DATA

An independent project monitoring wastewater in 46 locations in Bengaluru has interesting data that could potentially work as a city-wide early warning system for COVID-19 outbreaks. The platform called Precision Health has been actively collecting and analysing wastewater samples from Bengaluru since April 2021 to detect and monitor the presence of SARS-CoV-2.  The data from Precision Health mirrors the peak of the second wave in May, and the recent uptick in cases, in terms of the percentage of samples that were positive for SARS-CoV-2. The current findings from wastewater testing show that at the ward level, around half the wards…

On the face of it, the latest National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5) data appears to tell a straightforward story about sanitation in Mumbai - that of progress. More than 90% of the population now have better sanitation facilities, drinking water access and menstrual protection, according to the survey. With the exception of 0.01%, nearly everyone (99.99%) gets their drinking water from an 'improved' source, which prevents external contamination. The situation did not require a huge leap, as the percentage in the NFHS-4 conducted in 2015-16 stood at 99.8%. Piped water taps (within premises, or in the neighbourhood, or public),…

On the evening of November 21st, parts of North Bengaluru were hit by a sudden thunderstorm. Jakkur, in the Yelahanka zone recorded 153 mm. Many layouts and apartments around Yelahanka were flooded. Visuals of a flooded Manyata Tech Park went viral on social media. November is expected to be the start of winter in Bengaluru and the end of the regular rains that start in April. As per the IMD Long Period Average (LPA) - the average rainfall between 1981 and 2010 - November gets average rainfall of only 49 mm, with four rainy days. But this November, IMD Bengaluru…

In May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 14,857 people died in Mumbai. This was over twice the number of deaths that occurred in May of the previous year. Official COVID-19 deaths, however, accounted for barely 15% of them - 1,075 out of 8,014. The number of deaths increased in comparison to 2019 till October 2020. Over the year, they added up to 20,719 more deaths over 2019’s toll, but only around half, 11,116, were officially due to COVID-19. The rest are unexplained. A spike in the number of deaths was seen again with the second wave…

For the past three years, Seema, a 35-year-old healthy woman has been running all outdoor errands for her family. She lives with her six-year-old son, her 42-year-old wheelchair-ridden husband, and a 70-year-old mother-in-law in a humble middle-income household. After her husband met with a road accident and lost his ability to walk, the family has been increasingly cautious about their outdoor activities.  Seema’s aged mother-in-law and disabled husband almost never leave the house unless a special van is rented. Seema always walks her son to and from the school bus, and at no time is he allowed to walk by…

On September 24th, Prof. Ashish Verma, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST Lab) released a voluminous 479-page report co-authored with Hemanthini Allirani from IST Lab, recording air quality index and several other indicators of Quality of Life (QoL) due to 'pedestrianising urban streets' - essentially closing roads to traffic. This is a part of the Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) programme, a joint initiative between India and UK to pilot air quality improvement initiatives in Bengaluru. Being the first such initiative in Karnataka, the initiative is named ‘Church Street First', based on the location of the study. Church Street was…

During the first week of June 2021, the daily bulletin from the Department of Health and Family Welfare(DHFW), Karnataka, was still reporting 300+ COVID deaths per day for Bengaluru Urban district. The corresponding daily positives was around 3500-4000. The general feeling was that the worst was over and things had eased up. But these numbers suggested otherwise, a fatality rate of close to 10%! A closer look at the "DOD" (Date of Death) column of Annexure-2 of the bulletins, however, showed that a lot of these 300+ COVID deaths were being back-counted from May, and some even from April. For…

How many of us consider approaching the consumer court for a faulty piece of electronics, for an insurance claim that’s not honoured or for services like warranty and maintenance contracts that are promised but not provided? What happens when you do? How long do you wait? And how many of us succeed? The idea and intention behind setting up Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions was to ensure swift and cost-effective access to justice to us, the consumers. Though it serves this purpose (in comparison to having to fight consumer cases in other courts, where it would take longer), a report by…

Over the past few months, there appears to have been a marked improvement in the number of cyclists and the total trips taken in the city. This trend was gauged from the riding data of a subset of cyclists who use the popular service Strava. The charts below have been drawn from the data collected by Strava Metro which helps cities improve infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. The data is provided by real time users who enable the app to track their ride. This data provides insight on the different corridors and the number of cyclists during the day. Surge…

Ever since lockdown norms were eased, Chennai’s COVID tally has seen significant variations. Over the past few weeks, however, Chennai has been witnessing less than 1,000 cases in a consistent manner. What can we infer from the numbers? Is Chennai on course to see a continuous fall in the numbers?  Here are some of the key takeaways based on an analysis of data from August to October: Fluctuating number of positive cases per day  There has been a rise and fall pattern observed in the number of cases in Chennai over the last three months; if we take 1000 as…