EDITORS' PICK

This article is part of our special series Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change in Tier II cities supported by Climate Trends. Situated on the banks of river Ganga, Varanasi, India’s holiest city and the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came into limelight in 2015, when Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data highlighted that the city didn’t have even a single good air quality day that year. In fact, Varanasi is among the 43 critically polluted zones across the country. Not just air, its water quality is equally pathetic. Pollution indices in Varanasi have only got worse with time. In…

Nirmala Mary is the sole bread winner of her five-member family. Her husband is ill and her eldest son lost his job in the fallout of the COVID-19 economic crisis. A resident of S M Nagar slum near Chennai Central, she works at a government hospital and takes home Rs 11,000 per month. A majority of her income is spent on buying essential commodities and paying rent. In such a scenario, the skyrocketing prices of vegetables in the city has been the proverbial last straw. Not just Nirmala's, but low and middle income families across the city are struggling to balance…

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our present focus on Municipal Finance, we learnt about the sources of funds for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the strategies adopted by the civic body recently to increase the collection of property tax in the city.  Property tax is a complex subject. In 2018, citizens strongly opposed the property tax revision that was done after two decades. Why was this revision important? How is GCC meeting the increased expenditure needs (due to COVID-19 and Cyclone Nivar)?  We spoke to Deputy Commissioner (Revenue & Finance), Meghanath Reddy to understand more on the…

The cloudy skies in recent weeks had Vijaykumar Lokhande scurrying to his fields in Mhada taluka in Solapur district. A page layout artist in the city at normal times, he also does farming to supplement his earnings. “I grow pulses and millets like jowar in my five acres of land,” says Vijaykumar. “This year, I am growing tur dal and the excess rainfall helped tur. I have a job in Pune, so I decided to plant tur dal, which doesn’t require my daily presence”. Pune city gets its vegetables, pulses and milk supply from Mulshi, Solapur, Satara, Baramati, Kolhapur etc.…

Twelve-year-old Sarah vividly remembers the first stargazing trip her parents took her on, about 70 kilometers from Bengaluru, just for a glimpse of the comet Neowise. Her father, who proposed this outing, says, “When I was young, my parents would scoff at the idea of going this far just to look at the sky. Living in a city has snatched away such simple pleasures, and I had to make that effort for my little astronomer!” Stargazers aren't the only ones losing out due to the city lights. Studies all over the world have shown that long-term exposure to bright artificial…

Financially, 2020 has been a challenging year for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). COVID-19 has left the civic body cash-strapped as a major chunk of its funds were spent on conducting fever camps, arranging shelter homes and other mitigation measures.  Even as it was battling the COVID crisis, Chennai Corporation had to cope with Cyclone Nivar and needed hundreds of crores to set up relief centres in the low-lying areas. The expenses for the GCC have increased phenomenally, but the sources of funds remain the same. In an effort to increase revenue, the Corporation is banking on one of its…

A budget is a statement of accounts; it is an estimate of planned expenditure and receipts of the government or any organisation or a company in a particular period of time. And while this document really gives us the planned allocations and expected income of the local body, every financial year, citizens look at the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) budget to form an idea of the various new civic or infrastructure projects that the municipal government of the day is prioritising. But what are the sources of income for the Corporation and what are the various heads on which the…

Earlier this decade, ‘new political movements’ focusing on transparency and fighting corruption -- such as India Against Corruption -- were the flavour in many Indian cities. As Kerala goes into election mode with local bodies polls this week, several such movements at the local level have fielded independent candidates for city corporations and municipalities across the state. Most of these movements are new, some being formed in the last few months even, but are mostly helmed by those with some experience in social work or activism. These groups have for now avoided political affiliation, and consider themselves an alternative to…

Wide footpaths, bright street lights, a separate lane for cyclists, designated parking space and benches to relax on while shopping. The transformation of Thiyagaraya Road in Pondy Bazaar into a pedestrian plaza has redefined the shopping experience for many residents of Chennai.  For the first time ever in Chennai, a dedicated space was allocated for pedestrians for a hassle-free shopping experience in a commercial street. At this part of T Nagar, vehicle users and pedestrians now coexist without disturbing each other.  The pedestrian plaza was much needed for Pondy Bazaar, where citizens shop throughout the year. The changes envisaged as…

On the night of November 24th, a fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site in the capital, burning for over 24 hours till it could be brought under control and choking an already severely polluted city. As citizens coughed and struggled to breathe, we called Dr Ajay Nagpure, Head, Air Quality and Sustainable Urbanisation, World Resources Institute Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, and this is what he said: “The air pollution caused by gases emitted from the landfill affects the birth weight of children born to those residing in the vicinity of the landfill. Even child mortality will be very…