CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Nagamma and Tirupataiah, a couple hailing from Kurnool district are waste pickers at the Kattedan Industrial Estate (KIE), near Rajendranagar in Hyderabad. Another waste picker, Shantamma took up this activity when she shifted to the area after her marriage.  Spread across 110 hectares, the KIE houses 450 units belonging to manufacturing, oil refining, rewinding machines, food processing industries. The industries provide employment to 10,000 laborers, and the total population of the area is roughly 26000, most of them living in the neighbouring villages. Industrial pollution -- primarily high concentration of mineral oil and metals in the soil, dust, odour and…

Tens of thousands of flamingos congregate annually in Talawe Wetlands, in Navi Mumbai on India's west coast. These annual visitors comprise Lesser and Greater Flamingos, the two varieties that migrate to India. Flamingo congregation at Talawe, May 2020 (Photo: Surabhi Agarwal) With India's coronavirus lockdown, this year saw a 25% increase in numbers of these migratory birds. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), estimates that number this year may be more than 1,50,000 vis-à-vis 1,34,000 counted last year. Flamingos at sunset (Photo: Surabhi Agarwal) These wetlands, habitat of flamingos, are in danger of being taken over for development for a golf…

BBMP is not equipped to handle the problems within its limited area of 712 sq km, let alone those in the larger Bengaluru Metropolitan Region. Pic: BBMP Part 1 of this series explored why the recently-introduced BBMP Bill is problematic. In this part, the author proposes an alternative governance structure for the city. The recently-introduced BBMP Bill proposes splitting the 198 wards in Bengaluru to 225, but not bringing about major changes in the functioning of the bankrupt, dysfunctional BBMP. Besides, given the entire Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (BMR) of 8,005 sq km is urbanising rapidly, the governance of Bengaluru needs to…

When I made my 2020 planner on the first day of this year, I marked important academic and professional dates for the next six months. The first of these was my university graduation due in the month of March. We are now in September and the aforementioned graduation still seems a far mile away. To be fair, nothing about this year has been normal. With the coronavirus setting in from early March and a nationwide lockdown being declared from the end of that month, we’ve lived a life that is completely different from anything we might have experienced before. As…

It is said that doing the same experiment again and again under the same conditions and expecting a different result each time is schizophrenic. Bringing another legislation, the BBMP Bill, to improve the same dysfunctional BBMP is such an example. Over the past week, the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC) appointed by the state government has been deliberating on the BBMP Bill, a separate Bill for the administration of Bengaluru. This Bill is to replace the KMC (Karnataka Municipal Corporations) Act which is currently the basis for the administration of Bengaluru (and other municipalities in the state). BBMP Bill proposes increasing…

COVID-19 is far more than a health crisis; it has affected our economy and livelihoods, and has challenged our society overall. We have been applauding those in the healthcare sector, but few think of workers who’ve been risking their lives to maintain sanitation at the frontlines -- cleaning our streets, ensuring that we don’t catch the virus -- all with sub-optimal working conditions and lack of health cover.  To address this issue, Antar, a group of college students from Bengaluru and other cities, came together to provide ration and relief kits to pourakarmikas and their families. We have covered over…

In early July, I came across the news of a COVID-positive woman who was in urgent need of hospitalisation. She was turned down by 16 hospitals because no beds were available. However the government, on its website, claimed they had sufficient beds. Santosh Doddaiah, 25, is the founder of Covidbeds.org. He and his team regularly update the website with accurate data on available hospital beds for COVID patients. Pic Credit: Santosh Doddaiah To understand the reality, I did some research, and then started calling hospitals listed on the website - around 140 of them. Shekar hospital, Bull Temple road, had…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. In this article, two researchers share their findings on easing bus commute for people with disabilities. The series is published in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] Accessible and affordable public transport is central for persons with disability to lead dignified and active lives. Routine activities like work, healthcare, buying essential goods and maintaining a social life, are all dependent on their access to transport infrastructure. Despite international charters like the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008),…

The first announcement of a nationwide lockdown in March brought in its wake anxiety, panic, confusion. Shutting down of offices and factories, public transport, day-care and other services hit the economy badly. Companies introduced ‘work from home’ options, cities struggled to provide basic services and amenities while maintaining safety regulations, public transport came to a stop, and the unpreparedness of our health care facilities to tackle the pandemic stood out stark and clear. In all this, the one question that has dominated mindspace is: How long can we lock down the nation? We need to move-on but safely. The world…

I had been noticing a man, about 40 years of age and evidently suffering mental health issues, around my neighbourhood on Venkatraman Street in Perambur over the past few months. In May 2020 when the Covid-19 cases started spiking I approached the local administration to seek help in securing a shelter for him. The initial response from the officials in the enforcement agencies and local administration was that it would be impossible to accommodate any person with a mental illness at the mental hospital or any home for the mentally challenged during the pandemic. They asked me to wait until…