EDITORS' PICK

What started as a happy celebration ended in a terrible tragedy at ‘1 above’ restaurant located in the reputed Kamala Mills Complex, Mumbai on December 29, 2017. The fire that broke out at the resto-bar claimed the lives of 14 people and left several others injured. Since then, a spate of other fire accidents have been reported from Mumbai and cities across India, highlighting more often than not the alarming and abysmal state of fire safety preparedness in our cities. Fire accidents can happen anytime, anywhere. It was not too long ago that Chennaites witnessed the seven-storeyed building of The…

Chennai airport has been in the news for quite some time now. For those of us who regularly come through its portals, some of the news sounds almost comic. One of the articles in the dailies says Chennai airport is soon going to see Phase II of expansion, after which it will be like Singapore's Changi airport. Another said that there will be a tunnel to connect the passenger and cargo terminals that are proposed in Phase II.  The third report said that the airport is attempting a 10-day trial of operating the cross runway in order to increase the…

An open letter to Ananth Kumar, MP, Bengaluru South Dear Sir, Subject – Suburban Rail Service for Bengaluru I really do not know how to react to the recent press briefing (January 18, 2018) from Railway Minister Shri. Piyush Goyal with yet another announcement on ‘Suburban Rail Service’ for Bengaluru. I am appalled at your endorsement of such announcement with lofty ideas like ‘elevated tracks’, increased FAR etc. Is this announcement any better or unique from previous ones that have been made from time to time? Do you really believe that by this announcement Bengaluru City will be blessed with…

People in Jayanagar were panicked to see a three-storey building catching fire on Thursday, January 18th, 2018. Short circuit was said to be the reason, but there were no casualties. But a bar that caught fire in the first week of 2018 in the densely populated area of Kalasipalyam, Bengaluru, was not so lucky. Five people lost their lives in this case. Even as everybody with some authority in the city accused the other for being responsible for the tragedy, the issue of fire safety in the city is back in focus. So while the stakeholders of the city's administration…

Four days before the Bhogi festival, the state Environment Minister, K C Karupannan had flagged off an awareness campaign at the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) office in Guindy with a view to ensuring an improved post-Bhogi situation in the city. “Auto rickshaws sounded a recorded message over microphones as they plied across the city, warning citizens against the hazardous pollution created by festival practices. We sensitised people in all the fifteen zones in Chennai,” said a spokesperson from the TNPCB. But all claims by the TNPCB came to nought on Bhogi day when thick smoke engulfed the city,…

The Mayor of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike recently announced a scheme to crush the waste and flush it to sewage drains. Activists and solid waste management enthusiasts are opposing it and petitions are floating around. Why? Not without solid reason. Here is a list of all that is wrong with 'crush-and-flush' approach. 1. It will waste a lot of fresh water for flushing. Each kitchen will need between 10-20 litres of extra fresh water every day to flush down the pulverized food. This is like having four extra full flushes in your toilet, on daily basis! Already Bengaluru has acute…

You see a homeless person on the street, who might be of any age or gender. You want to help them. So what do you do? First things first. Talk. Find out if the vagrant is really homeless, and doesn’t have a shelter. The seemingly homeless person might be an alcoholic who is out for a stroll, or might just decide that it’s a good prank to play for a while! If you find that the homeless person really does not have a home, then you need to begin to see how you can help. What do you talk, and…

Despite five years of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court and hundreds of court orders, Bengaluru is way behind several other cities in the country in managing its garbage and is living up to the epithet it has earned: ‘garbage city’.   Except for a few wards where some good work may be happening, one hardly sees any change on the ground in most areas. In the meantime, several other cities have moved far ahead of Bengaluru in managing their waste. No wonder Bengaluru fell to a position below 200th in the Swachh Bharat Survekshan last…

Let's face it. There's no way you can be sure that the organic food that you bought from the store was genuinely grown organically, unless and until you yourself have produced it. I say this because genuine organic food can only be produced by natural farming practices. Natural farming, again, isn't possible without an  integrated farm and the very few integrated farms that we find cater mostly for self consumption by the producer. When food is grown for commercial purposes, it is easier to produce, process and transport a single item in large quantities, than to manage 10 different items…

A parking area with neatly parked vehicles, a reception area to welcome visitors, a waiting room and canned drinking-water. Hold on, this is not a resort or restaurant, but a local police station in Namma Chennai! The K4 Police Station on Third Avenue in Anna Nagar does catch your attention with its infrastructure and facilities, but it is not just that which makes it distinct. At the inauguration of the three-day All-India Conference of Director Generals / Inspector Generals of Police on January 7th, the K4 Police Station won fifth place among the 14850 stations in the country ranked for…