GENRE: Features

Any initiative for last-mile connectivity has to be safe, reliable and cost-effective. One of the most promising ideas to come up in recent months that satisfies these requirements is electric-autos (E-autos). Last-mile connectivity has always been an issue that all public transport entities, especially metro and bus systems, have to deal with. Bengaluru metro, for instance, with its extension to Kengeri and Anjanapura, now has a total of 51 metro stations which require last mile connectivity. An issue that will only become more widespread as the metro expands to other areas.  Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC), which handles the city’s…

This January, as part of a larger programme to make all bus travel free, Boston city set aside eight million dollars to introduce free bus travel on certain routes. Making bus travel free was first tried out in US in the 1970s. The idea caught on and by 2017, 96 such programmes have been recorded globally. In India, Delhi has presently made free bus travel free for women. Can Bengaluru think along similar lines? The city's bus network BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) currently has among the highest fares in the country, making it unaffordable to many. Besides, the city…

In the early hours of Sunday, a group of photographers were seen walking through the streets of Kannagi Nagar. This was an uncommon sight in the otherwise neglected resettlement colony located in the outskirts of the city. “It is a good spot to explore street photography,” said K Aishwarya, a resident of Anna Nagar who visited Kannagi Nagar for the first time as part of the photo walk. So, what made Kannagi Nagar a sudden spot of attraction for these photographers? The answer lies in the colourful murals that adorn the walls of what has been dubbed as Chennai’s first…

With life returning back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic in Mumbai, reel life is not far behind, as production sets are opening. Apart from ensuring a steady stream of entertainment options, this has come as a relief for the 5 lakh+ cine workers in Mumbai. Their livelihoods, already marked by the instability of daily wage labour, were sent for a lurch multiple times during the pandemic years. At an ad shoot in April, the art team is the first to arrive on the set, armed with the task of building it up according to the brief. Guddu Gupta (pictured…

Bengaluru's ward committees have been chaired by nodal officers appointed on a temporary basis by the BBMP ever since the last Council's term ended in September 2020. They were mostly senior municipal officials who happened to reside in that particular ward. Before this temporary arrangement, formal ward committee included 10 citizens nominated from the ward, and were mandated to meet twice a month. Chaired by the elected ward councillor and attended by ward officials, these meetings were supposed to decide on ward-level budget, plan, prioritise and monitor works. Now, there are no formal ward committees, but nodal officers chair the…

In 2020, a nationwide study, State of India's Birds, found that Maharashtra's bird population had reduced by 85% due to developmental projects that were affecting wetlands and openlands. Sunjoy Monga, a naturalist, suggested that openlands - that include grasslands and scrublands - are wrongly categorised as wastelands by the State. Concrete buildings and entertainment zones are built over them, directly influencing biodiversity in the area.  "The same trend applies to wetlands, which are highly susceptible to the activities of the land mafia, builders, lobbies and encroachers in general," he was quoted as telling The Times of India. Sunjoy has been organising an annual Bird…

Mumbai is rife with markers of its colonial past. One building emblematic of the British architecture, which we frequently come upon in South Bombay, is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) building.  In 2021, this building was opened to the public for the first time in over a century, inviting the public to explore where the city is run from. We are guided through the building's architectural history and the foundation of the municipal corporation through a tour held every weekend by the heritage foundation Khaki Tours, in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).  Built in 1893, the building was designed…

Chin-Chin is 46 years old and neurodivergent. To her and her family, a simple restaurant visit can be an arduous journey navigating through an inhospitable space. The lights are too bright, the chairs are hard-edged, and there is too much happening all the time. It’s almost as if she’s been dropped in the middle of a battlefield with all the bullets aimed at her. Chin-Chin’s story isn’t unique. Both children and adults who are neurodivergent, or to use the medical term in the ‘neurodivergent spectrum’, experience a world designed for the neuro-typical in a very different way. “When I take…

Mohammed Irshad, a garment worker in Dharavi, recalls being gripped by the fear of policemen lathi-charging him when he would step out in search of odd jobs during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. His garment unit was shut down. He wasn’t the only one, and many workers were suddenly faced with a crisis that appeared to have no solution ahead. Laxmi Kamble, co-ordinator with Acorn Foundation, which distributed food and ration kits during the lockdown, recalls the humiliation, desperation and embarrassment faced by workers, who were suddenly stuck with no tiffin service or hotels, no vessels to make food and no…

Nasreen and Minara (names changed) are both five months pregnant. The two women live in Bengaluru’s Kundalahalli slum colony with other migrant workers from West Bengal. Nasreen moved to the city around seven years ago. Minara is a recent arrival, having shifted with her husband shortly after their marriage eight months back. Now, Nasreen works as a cook for multiple houses in a residential complex. Nisara is a homemaker. The pandemic and its aftermath have seen little change for the better for pregnant mothers like Nasreen, expecting her third child and Minara, pregnant with her first. Nasreen told this writer…