GENRE: Explainers

Every evening, A M Aravind, a birdwatcher in Madipakkam, ensures he spends at least an hour hanging around his balcony or terrace. The lockdown may have temporarily halted many of his regular activities, but not his bird watching hobby. Though he could not travel to the woodland edges or the marshes, Aravind has spotted over 35 species in his neighbourhood habitat over the past three months.  Like Aravind, many city residents have taken to balcony birding or backyard birding this season, to enjoy a break from the mundane routine of the lockdown. The high-pitched, loud and persistent calls of the…

Many lakes in Bengaluru, such as Kaikondrahalli, Kasavanahalli and Kalkere lakes, have foamed before. But the quantity of foam in Varthur and Bellandur lakes are alarmingly high.  In our previous article, we saw that fire occurs in Bellandur and Varthur lakes mainly because about 40% of the city's sewage is discharged into the catchment areas of these lakes. Apart from sewage, industrial effluents and solid waste are also dumped into these lakes. In some circumstances, this can cause the formation of foam. Foam in both Bellandur and Varthur lakes usually form during the pre-monsoon and monsoon season, when there are heavy…

After New Delhi, Chennai got its first plasma bank at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on July 22nd at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore. While a vaccine for COVID is still in the works and a proven cure for COVID remains elusive, convalescent plasma therapy has yielded some positive results in cases, although clinical trials of the same are still underway.  But, what is convalescent plasma therapy? How does a plasma bank work? Who can donate plasma, and where in our city can it be done? We attempt to address these and other common queries from citizens…

Home quarantine is often not possible in low-income settlements. Pic: Raghav Indra The state government and BBMP have been prescribing preventive measures ever since COVID-19 cases started to be reported in Bengaluru. But for the city's low-income communities, these are nearly impossible to follow. For example, you can't wash your hands regularly if you don't have regular piped water supply, or practise social distancing in a densely-populated slum. As the city's health system is overwhelmed, those living in slums are left without basic support. Residents who had come in contact with COVID-positive persons are unable to even self-quarantine due to…

We are a regular Mumbaikar working-couple and spend a big part of our everyday life between work and commute. The rising levels of pollution we were experiencing in a mega-city like Mumbai always bothered us. Urban pollution, as well as the threat to contamination of natural resources, is a global problem, and in a developing country like ours, the municipal land-fills stand out on this front. We knew about the Deonar dumping ground fire in 2017 and the accompanying air pollution. This could have been avoided if, as a city, we knew how to better manage the volume of waste…

Pregnancy is a tumultuous time for any woman. The mixed bag of emotions can be daunting and exciting in equal measure. But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overriding emotion in mothers-to-be has been one of anxiety rather than happiness.  The world may have come to a screeching halt, as it is battles the COVID-19 pandemic. But even in epicentres, children are being born. Because life always finds a way. But there are many questions are making life difficult for new mothers and mothers-to-be: What are your chances of infection?How do you avoid getting infected?What can you do to…

On March 9, Bengaluru reported its first COVID case, that of a software engineer with travel history to the US. Since then, the state government and BBMP have taken aggressive measures to contain virus spread. The Centre even recognised Bengaluru as a model city in COVID management. But since mid-June, the number of cases have rocketed, and now we are back to having another lockdown. What transpired between one case on March 9 to over 22,000 cases now? Here's a timeline of COVID cases in Bengaluru, and how the government has tried to tackle it. *Data is of Bengaluru Urban…

Translated by Madhusudhan Rao ಜೂನ್ 28 ರಿಂದ ಜುಲೈ 5 ರ ನಡುವಿನ ವಾರದಲ್ಲಿ, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಕೋವಿಡ್-19 ಎಣಿಕೆ 7240 ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ಪಟ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿದೆ. ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳ ಪ್ರವಾಹ ನಗರದ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹೊರೆಯಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಅಸ್ವಸ್ಥರು ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯ ಹಾಸಿಗೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅಥವಾ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆಯನ್ನು ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಪಡೆಯದಿರುವ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅನೇಕ ವರದಿಗಳು ಬಂದಿವೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಕೋವಿಡ್-ಪಾಸಿಟಿವ್ ಆದರೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗರು ಏನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಭಯ ಮತ್ತು ಗೊಂದಲ ಉಂಟಾಗಿದೆ. “ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಗಿಂತ ಅದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಭಯ-ಭೀತಿಯೇ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅಪಾಯಕಾರಿ. ಎಲ್ಲಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮುಂಚೆ ನಾವು ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಗಮನ ಕೊಡಬೇಕು” ಎಂದು ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ (ಇಂಡಿಯನ್ ಇನ್ಸ್ಟಿಟ್ಯೂಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಪಬ್ಲಿಕ್ ಹೆಲ್ತ್) ಸಾಂಕ್ರಾಮಿಕ ರೋಗಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಮುಖ್ಯಸ್ಥರೂ, ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರೂ ಆದ ಡಾ.ಗಿರಿಧರ ಆರ್ ಬಾಬು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಡಾ.ಗಿರಿಧರ್ ಅವರು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಕೋವಿಡ್ ತಜ್ಞರ ಸಮಿತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಐಸಿಎಂಆರ್ ನ ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಪಡೆಗಳ ಸದಸ್ಯರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ.…

Translated by Sandhya Raju சுமார் 25,000 பேருக்கு தொற்று உள்ள நிலையில், சென்னை நகரம் இன்னும் தொற்றின் பிடியிலிருந்து சற்றும் குறையவில்லை. அதிக நபர்களுக்கு தொற்று ஏற்பட்டுள்ள நிலையில், எங்கு பரிசோதனை செய்வது, சரியான மருத்துவமனையை தேர்ந்தேடுப்பது ஆகிய அடிப்படை விஷயங்கள் குறித்த புரிதல் இன்னும் பலருக்கு இல்லை. இதன் விளைவாக பரிசோதனை முடிவில் தொற்று உறுதியானால், அடிப்படை விஷயங்களை பற்றி சரியான புரிதல் இல்லாததால் அவருக்கும் அவர் குடும்பத்தாருக்கும் பயத்தை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது. “சென்னையில் கோவிட்-19 தொற்றால் ஏற்படும் மரணத்திற்கு பெரும்பாலும் சரியான நேரத்தில் சிகிச்சை அளிக்கப்படாததே காரணம். தொற்று அறிகுறியை அறிந்து தாமதிக்காமல் சிகிச்சை எடுத்துக்கொள்வது இந்த நேரத்தில் மிக அவசியம்" என்கிறார் ஸ்டான்லி மருத்துவமனையின் மருத்துவ கண்காணிப்பாளர் டாக்டர் கே. தனசேகரன். உங்களுக்கு தொற்று ஏற்பட நேரிட்டால், கிருமி மற்றும் நோய் குறித்து சரியான தகவலை அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய அவசியம் கருதி, உங்களுக்கு உதவும் வகையில்…

Since the recent surge in COVID-positive cases, Bengaluru's health infrastructure has been overburdened. There are several reports of government agencies' delayed response and of patients not finding hospital beds in time. Vikram Rai, a member of the governing council of Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF), says, "The response from the BBMP is more and more delayed as the number of cases rises. Sometimes, it can take up to 2-3 days." BAF is an association of over 750 RWAs and AOAs (Apartment Owners Associations) in the city. So, when an apartment resident tests positive now, the onus of first response often falls…