CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Gurugram’s population of almost 9 lakhs, has one Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) for its collection, transportation and treatment - authorized by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board. In the wake of the pandemic, this CBWTF has faced unprecedented demand from the residential sector to collect and process their COVID-19 biomedical waste as a part of its service. The agency, RWAs and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) have been grappling with many challenges, as they attempt to streamline and ensure safe, regular collection and treatment of contaminated biomedical waste from quarantine homes. Post pandemic, in Gurugram, new collection…

With flowering plants and trees, the lake's walkway has come to life. Pic: Naresh Sadasivan If you go to Iblur lake today, you will notice phenomenal changes from a year ago. Those teeny-weeny plants that hundreds of volunteers planted since last year, now make up a lush green wall around the lake bund. Young, tall teak trees look out majestically even as flowery shrubs show off their splendour. This year has so far been good for the lake. The lockdown meant that it got a breather from pollution, and the absence of people gave unbridled space and time for flora…

The mathematical projections of MGR University indicate that there could be 1.5 lakh COVID-19 patients in Chennai by mid-July and the incidence of infection could peak in October. Going by the fact that the varsity’s projections on Chennai have been proven right so far, it is best to brace ourselves to deal with the crisis as it is quite likely to knock upon every one of our homes.  How does one stay prepared, though? Well, this is my own account, an observation of the crisis from close quarters, which might help in  understanding how the system works as it is…

There's much work done in society on a regular basis that remains unrecognised or even taken for granted, until one undertakes to do it in his own hand. That's something each of us has experienced over the last three months of the lockdown, as we have had to do all household work in the absence of our domestic workers. Having washed utensils at least thrice a day, swept floors every day, washed clothes and cleaned toilets, perhaps we will now be goaded into some serious thinking about what we can do for the people who silently perform these chores, almost…

After three months of freedom to grow, my hair needed to be contained. It now formed a curtain over my eyes and glasses. When the government allowed the opening of beauty parlours, I booked myself for a first day, first trim. This was a calculated move. I would be in a place cleaned thoroughly after months of lockdown.  The shop wasn’t quite ready, so I made it “second day, first cut.” The Aadhaar card was mandatory, I heard. Parlours had to check the ID of people they had “beautified” routinely for years? But it made sense. I did look unrecognisable. …

It’s no misnomer that Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India. Our daily commute around Marathahalli junction can deposit small quantities of raw materials on our body that can build up to ingredients in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor. Maybe, because of this, people working in the IT corridor exhibit some semiconductor-like properties in their work communication - “Stuck in traffic”, “In late today”, “Leaving early”, “Work from home” etc. Does this sound familiar? Marathahalli junction is among the many knotted intersections that connect to the city’s IT hub along ORR (Outer Ring Road). The bridge here was built…

Imagine 2600 trucks laden with plastic waste plying across cities, depositing them at waste processing centres to the extent that they can handle it, and merely dumping the rest at various spots. Well, that is the amount of plastic waste that India generates daily -- a massive 26000 MT of plastic waste every day. And that is precisely why solutions like those being tried out in the hill town of Dehradun may emerge as an example for all our cities, as they try to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution. Despite several regulations and policies, single-use plastic continues to…

Due to poor maintenance and metering, transformers can get damaged frequently, causing power cuts. Pic: Ekta Sawant Bengalureans are familiar with frequent power cuts lasting several hours, sometimes through the day. Irregular power supply interrupts our daily routines, especially with respect to work since many of us are working from home these days. It could also damage household appliances like refrigerators, air-conditioners and TV sets. In the case of medium, small and micro industries, erratic power supply affects production. One of the most common reasons for power cuts is the poor maintenance of distribution transformers. Damaged transformers also pose a…

Ehsaan Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Rajiv Nagar  -- three slums in and around Bhopal that are home to 288 families of the Bel-Pardhi, one of the 198 'denotified' tribes in India. Gandhinagar and Ehsaan Nagar came up in 2002 on the outskirts of Bhopal, whereas Rajivnagar is located well within the city limits. In the wake of the COVID-19 triggered lockdown, availability and access to food among these tribal families across these three slums, who lead a hand-to-mouth existence even during normal times, has emerged as an issue of great concern. Out of these 288 households, 50-60% have ration cards,…

Every day at 7 am sharp, 55-year-old Meenakshiammal arrives at the Sathyamoorthy Nagar community toilet in Tiruchirapalli, from her home in a slum close by. She has been cleaning two community toilets for the past 15 years, one on Uppiliar Street and the other at Sathyamoorthy Nagar, spending at least an hour cleaning each one of them. A cleaning agent and a broom were just enough for her until now, but things have changed drastically since the spread of COVID-19 in India and the consequent lockdown. She now wears a mask, gloves and ensures that she washes her hands and…