EDITORS' PICK

Mayor R Priya presented the budget for the Greater Chennai Corporation on April 9th. The budget has placed heavy emphasis on upgrades to and creation of new infrastructure, with focus on stormwater drains. The budget also looks to improve the state of schools run by the civic body and improve the quality of education and activities on offer through various new schemes.  The civic body’s expected revenue is Rs 2824 crore while the expected expenditure is Rs 3613 crore. Bulk of the revenue is to come from Rs 800 crore to be collected as property tax.  What is in store…

The time it takes to cut a tree is insignificant when compared to the time it takes to grow a tree. The cost, however, is disproportionate. Years of generating oxygen, cooling the atmosphere, providing a home to birds and insects, reducing pollution and flooding is lost in a matter of a few hours. There is a lot at stake with each tree. The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, understands this, providing strict guidelines for the trimming or cutting of trees in urban areas of the state, like Mumbai. Only the Tree Authority - a body…

As the summer intensifies across Chennai, the demand for water is also set to be on the rise. While some areas see residents rely on municipal water supply alone, others rely on purchasing from tankers or by digging or deepening borewell connections.  While residents use various means to meet their water needs, it is important to be aware of the proper procedure to follow while carrying out activities such as borewell digging or deepening. Callousness in this regard can not only affect the resident but also have an impact on the larger neighbourhood.  A recent incident in my neighbourhood has…

This first of a two-part series looks at the new Parliament Act merging Delhi’s three corporations into one all-powerful Delhi Municipal Corporation. For Delhi’s citizens, the hope is that creation of one omnibus municipal corporation for Delhi will improve the quality of services provided. For all those employed by the municipal corporations in different segments and capacities, from  teachers and sanitation workers to doctors, nurses and health workers, to name a few, the hope is that they may at last get their salaries, arrears and pensions which the present trifurcated MCDs have been unable to pay. Not surprisingly, all sections…

Shanti Nagar is a popular shopping destination in Mira Road, a suburb just north of Mumbai. Shops and hawkers line both sides of the narrow lane, selling all manner of goods including clothes, shoes, utensils, bedsheets, jewellery, etc. Inevitably, a crowd gathers in the area every evening. But on Mondays, this equation shifts. Mondays are for the 'Monday market'. Since most of the shops are closed for their weekly day off, a wave of Monday-only hawkers descend on the street in the evening. They spread their goods on the porches of shuttered shops and in front of footpaths. Their biggest…

At 8 AM Sunday, on February 6*, 2022, about 150 people congregated at the Khajaguda Cave Trail in Hyderabad. Among them were young scientists, engineers, IT professionals and artists. There were young couples, grandparents and children. There were adventure sport enthusiasts and bird watchers. Most of them had never met each other except through social media. Very few considered themselves activists. Yet, this was no casual social occasion. They were agitated. They had a hunch that they were witnessing something horrifying: a mound of dirt the size of two football grounds and some twenty feet high, that had been created…

Access to public transport for people with disabilities has been a long standing issue often swept under the rug by the state government and the transport corporations. While the term 'disabled-friendly' has become a popular buzzword in various schemes, campaigns and budgetary promises, activists and citizens have pointed out how there is very little effort to really make public infrastructure accessible, safe and considerate for disabled individuals. The Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) is a coalition of independent, community-based organisations that advocate with and for people with any disability. One of their members filed a PIL highlighting the inaccessibility of the…

While COVID-19 virtually shut down bus systems around the world, Chennai started losing its appetite for bus travel even earlier. The share of bus trips in total travel had started dropping before the pandemic, with a marked shift to two-wheelers. The pandemic made things worse. Bus services were off for 8 days in 2019-2020, 141 days in 2020-2021 and 42 – 56 days in 2021-2022. Now, shooting fuel prices and a waning fear of the virus present an opportunity to win back passengers to MTC buses, which can save them petrol money and fund purchase of other goods and services.…

Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city and its suburbs. One of the richest municipal corporations in Asia, its budget is bigger than some of the smaller states in India. For 2022, the civic budget is Rs 45949.21, a 17.70% jump from the previous year. With such a large budget and population to cater to, we must be aware of how our tax money is spent and communicate our expectations to the municipal corporation. Active citizen participation is the foundation of democracy.  Read more: Understanding Mumbai’s municipal corporation Why a…

The once iconic Palika Bazar at the centre of Delhi’s Connaught Place area has now earned a dubious distinction: Being classified among India’s five Notorious Markets List (NML) in the US Trade Representative list of such markets. Notorious being an euphemism for selling “counterfeit and pirated” goods. “It may have been so in 2007-08 but not now,” said Vinay Thakur, General Secretary of Palika Bazar Association. “We sell electronic items like headphones, torches, hair dryers, lights, lipsticks and emergency lights and they are mostly Chinese. We are retailers and sell whatever we get”. Most visitors to the market are youngsters…