EDITORS' PICK

It seems like Bengaluru is sitting on a powder keg. Recently the state Transport Department revealed that a staggering 50,000 vehicles were registered every month in the city, on average, in 2019. The public transport (PT) system here - Metro and buses - is hampered by the lack of seamless connectivity. This in turn forces commuters to use private cars, two-wheelers and private buses, along with intermediate public transport (IPT) like autos and cabs. The increasing number of private vehicles have led to traffic congestion, increased travel time and air pollution. Despite introducing Metro and procuring more buses, Indian cities…

A houseboat stay, once a major attraction of Kashmir tourism, could soon become just a memory. For two reasons. One, the strict High Court guidelines that prohibit increasing the number of houseboats in Dal and Nigeen lake, the second famous lake in Srinagar city. Two, there are just three master craftsmen left, who can build houseboats. All the others have passed away in the last six decades, taking their knowledge with them. It takes these master craftsmen one to two years to build a normal house boat, called floating palace in local parlance. The houseboats are categorised in five groups—Deluxe…

For a planned city like Chandigarh, street vendors are a floating population difficult to include in the city’s planning mechanism. Street vendors tend to create an independent eco-system dominated by power centres within the government framework and outside from touts and racketeers, having to cope with the constant threat of confiscation of their goods. In the absence of a policy, usage of public space by street vendors remains a bone of contention between the different stakeholders in an urban setting. Objections are raised by motorists, resident welfare associations, market welfare committees and others who perceive them as a threat in…

This article is part of our special series on Delhi Elections 2020 Having garnered international appreciation from the likes of former U.N. Secretary Generals Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon for its accessibility and effectiveness, compared to healthcare in general in India which is ranked at a lowly 145 on the global healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index, the incumbent AAP government of Delhi is inevitably using his government’s health care initiatives as one of its major electoral campaign planks. With the AAP government making education and health its top priorities, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched several schemes to provide free medicines,…

It was a little past 8 am on a weekday. The two-lane Perumbakkam Main Road bustled with office-goers rushing past in their cars, students waiting at the bus stop and many others thronging the roadside tea shops. The large Sholinganallur marshland (which is part of Pallikaranai marshland) is bisected by the road, yet disconnected from all the busy activity. The marsh provides a picturesque view of birds roosting on the trees, hovering for prey and flying off to the nearby water bodies.  With binoculars around his neck and an office bag by his side, Deepak Venkatachalam squints his eyes to spot…

This article is part of our special series on Delhi Elections 2020 In 2014, when the World Health Organisation declared Delhi as the world’s worst polluted city, the national capital became the face of air pollution for India. Since then, Delhi has been branded as a “gas chamber” by its own ruling government. Courts have called out the Delhi government for committing “genocide,” allowing a public health emergency of such mass scale. Every year since then, from Diwali and stubble burning season till the end of winter, politicians announce a slew of measures which fail to address the root cause of…

For Ramu B P, who has been driving a BMTC bus between Central Silk Board and KR Puram for many years, the Bus Priority Lane – in effect from November 1, 2019 – came as a relief.  “Earlier, it used to take about 75 minutes. In the last three months, it has come down to 45-50 minutes,” he says. He also believes things can be improved further. “If the BPL is fully implemented, then it would help us in reducing more time.”  For Sanjappa, another driver on the same route, the BPL has provided mental relief. “We used to get…

Pedestrians, as we know, are the most vulnerable road users. Over the past three years, Bengaluru has consistently seen the third highest number of pedestrian deaths among major Indian cities. Between 2010 and 2018, more than 3000 pedestrians have been killed in traffic crashes in the city, and four times as many have been injured. Many of these deaths could have been prevented had corrective measures been taken in a conscious and timely manner. But, beyond just the size of the problem, what do we know about pedestrian crashes happening in our city? Why and when do these crashes occur,…

In 1987, an MTC bus plying on the muddy Pallavaram–Thoraipakkam 200 Feet Radial Road would see passengers reaching out for their handkerchiefs or the corner of their saris to cover their noses. Today, the road has been widened and many educational institutions and IT companies have mushroomed around it. However, the stench along the stretch of the Pallikaranai marshland remains unbearable. In fact, it is worse than in 1987. Destruction of wetlands: The Pallikaranai story The degradation of this freshwater marshland started in 1980 when the Greater Chennai Corporation started using the ecologically-rich wetland to dump solid waste. The marshland…

Can you believe this: A mammoth project such as Namma Metro in Bengaluru has, so far, been built without a broad mobility blueprint for the city in mind? In other words, Phase 1 -- which is already up and running -- and Phase 2 -- which is under construction -- do not integrate either with the existing transportation infrastructure (public bus service, pedestrian infrastructure, cycling infrastructure, cab aggregators and bike taxis) or with developmental plans of other civic agencies (BBMP, BDA, BWSSB etc).  If so, will seamless travel in Bengaluru remain a distant dream? It also begs the question whether…