EDITORS' PICK

A ritual from my childhood involved going to a local co-operative store at the end of every month with my father. Buying and storing groceries, which would last the month or even the year, was the norm of the time. But consumption patterns are getting transformed — a part of a larger, systemic change. Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), one of India’s largest co-operative consumer organisations has not escaped the effects of this change. “There is a significant change both in terms of the number of members and the number of goods ordered,” says Advocate Shrish Despande, the Chairperson of MGP. Both…

Part 1 of the series explained Bescom's responsibilities in terms of preventing accidents, and what citizens can do if they see a safety hazard.  Part 2 looks at what you can do if you suffer injury/property damage.  What happens in case of an accident? After any electrical accident, its cause is investigated by a separate department - the Department of Electrical Inspectorate under the Energy ministry. This department submits a report to the government, with a copy to Bescom. Additionally, Bescom has a committee, comprising a retired judge and a retired engineer, that visits the accident site, gathers information from…

Last October, 23-year-old Soundharya and her nine-month-old daughter lost their lives to electrocution by a Bescom live wire in Hope Farm, Whitefield. In August, a Christ University student was burned by a live wire from an electric pole that fell when a vehicle accidentally pulled on an OFC illegally put up on the pole. What are Bescom's responsibilities in terms of preventing accidents? And what can you, as a citizen, do if you see a safety hazard, or if you suffer injury/property damage? Here is a guide. According to data Bescom shared with this reporter, 134 people died in Bescom-related…

There is a flurry of activity in my house. Furniture is rearranged to make space. Glasses of chilled nimbu pani are kept ready, and everyone waits for the familiar brown truck to come to the gate of the building. Things move quickly with its arrival. Men jump out of it and carry huge, blue plastic tubs filled with goods ranging from pulses to stationery to utensils, up to our house. The goods are checked against a list, the lemonade consumed, and the truck and these grocery Santa Clauses have moved on to their next destination. History of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat…

'Slow motion Bhopal' — this was the title of the public hearing held recently to hear grievances of Ennore residents after the ammonia gas leak incident. As the title rightly points out, the episode was reminiscent of the horrors that people endured in the Bhopal gas tragedy. In the wee hours of December 27, residents in several areas around Ennore rushed out of their homes gasping for breath. Many complained of irritation in their eyes and throat, while some had blood oozing out of their nose. Few others, especially the elderly, fainted on the streets. All this happened after ammonia…

Marcus is a trans man pursuing a master’s degree in sports management from IISM, Mumbai. As a member of the transgender community, Marcus welcomes the state government's decision to provide free higher education to transgender students in public universities in Maharashtra and in affiliated colleges. "This will be effective because a lot of trans people also come from the lower economic strata. Unfortunately, they have to leave their households early on because their parents don’t approve of their identity. They have to either manage their studies or drop out,” says Marcus. Policy's inclusivity objective On December 5th, at a meeting…

Here is the deal with water and Bengaluru, and it makes no sense. We have had a year of poor rainfall and there is water shortage. Our reservoirs are running low, and our groundwater is already over-exploited. We have had a rainfall deficit. Also, overall, the city is experiencing much more rainfall. And, every time it pours, it floods. But when there is no rain, we start needing tankers. We are the land of lakes and the land of lost wastewater potential. By now my editor will be groaning, so I will stop. But to make sense of my stream…

On the afternoon of 26 November, 2023 a group of about 50 people gathered for a unique meeting at tribal activist Prakash Bhoir’s house at Mumbai’s Aarey forest. Members shared anecdotes, recalled incidents as they came together to commemorate their nine-year-long fight to save Aarey forest from concrete urban projects, especially the 33 hectare-Metro 3 car shed.  Dafli in hand, Prakash, a prominent tribal face from Mumbai now, sang a song he wrote on Aarey. He recalled the night of October 4, 2019, when his wife Pramila Bhoir was arrested for opposing the massive tree cutting.  “We were just going…

The basic necessities of democracy are timely elections, as well as formation and continuance of an elected government without any delays or truncated tenures. The idea of 'one nation, one election' has caught the attention of the people as the Government of India wants to adopt a policy of simultaneous elections across the country. It has formed a high level committee (HLC), headed by the former president of India, Ram Nath Kovind, to examine the matter comprehensively and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, the state Legislative Assemblies, the Municipalities and the Gram Panchayats. Even though…

As autumn creeps in and festival season begins, the quality of air in our cities grows murkier than usual. And then, as we move towards winter, the situation only becomes progressively worse. The air pollution menace in urban India is probably the greatest threat to health and well-being of the people as things stand. According to a 2021 study, unsafe levels of PM2.5 lead to approximately four million premature deaths annually, across the globe. Of this, 25% occur in India. And contrary to what many might deduce from the usual talk around air pollution, it is not only the large…