In Vyasarpadi, like many other parts of the city, while everyone votes every year, the reasons for the consistent participation are not necessarily rooted in in-depth political knowledge about candidates. The incentives promised by politicians are important for overall development of the community, but…

Once a year, I inadvertently overhear someone wondering aloud about the sea level while crossing the Mahim or Thane Creek bridges without realising that the sea has tides. Similar conversations are heard at the beaches too. The Bandra Worli Sea Link, which now features in almost every movie about Mumbai, as seen from Mahim. Pic: MS Gopal Not being aware of tides often leads to lovers being stranded on the rocks along the coast, or even people getting washed away by waves during the monsoons. People regularly throng the sea-fronts of Mumbai - sometimes the beaches, sometimes the promenades, but…

A little white disc flies through the air; chased by many, and caught deftly by a girl, who then sends it whizzing across the sandy shore. This is a scene that often unfolds along Chennai's Besant Nagar beach, next to the red police booth. The vast, open space afforded by the beach sets the stage for a fun sport, involving a 175g white disc. Ultimate Frisbee is fast-paced, involving seven players from each team on opposite sides of the field, throwing the disc to each other, racing to catch it and passing it along to teammates. The most popular format…

Within just a few decades, Bengaluru has grown into the third largest city and the fifth largest metropolitan area of the country, with over 13 million people. The city’s rapid development is evident in the rise of built-up area, which has increased 37.4% in 2002 to 93.3% in 2020. In just 40 years, the extent of water bodies has reduced from 3.4% (1973) to less than 1% (2013), placing Bengaluru’s water resources under tremendous stress. Consequently, the city has come to depend heavily on Cauvery water and private water tankers or individual borewells to meet its daily demand. The overexploitation…

When I moved to Mumbai in June 2023 for work, I found myself going for sight seeing to the city's tourist destinations. Though the city appeared to have consistent and wide footpaths almost everywhere, vehicular right of way seemed to be prioritised over the pedestrian right of way. This struck me as very strange, even as I continued to enjoy walking through lanes of Mumbai very much. On one hand, there is excellent footpath coverage, utilised by large crowds everywhere. On the other hand, speeding vehicles create obstacles for something as simple as crossing the road.  "Though Mumbai appeared to…

Valmiki Nagar is a compact and beautiful residential colony in Thiruvanmiyur, comprising four Seaward Roads that run East-West and Balakrishnan Road running North-South that bisects them. The quality of the roads in Valmiki Nagar, re-laid over 10 years ago, has deteriorated over the years, with large patches of exposed areas, loose stones and so on. The volunteers (me being one of them) of the Valmiki Nagar Residents Association took up the request for relaying of roads with the councillor of Ward 180 and Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Assistant Engineer (AE). Here is how the road laying went — Pre-approval phase…

Bengaluru grapples with a persistent water stress, worsened by the decline in rainfall, overexploitation of groundwater and decreasing Cauvery River levels. The water crisis has led experts and the government to reconsider using lakes as a source of water, either by storing treated wastewater or harvested rainwater. The draining of lakes, like Bellandur and Varthur, for desilting has contributed to a major part of the groundwater crisis in Bengaluru. However, with the upcoming monsoon predicted to be normal, there is a looming concern regarding the lakes in the city. The anticipated rains may bring one of the highest influxes of…