EDITORS' PICK

As Uttarakhand gets set to elect a new state government, we bring you the first of a two-part series on the state’s urban development challenges and possible solutions Uttarakhand faces a major challenge to develop its cities and towns. In the coming years, urban pressures will increase manifold due to the upcoming Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor, the Char Dham all-weather road and other central projects. To prepare its cities and towns to face these challenges, political parties need to have manifestos and visions that include relevant and sustainable components of urbanization. Uttarakhand is one of the fastest urbanizing states in India.…

On January 10th, a 19-year-old teenager shared an incident of domestic violence in Mumbai on the city-based website Safecity, which encourages citizens to report all kinds of violence. “My friend has an abusive household where her mother was always beaten up. It hasn't changed and due to lockdown, things had gotten worse as they couldn't get out,” she said. Like her, many others have been reporting and sharing incidents of violence on the website. So far in 2022, over 20 citizens have reported domestic violence cases in Mumbai anonymously on Safecity. Indeed, domestic violence cases in Mumbai have risen. In the…

Every year, rains in Mumbai claim lives and leave behind destruction to infrastructure and the city’s economy. Excessive flooding in the city is only increasing. The 2021 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned us about rising sea levels in Mumbai in the coming years, and, towards the end of the century, the city is set to see a 4.6 degree celsius rise in mean temperatures.  In January 2022, the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) released a report on emerging trends of climate change in Western India. The report provides trends for western…

“I’m 94 years and six months old,” emphasises Kamakshi Subramaniyan, who is busy preparing for her election campaign. Yes, the nonagenarian has filed her nominations for the upcoming local body polls for the post of corporation councillor. She will be contesting from ward 174, comprised of Besant Nagar and Adyar areas of Chennai. Known fondly as Kamakshi paati among the locals of Chennai, she is also the co-founder of SPARK, a civic forum, started in 2012 with the aim of helping the citizens of the city to tackle civic problems. SPARK helps Chennaiites by guiding them in approaching the right…

In continuation to the charter of demands submitted to the MLA candidates before the Assembly Elections held last year we, the  members of Community Welfare Brigade, are submitting the following Charter of Demands to all the potential candidates who are participating in the Corporation Elections in 2022 on behalf of the Residents of Ward 71 in Zone 6. As a citizen engagement group we would like to build a clean, safe and secure model neighbourhood community. On civic infrastructure and encroachments The traffic density on Perambur High Road, Madhavaram High Road and Paper Mills Road has increased significantly over the…

On January 22nd, a healthy and flourishing peepal tree, approximately 100 years old, was chopped at Azad Road in Vile Parle East. Junior Tree Officer of K East ward, Mr. Pradip Jadhav, arrived at the spot at 9:30 am** with his team to cut the tree. At the sight of this, I asked the officials about permission they had been granted for the operation, and learnt that the notice was given four years ago in December 2017. The permission to cut, after objections, was given in November 2018. Because of it’s outdatedness, in a constrained manner, I requested the officers…

Residents of the NCR town of Ghaziabad, which is part of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, have learnt one important lesson in recent years. That public health is an issue that residents have to solve for themselves through their RWAs, or other people’s associations. There was a distant hope, in vain as it turned out, that the new budget would at least mention public health, especially in the poll bound states. Not surprisingly, even though polling in this assembly segment is on February 10th, no poll manifesto as yet has promised anything that will improve the environment for better health. Administered by…

Jacob D’Souza, 63, a resident of Matunga and a school bus operator for schools in Mumbai, once owned four buses and operated independent bus services in five neighbourhood schools in and around Sion Koliwada. Two years into the lockdown, he is left with just one bus and struggles to make ends meet with that. Within a year of the lockdown, financiers seized two of his buses for defaulting on loan repayment. “My buses were confiscated despite my sound credit record of paying all my dues on time,” said Jacob. “They didn't care that I had no income due to the…

Over the past  few years, especially after the December 2015 floods, we have seen varying figures  on the number of lakes being restored in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Greater Chennai Corporation, through the Chennai Smart Cities Limited has a goal of restoring  210 lakes, working with NGOs and other civic organisations who are also working on lake restoration independently. Much of these restoration efforts are volunteer-driven and typically involve clean ups, erecting fences and creating spaces for birds. Some restoration efforts also involve removal of encroachments, desilting, and reviving connecting channels.  As of June 2021, around 180 water bodies under…

It would be an understatement to say that humans are dependent on their electronic gadgets or devices. In this day and age of work from home and e-learning, where the pandemic has ensured that individuals and families spend most of their time within the four walls of their homes, it is safe to say that we’re all hooked on to some or the other electronic appliance, one way or the other. However, the question remains as to what happens to these electronic or electrical devices once their shelf lives are over? That is, when they have been reduced to 'e-waste'?…