EDITORS' PICK

''This year has been a welcome sight for birdwatchers as there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds in the city. The numbers seem to have increased in spite of the poor monsoons the city saw this year,'' says environmentalist E Seshan. Although the water levels in Pallikaranai and Vedanthangal run low following a scant northeast monsoon, these winged friends have made several other water bodies in the city their home. A retired chief photographer of the Geological Survey of India, E Seshan, has been studying the pattern and habits of migratory birds in Chennai for the…

Continuous trolling, sarcastic celebrations, and even a mock ‘inauguration by the Prime Minister’ -- there is no end to the many creative ways in which Mangaluru residents have been venting their frustration over the incompletion of this 900-metre flyover in their city that lies unfinished for close to a decade now. The Pumpwell flyover that lies at the intersection of NH66 AND NH55 was ideated to absorb the excess load of the intercity and highway traffic, but for nearly 10 years since the issue of the Letter of Approval (LOA) for the project, it has only added to traffic woes…

Shetty (name changed), manager at a Bengaluru apartment, dreaded the RWA meeting where he had to get members’ approval for common area electricity bills. RWA members invariably questioned him on the huge bill amounts, but he was unable to justify the bills or identify measures for saving. The association was also unable to take concerted action, mainly because of the lack of data. Usually the association ended up taking ad hoc steps like installing LED lights, and brushes the issue aside. But the problem is revisited every year, with the same results. Upto a quarter of maintenance charges is for…

Like every year, Lalbagh is hosting flower show this year as well. The theme is Mahatma Gandhi's 150th Birth Anniversary. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd has introduced return journey paper tickets for a flat price of Rs 30. One can travel from Lalbagh Metro station to any other stations at this fare, between 10 am to 8 pm, on January 25th, 26th and 27th. The tickets will be available at all metro stations between 8 am to 6 pm. The press note from BMRCL explains it: Like every year, our reader Srinivasan Subramaniam has shared the photos from the flower…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities Bengaluru has thousands of two-stroke auto rickshaws, which have proved to be a bane in the scheme of things where shift to eco-friendly vehicles needs to happen quickly to counter the air pollution crisis the city is facing. And this is taking time, as the government's plans seem to be ineffective. In November 2018, Radio Active 90.4 MHz CR a community radio station did a study of government's plan to phase out 2-stroke autos and move to 4-stroke autos. They held a focus group discussion with auto drivers…

The Tata Mumbai Marathon 2019, held on January 20th, saw a record 46,414 runners take to the streets. Even as marathons and other runs across the the country have seen increased participation over the last few years, the spotlight on their environmental footprint has also become stronger in its glare. Waste management champions have long been emphasising the need for more responsible organisation of such events and a petition initiated by Shilpi Sahu, calling for the greening of the Mumbai marathon, received 114,000 signatures over a year.** Before the start of the event, the organisers of the Mumbai marathon, Procam…

Badminton seems to be attracting a fair bit of attention in Chennai these days. While the Chennai Smashers have gained popularity in the Premier Badminton League, players like S Sankar Muthusamy are putting Tamil Nadu's name upfront in the world badminton arena. Last October, Sankar Muthusamy became the first player from Tamil Nadu to bag a bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Junior Championship, in the Boys Singles U-15 category. “He is also the first player from the state to have won the national singles. Sankar's achievements have been an inspiration for many to pursue the sport. More people have…

In the ongoing Amsterdam Light Festival, illuminating the city’s waterway, a Serbian artist duo’s installation of an LED version of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic painting ‘The Starry Night’ has drawn attention to the growing menace of light pollution in urban areas. 7000 kilometres away, in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, Nilesh Desai is steadily working on a public interest litigation on light pollution-disturbance due to excessive, inappropriate and misdirected artificial lights. For the last couple of years, Desai, who holds a day job in the information technology sector, has been fighting against the excessive and obtrusive glare of floodlights in his neighbourhood. He has fired…

Ever since the smart city project commenced in T Nagar, the area has been in the limelight. Organisations such as The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) have been working closely with Chennai Corporation and Chennai Smart City Limited, to understand the challenges  particular to the locality, and propose sustainable mobility interventions. In an interview with Citizen Matters Chennai, Aswathy Dilip, Senior Programme Manager at ITDP India talks about the Smart City projects and how they have the potential to propel T Nagar on to the league of international cities and neighbourhoods. Ashwathy leads the Complete Streets strategy, policy and project…

On January 13 2019, the President gave his nod and brought into law The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill 2019. The Act amends Articles 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution, and adds clauses where the government can make special provisions for economically weaker sections (EWS) of citizens and provide them with reservations up to 10 percent in higher educational institutions including private aided or unaided institutions (other than minority education institutions) as well as in initial appointments in government services. In popular parlance, this is being bandied as 'upper-caste reservation.' Reservations or quotas, the dominant mode of…