COVID-19

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…

“Getting a customer who can afford to pay at least Rs 50 for a night is a big deal now. A week ago, I had a customer who offered only Rs 30, but I could not deny him. Every single penny counts today,” 32-year-old Christina, a transgender and sex worker in Chennai, tells me. The threat of coronavirus has acutely affected the livelihood of transgender persons in Chennai. The city is home to around 4,000 trans people, most of whom have been rendered jobless and penniless ever since the nation went into lockdown. The only financial aid that the community…

Jagruti Devi is a waste picker and lives in the slums of Rangpuri Pahadi in Delhi. Her husband collects waste in the mornings and sells vegetables on a pushcart in the evenings, while Jagruti Devi segregates waste at home. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the lockdown was put in place, her husband hasn’t been able to go out to collect waste or to sell vegetables. “We haven’t been able to work since March. We have no savings left. If we can’t go back to work, I don’t know how we are supposed to survive,” Jagruti says. The lack of…

“Biomedical waste management was already a big challenge before COVID, and now it’s an even bigger one. One of the most common queries we get from member-apartments is on COVID waste management,” says Vikram Rai, General Secretary of the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF), a collective of over 500 apartment RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) in the city. Bengaluru has struggled with waste segregation for long. But improper and irresponsible disposal of COVID waste endangers other citizens, more so waste collectors. If you are in home quarantine or isolation, how should you deal with solid waste? Should you segregate waste, and whom…

Yesterday, I told you how I managed to learn solid waste management techniques from one of the pioneers in the industry. The two-day training I attended with Mr Srinivasan, a relentless advocate of efficient waste management, helped our township walk down the path of implementing those techniques. Mr Srinivasan is the Apex Monitoring Committee Special Invitee to National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi and a resource person from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, that is implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission. On request, he made a visit to our Lokhandwala Township in Kandivali East in September 2019.…

The infamous evening traffic jams during rush hour in OMR seem like a thing of the past. The lockdown imposed on account of COVID-19 and the subsequent directives by many firms to work from home have made the once bustling area -- commonly dubbed as Chennai’s IT corridor -- deserted, with only local residents seemingly still around. The area resembles a ghost town in many parts. Customers -- mostly employees who would take breaks over a cup of tea -- at the tea shops that had come up outside the big office buildings have vanished. Restaurants and take-out services have…

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…

7.7 contacts traced for every COVID patient In the last one week, BBMP has stepped up contact tracing efforts. On average, 7.7 contacts were traced for every person who has tested positive. The BBMP COVID-19 War Room's analysis shows that, over the past week, the highest number of contacts were traced in Bommanahalli zone - 14.2 contacts for every positive case; and the least in Yelahanka zone - 5.7. South Zone is carrying out the highest number of tests. Between August 1 and 25, 76,957 tests have been conducted here - that is, an average of 3,078 tests per day.…

[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 older adults. The series is published in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] For many older adults in Bengaluru, the bus is not just a transport mode. Their nostalgia surrounding the bus is immense. Older adults share memories of using the erstwhile Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) bus to go to work, to visit the lush green Cubbon park on weekends; going to Majestic to catch a bus to…

The ongoing pandemic marks a period of immense uncertainty worldwide. This has seen states deploying all means in their playbooks to ensure that people follow the rules and norms that would prevent spread. However, one issue, which for months was hotly debated but is now more or less unanimously agreed upon is the usage of face masks.  Despite the many studies and guidelines recommending usage of face masks or coverings, their usage is far from universal. And, where it is used, we have seen them dangling in various ways over the face,  without covering the nose and mouth in the…