GENRE: Explainers

Two days ago, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao tweeted that the number of traffic wardens in the city would be increased from 390 to 2500. He requested citizens to get in touch with their nearest traffic police stations to apply to be a warden. Traffic wardens are volunteers from diverse backgrounds who support the police in traffic management, especially as the city’s increasing vehicle numbers have put pressure on the latter. The wardens are part of the Traffic Warden Organisation (TWO) of Bengaluru City Police. Traffic wardens need to be on duty only 16 hours a month, but can do…

Translated by Sandhya Raju தமிழ்நாடு போக்குவரத்து கழகத்தின் தகவலின்படி சென்னையில் மட்டும் நாற்பது லட்சம் இரு சக்கர வாகனங்களும், எண்பத்தி எட்டு லட்ச கார்களும் உள்ளன. கடந்த பத்து ஆண்டுகளில் மட்டும் வாகனங்களின் எண்ணிக்கை பல மடங்கு உயர்ந்துள்ளது. இந்த எண்ணிக்கை உயர்வால் காற்று மாசு, நெருக்கடி மற்றும் சாலை விபத்துகள் அதிகரித்து உள்ளதை மறுக்க முடியாது. அதிகரித்து வரும் இந்த வாகன எண்ணிக்கை, தனியார் வாகன வசதியை உபயோகிக்கும் நிலையில் இல்லாதவர்கள் ஆகியவற்றை கருத்தில் கொண்டு  பொது போக்குவரத்து பயன்பாட்டை மேம்படுத்தவும், புது வகையான போக்குவரத்து முறைகளை அறிமுகப்படுத்தும் முயற்சிகளும் தொடர்ந்து நடைபெற்றே வருகின்றன. நடை பாதை பாதசாரிகள் மற்றும் மிதிவண்டி ஓட்டுபவர்களை கருத்தில் கொண்டு மோட்டரில்லா வாகனத்திற்கான போக்குவரத்து கொள்கையை சென்னை மாநகராட்சி தயாரித்துள்ளது. சென்னையில் பைக் பகிர்வு  கடந்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளில் நாட்டின் பல நகரங்களில் மிதிவண்டி பகிர்வு என்ற முயற்சி பரவலாகி வருகிறது. ஓலாவின்…

A study published in the Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, analyzing the cooling effect on the city of Ahmedabad’s water bodies, has thrown up some interesting findings. The east bank of the Sabarmati river, which flows through Ahmedabad, was found to be significantly cooler than the west bank, witnessing a greater drop in temperature even during summer. The study provides direct evidence of how water bodies affect temperature variations. The Sukhna lake in Chandigarh and the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad were taken up in the study, to assess the variations in microclimate near these water bodies. Urbanization has resulted in…

The last decade has seen an enormous growth in private vehicles in Chennai, with the city home to around 42 lakh two-wheelers and 88 lakh cars in the city according to data from the State Transport Department. The steady increase in number of vehicles has brought with it several problems such as congestion, air pollution and road accidents.  Waking up to the ballooning problems created by this explosion of vehicles as also the mobility needs of those who cannot afford private modes of transport, there have been efforts to improve public transport and add new modes for people to get…

Instances such as the arrest of Gaurav Dhamija  who made women deposit money into his account after promising an alliance with them, or the case of Balamurugan, an engineer residing in Germany,  who became a victim of a matrimonial scam  and came to know that his prospective partner Shruthi alias Mythili Venkatesh had cheated six men to the tune of several crores in connivance with her gang, are just a couple among many such that raise red flags about matrimonial sites flourishing in the country. They underline the fact that these can be, and are being rampantly used as platforms…

In the spirit of what Benjamin Franklin once said – “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released a draft notification on June 27 2019 seeking to place a mandate on packaged food companies to label high fat, high sugar and high salt content on the front of the package, using a traffic light signalling system. The overall objective is to let consumers make an informed choice. One of the most notable points in the draft rules relates to the Front-of-Pack (FoP) labelling; in particular, a ‘red-coloured’…

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the tussle between BBMP and state government on allowing advertisement hoardings in the city. Last year, the BBMP Council passed draft bye-laws that ban commercial hoardings. But the state government's UDD (Urban Development Department) recently framed its own Rules that allow hoardings. It's still unclear which of these laws would prevail. The High Court recently upheld the BBMP bye-laws at a PIL hearing, but the final judgement is pending in the case. And the UDD continues to insist on implementing its own Rules. In this part of the series, we look…

With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner, beautifully crafted Ganesh idols have begun to brighten up the streets of Chennai. Even though the colourful, plaster of Paris idols are visibly high in number, clay ones are in the market too. According to Kumudha R, a vendor at Mylapore market, the demand for clay idols has been increasing, thanks to the awareness generated on eco-friendly or 'green' festivals. “People have become more aware of the damage caused by Plaster of Paris idols. So they opt for mud ones,” says Kumudha.  The demand is evident from the increasing price of clay which…

In Part 1 of this series, I narrated how our citizen group surveyed 439 streetlights in Vasanth Nagar this June-July, and identified defective and missing lights. Using our data, we convinced BBMP to take action. BBMP has already fixed nearly half the defective streetlights here, and is expected to complete the rest in another fortnight. Given the condition of streetlights in many parts of Bengaluru, you may want to replicate the survey in your neighbourhood too. During the survey, you can map streetlights either on a Google Map online, or list the details manually in an Excel sheet. I prefer…

BBMP has, for the first time, drafted bye-laws on Solid Waste Management (SWM). Aiming towards complete waste segregation, the bye-laws define eight different streams of waste - wet, dry, sanitary, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, domestic hazardous, construction and demolition waste, and slaughterhouse waste. It defines specific strategies for processing each of these. The draft bye-laws also prescribe steep penalties for offences such as burning or not segregating waste, for violating the plastic ban, and so on. D Randeep, BBMP Additional Commissioner (SWM), says the penalties have been increased by five times. The bye-laws also have new provisions such as door-to-door collection of e-waste,…