EDITORS' PICK

“I have cleared my house of all the plastic bags. I cannot afford to pay Rs 5,000 as fine.” “Madam, they are saying that they will come to check our houses to see if we have plastic. Do you think they will come?” “Everyone on the road is carrying cloth bags today. Who wants to pay fine? ” “Vegetable vendors are telling us to go home and bring a bag. None of them have plastic bags.” “Will it be alright to carry this water bottle? I won’t be caught and fined, right?” The Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage,…

“I have cleared my house of all the plastic bags. I cannot afford to pay Rs 5,000 as fine.” “Madam, they are saying that they will come to check our houses to see if we have plastic. Do you think they will come?” “Everyone on the road is carrying cloth bags today. Who wants to pay fine? ” “Vegetable vendors are telling us to go home and bring a bag. None of them have plastic bags.” “Will it be alright to carry this water bottle? I won’t be caught and fined, right?” The Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage,…

An auto stops on Tannery road. Five adults seat themselves in the back. One adult, with a toddler on his lap, shares the seat with the driver. The overcrowded auto carries them forward, navigating narrow roads. It swiftly drops them in a location and picks up more passengers going to a nearby destination. This is a common practice across Bengaluru today where there is insufficient last mile connectivity. The concept of shared autos prevalent in Chennai and Hyderabad has slowly entered Bengaluru over the years, but this informal system is relatively unheard of and seldom spoken about. Auto drivers who…

If you happen to be in Chennai, visit the SDAT ground on a Saturday morning, and you will be greeted by an unusual but heartwarming sight! Seen playing football with the fervour of a youth who has just discovered the game is a group of former professional footballers, their ages ranging from 40 to over 60. You'll find them rolling back the years with their slick passes and exchanging banter that stems from years of camaraderie. Meet the members of the Phoenix Veterans FC, a club comprising players who have represented their country and the state at the highest level. Through the…

Even as the leaden, monsoon skies are darkening over an overgrown metro, many might be surprised to learn that Bengaluru was added to the ‘Smart City’ list on June, 2017. It has become the seventh city from Karnataka to get into the Smart City list. It bemuses many, because the 'honour' and implication is still not very well-known to everyone. A year after the city has become part of the list, there is still delay in implementation. Why? It is a big project, after all, says AR Ravi, Joint Director (Planning), Urban Development Department (UDD). Just the planning and the…

I recently participated in a hackathon co-organised by the German development agency GIZ and the technology/startup news organisation YourStory. The theme of the hackathon (which they called a ‘techathon’) was ‘Social Good’. It was spread over five events -- one each in Goa and Bangalore, two in Hyderabad, followed by a grand finale, also in Hyderabad. It was a competition where the top three teams from each location would qualify for the final. The theme for Bangalore, from where I participated, was Smart Cities and Connected Mobility. The topics suggested by the organisers included parking management, better mobility options, video…

With Urban India alone generating a gigantic 1.5 lakh metric tonnes per day of Municipal Solid Waste, waste management has grown to become a huge burden in urban India. Despite the existence of strong laws -- Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 -- cities are stuck at the implementation level. Now, a new report shows that while smaller cities have done a good job of complying with the major clauses of key environmental legislation, larger cities including Bengaluru and New Delhi are yet to satisfy the basic mandate of waste management: source segregation, or in…

In the first part of our series on ambulance services in the city, Citizen Matters focused on the challenges and memorable moments in the lives of ambulance crew serving the city and state. Running an ambulance service is truly exciting work. It is a heart filling service that includes saving the lives of strangers in the quickest way possible, says Uma Maheswari, IAS, Project Director, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Government of Tamil Nadu. 108 ambulance services are operated under the Public Private Partnership framework  by GVK EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute), a not-for-profit organisation and the Tamil Nadu government.…

Green index of Kolkata is in danger more than ever before. Management of  energy to water to waste is on a southward spiral in the developing neighbourhoods. Kolkata generates about 4000 metric tons of waste per day. Solid waste disposal is becoming a serious concern in the city since Dhapa Landfill, where most of the waste goes, is already filled to the brim. The landfill, which was set up in 1941 and has 50-feet-tall mountains of garbage, needs serious scientific reconstruction and restructuring. Firms from abroad have been consulted to start this process but they advised stopping usage of the site to get the…

This summer, Jaipur’s temperatures are soaring upwards of 40 degree Celsius. Jaipur witnessed its hottest day (as of June 4, 2018) on April 26 when a temperature of 43.2 degree Celsius was recorded. Of late, at least some parts of the city are beginning to exhibit signs of climate change typical of large cities. With more concrete and asphalt replacing natural vegetation, “urban heat islands” are becoming a reality and Jaipur is a good example of this. Urban heat islands are pockets of densely populated areas in a city where temperatures are higher than the rest of the city, thanks to packed…