EVENTS

“It is a lack of (institutional) capacity which is leading to public woes on water. We are not in a position to give you quality services because of two things - one, manpower, and two, finances," said BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Sustainable, Equitable Access to Water’. Girinath explained that BWSSB has been experiencing a severe workforce crunch, its staff numbers woefully inadequate for carrying out the Board’s mandate effectively. Comparing BWSSB’s workforce with that of Delhi Jal Board, he noted that the latter employed 33,000 people (including regular and outsourced employees) for a population…

Bengaluru is rapidly losing its groundwater. The city’s water bodies have shrunk, to give way to buildings and infrastructure projects. Come summer and Bengalureans can be seen obsessively discussing water, or rather the lack of it. Though rains bring momentary relief, what about the long-term demand? Access to water is a human right - how can we provide every citizen with enough water for their needs, at a price they can afford? Little has been done to find local solutions. Rainwater harvesting had been implemented in just 1.2 lakh buildings as of May 2019, according to the BWSSB. Meanwhile, big…

Residents and citizen groups of Mahadevapura assembly constituency will stage a protest on Friday 9.30 am, at the Marathahalli Bridge bus stop. The #MahdevapuraDemands protest is called against elected representatives of the constituency for failing to deliver on the promises they had made on restoring civic amenities and making the area liveable. Resignation of elected representatives is one of the main demands of the protestors. The representatives here are Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali, Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, BBMP corporators A C Hari Prasad (Hoodi), B N Nithish Purushotham (Garudachar Palya), S Muniswamy (Kadugodi), S Uday Kumar (Hagadur), Shwetha…

Daan Utsav, one of the largest volunteer driven philanthropic initiatives across the country is back this week between October 2 - 8. With events, drives and activities helmed by NGOs, individuals and corporate houses, the week-long effort brings together people from all walks and provides an opportunity to improve the lives of the less fortunate.  Chennai will see a variety of activities as part of Daan Utsav, where citizens can contribute their time through volunteering or provide financial support for various causes. Gift a meal No Food Waste, an NGO working to address the twin issues of hunger and food…

The Garments and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) staged a protest on 12th September, to oppose the apathetic attitude of the government and the factory owners. The protest, held in front of the Labour Department office at Dairy Circle, highlighted the inordinate delay in the fixing of minimum wages in the garment industry. It also pointed to the discrimination towards garment workers by the minimum wages committee, which had recommended extremely low wages. The Karnataka garments industry employs 3.5-4 lakh workers, and 85 percent of the workforce is female. These workers manufacture textiles for international brands and export them, earning substantial…

Did you know Crazy Mohan and Kamal Haasan met for the first time in a cemetery at St Mary's Road?  Can you even imagine that the Tamil Nadu capital had freezing temperatures during summer in 1815 due to weather changes that happened after Mount Tambora erupted in distant Indonesia? Only five localities in Chennai have a conducive environment for sparrows.  An establishment in Ebrahim Sahib street prints the cardboard tickets once used for travel and they are shutting down soon.  These are just the some of the facts around which questions were posed to participants in a quiz conducted recently…

Globally, air pollution reduces life expectancy by one year and eight months, on average. This loss ranks just below smoking, but above unsafe drinking water and lung cancer (State of Global Air report, 2019). Emissions from increasing vehicular population, and residential and commercial activities, are polluting even the air far from the source, and affecting the health of millions of people. Lack of scientific methods to assess pollution, inadequate data and analysis have further hampered policy efforts to improve air quality in Indian cities. The Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), a leading research-based Indian think tank,…

"What is the budget allocated to my ward? How many roads will get relaid this year in my area? This waterbody in my ward needs to be desilted, can we add it to the works" I could rightfully ask these questions and give my suggestions for my area said Charu, Raji, Meera, Sakthi and Jothi, the members of Voice of People. But how? As we celebrated this August 15th, our 73rd Independence day, maybe it is time we got into the spirit of what independence truly is. We are continuing in this journey as passive bystanders, appalled at the quality…

There we go again, asking everyone to celebrate Chennai, for Madras Week is just around the corner (August 18-25, 2019). The cynics we are sure, must be already practising their counter chorus beginning with the usual litany – Chennai was not founded in 1639, the weather here is uniformly bad, there is a perennial water crisis, the roads are terrible, the civic body inactive and the traffic chaotic. To all of this we agree in toto but these in our view do not in any way detract from the fact that there are several aspects to Chennai that are sufficient…

To enhance awareness on road safety and emerge as an accident-free nation, Thozan, a city-based NGO, along with 108 ambulance services, conducted an awareness campaign across 73 parks in Chennai on Sunday, August 4th. The aim of this drive was to spread awareness among the public about road safety, the Good Samaritan law and first aid. This awareness drive was conducted to commemorate the 73rd year of India's independence. Answering questions in Lok Sabha on July 11 2019, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways placed on record India's dubious record on road safety. The Global Status Report on Road…