EDITORS' PICK

“From a needle to a computer, you will get everything here,” said a lungi-clad old man, who was selling rare copper coins (half anna from 19th century) at the Friday Pallavaram market. With a brief pause, he chuckled, “Except a girl to get married to.” Fresh vegetables, various varieties of fish, antique coins, old newspapers, eggs, chicken, batteries, computer spare parts... the list goes on. True to the trader’s words, the weekly Sandhai (market) that takes place every  Friday on the Old Trunk Road of Pallavaram brings a village to the city. With just an umbrella or a wet cloth…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship Even as green cover in Bengaluru has been steadily declining over the last few decades, some efforts to reverse this phenomena are gathering momentum. The Government of Karnataka drafted The Karnataka Tree Cover Enhancement Policy, 2016 that targeted increasing forest and tree cover from the current 21% to 33%; in cities planting was to be done in residential and other layouts, institutional lands, private lands, etc. This policy is yet to be formalised, though the Forest Department has offered to take direct charge of afforestation and tree conservation programmes instead…

Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) is no more the monopoly provider of shared rides in the city, with share autorickshaws eating into its ridership on arterial routes. Moreover, it is losing revenues after it raised the fares, without any improvement to bus services or their quality – it had no air-conditioned services to offer this summer. But surprise! MTC did not make any move to find out how much it is losing to these 8-seater share auto vehicles, most of which are operated without a proper permit. Share autos are in the grey zone, since there is no way they can be…

Any regular Twitter user over the past couple of years can attest to the popularity of the Twitter accounts of the Bengaluru and Mumbai police. By using the language of the people, through topical memes and witty quips, the police of two of India’s major cities have revamped their image to exude friendliness and increase accessibility. By leveraging the power of social media, these cities have led the way in adopting a new model of interacting with their citizens and addressing complaints and queries real time. Fake message is floating on Whatsapp regarding this number as BCP’s Women Helpline. The…

A group of ecologists, on what appears to be a boat, are holding an olive ridley turtle. The turtle is seen gasping for air and is trying to breathe through its mouth. A closer look reveals that the turtle’s left nostril is blocked. An ecologist tries to pull out the blockage with a pair of pliers. The turtle, writhing in pain, soon starts bleeding. The next seven minutes are harrowing, but finally ecologists succeed. While the turtle is free, ecologists, much to their dismay, learn that the stuff blocking the turtle’s nose was a plastic straw! This eight-minute-long YouTube video…

The theme for this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, was “Beat Plastic Pollution”. Beyond lip service, it is most heartening to witness the deeds of people who walk the talk and show that where there is a will there is a way to ramp up our fight against plastic pollution. Citizen Matters spoke to one such Chennai citizen, V C Kannan, who, along with his family, has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to go plastic-free, especially at a large event such as a wedding. Yes, a zero-plastic wedding! The Big Idea For a family that has…

Everyone agrees that Metro is an excellent mode of public transport. It improves connectivity and is good for the city. It is environmental-friendly. However, we have lost quite a number of trees at the time of Metro construction and we need to take some steps to regain the lost greenery. Most of Namma Metro is not underground. Bare metro pillars and beams have become an eyesore of our so-called Garden City. There have been news reports of BMRCL planning some vertical gardens, in which a huge metal frame holds a large number of small containers in which a variety of…

Nemilichery lake, which once was a lifeline to the farmers in Pallavaram, is slowly being destroyed. With unabated encroachment and illegal dumping of unsegregated waste, the lake is dry and its bed is completely covered with plastic. In order to save the lake for the next generation, volunteers from various organisations and business entities took up the cleaning work on 10 June. “More than 250 volunteers from Federation of Civic and Welfare Associations of Pallavaram, environmental organisation Pasumai Iyakkam and Parvathy Hospital took part in the clean up,” said V Santhanam, a noted civic activist. Years of exploitation by the…

Solving their civic-woes has been a challenge for the 12 lakh residents living in the 110 villages on the outer circle in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, in Bengaluru. Not only has the struggle to get drinking-water been unfruitful, the lack of drainage network lets the sewage accumulate in open drains and lakes, causing irreversible long-term ecological and health problems. There is, however, about to be a slight change in their plight. The infrastructural work to lay underground drainage facilities in the five zones — Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli and RR Nagar — officially commenced on March 15,…

A stretch of the old, dilapidated compound wall of the Corporation School in Thiruveedhi Amman Koil Street of RA Puram grabbed the attention of a residents welfare association recently. To give a new lease of colour to the wall, Thiruveedhi Amman Koil Street Resident Welfare Association (TAKSRA), in association with an organisation called Karam Korpom-SAPS (Stop Abusing Public Spaces) started work two days before World Environment Day. SAPS focuses on preventing the abuse of public spaces by transforming them into beautiful art corners. K L Balasubramanian and M K Ramkumar, active members of TAKSRA, led a group of about 30 volunteers to…