GENRE: Explainers

Recently, the citizens' movement CfB (Citizens for Bengaluru) presented the Corporator #1 awards to the BBMP councillors who had attended the most ward committee meetings. If you are convinced that ward committee is an effective mechanism to engage with the government, this articles gives some pointers for you to get started. Bengaluru's governance is what it is due to decades of apathy and lack of active citizen participation. There are no instant fixes, but things can be improved if committed citizens come together and work on the ground with a clear action plan. The good news is, there are many…

Four months after the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) initiated serious action on waste reduction and management in the city, the civic body is beginning to see the results. According to statistics obtained from Chennai Corporation, the daily average of garbage collected in Chennai has fallen from 5098 Metric Tonnes (MT) in March to 4493 MT in June, a reduction of 605 MT. In other words, Chennai Corporation is stopping an average of 18000 MT of waste from reaching the already burdened landfills of Perungudi and Kodungaiyur every month. Roadmap to reduction Here are the five steps being followed by Chennai Corporation…

Media, political cadre and scores of citizens were present at the Villivakkam railway yard on Friday morning, as the special train from Jolarpettai, carrying 2.5 million litres of water chugged in. The fact that the water train, festooned with flowers, was welcomed by hordes of people, underlines the magnitude of water scarcity in Chennai and the desperation with which citizens are looking for solutions. The train is at the centre of focus also because this is the first time in the past 18 years that Chennai has transported water.  But how will a trainload of water quench the thirst of…

Ward committees bring democracy to your doorstep, and give you a say in the planning and management of local work. The Nagarpalika Act, 1992, a central law, made ward committees mandatory for large cities. But this was not implemented in Bengaluru for long. It took years of citizen campaigning for ward committees to be formed at all. More recently, the High Court judgement in a PIL by the NGO Environment Support Group, and public outcry, compelled the Bengaluru Mayor to issue a direction to compulsorily hold ward committee meetings on the first Saturday of every month. Following this, the BBMP…

Chennai Corporation is always on a footpath laying spree, in a purported attempt to make our roads more accessible for pedestrians. One or the other arterial road gets a new footpath every year. But, it is also a reality that our footpaths, built with crores of investment, are not friendly to the end-users: they are either too narrow or riddled with tree stumps, encroached by parked and speeding two-wheelers, EB cables and whatnot. To add to the woes, the Corporation has recently started digging up relatively new, properly laid footpaths to construct a sewer line or a stormwater drain.  Scenarios…

Multi-storied apartments are everywhere, dotting the skyline in our cities. Ground plus 19 is the norm rather than the exception. As apartment dwellers everywhere are finding out this summer, water is a major challenge to manage, with the city running scarce to supply this resource. If you are a new buyer, it would be wise to ask the following questions from the builder before you make that investment of a crore or more. This is a simple checklist: What are the sources of water for the flat especially in summer? Bore wells are simply unable to supply water when densities…

One of the pet peeves of residents in cities is the overnight digging up of freshly laid or previously serviceable roads for various utilities. The exercise almost always leaves the citizen frustrated as she suddenly wakes up to uneven roads, potholes and dangerously elevated pothole covers. Not only is a perfectly navigable road rendered dangerous and unusable, in many cases the people are unable to ever properly get these roads fixed. What can you do if this happens to your street? But before you come to that, it is important to know what the rules say. Permissions for road cuts  …

Air pollution is now the leading cause of death in India. It accounts for 1.2 million deaths, more than the number of people killed by malaria, smoking or road accidents. Last year, a study by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) found that Bengaluru topped the list of major polluting cities in India. More recently, measurements of pollution level using hand-held devices show that particulate matter pollution levels in many places in Bengaluru are substantially higher than the levels in Beijing, China and yes, even New Delhi.  More alarmingly, pollution levels in Bengaluru are expected to skyrocket over the next…

Thick Avocado milkshake, Red wine from paneer grapes, different varieties of mango and Kiwi -- exotic fruits are never in short supply in our cities these days. But have you ever wondered where these fruits are grown? Has it ever occurred to you that the Lichi you eat may have come all the way from China to our very own Koyambedu market? That there are three varieties of grapes grown in different parts of Tamil Nadu itself? The era of globalisation has seen an explosion of various foods available in urban markets, but most consumers are unaware of the origin…