GENRE: In Focus

In September, Rabiya HM found herself dialling the railway police helpline, 139, during her 60-kilometre daily commute on Chennai's Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). "At Park Station, a stranger was keeping an eye on me, and when I boarded the ladies' compartment, he followed me onto the next compartment, kept staring, and got off at every station," says the 28-year-old IT employee. Her calls did not go through until Taramani and the mandated police personnel were absent for over an hour. Eventually, Rabiya’s co-passengers intervened and forced the man to deboard. Rabiya’s experience is an everyday reality rather than the…

On September 6, a five-storey boys' Paying Guest (PG) accommodation collapsed in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University's South Campus, leaving seven people dead. This video looks beyond the single building to ask how the neighbourhood reached this point. Delhi has had a formal planning system since the DDA was set up in 1957 and the first Master Plan followed in 1962. Yet Satya Niketan has grown into a dense student housing hub. Officials say the collapsed building had permission for only the ground plus first floors. Ayush Anilal, an architect, studied the area for his thesis. He explains how intensely…

Bengaluru boasts one of the world's largest networks of decentralised sewage treatment plants (STPs). Yet, certificates of compliance are routinely issued without continuous monitoring, and much of the water treated on-site is never reused. In Part 1 of this series, we explored case studies of how three different apartment complexes navigate these issues. Missing pipelines, no buyers, and low trust in recycled water: the reasons why treated water has nowhere to go are numerous. In this second part, we examine these hurdles and what it will take to convert wastewater into a vital resource. Apartment residents often blame builder or…

In a 400-unit apartment complex in Jakkur, about one-third of treated water is being dumped into a nearby stormwater drain. While National Building Code (NBC) guidelines mandate that a building must have a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with a capacity of 210 to 290 Kilolitres per day (KLD), this apartment actually has an STP with around 300 KLD capacity. A resident of the complex, who requested anonymity, said that despite conducting audits, regularly monitoring water quality, and installing aerators, the apartment still struggles to reuse 100 per cent of its treated water. This is not an isolated case. In a…

Every afternoon around 2 pm when school ends, nine-year-old Rian looks forward to playing basketball. The neighbourhood park near his home does not have a basketball hoop, so he often uses a tree as an imaginary net. A few months ago, his doctor advised his mother, Geeta Kohli, to ensure he plays daily to help manage his childhood obesity. However, during Delhi’s unforgiving summers, the heat often disrupts this routine.  Rian's tuition classes start at 5.30 pm and in the afternoon, the outdoor temperature hovers around 45 degrees Celsius, making it difficult to go out and play. By the time…

On hot summer afternoons in the western part of Chennai, while many adults retreat indoors, a group of children are out on the streets with thermo-hygrometers, fluke instruments, notebooks and pens. They record heat and humidity at different times of the day, surveying residents about their experiences and identifying how heat is distributed across their locality. Trained through a joint initiative by the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG)'s Youth Climate Resilience Movement and the Pudiyador Learning Centre, children in Ramapuram are monitoring hyperlocal temperatures, mapping urban heat hotspots, and documenting how extreme weather impacts their community.  The exercise began after…

For homemaker Rani, alternate evenings are dedicated to a few rounds at the 2,456 sq m Sharma Park in Chennai's T Nagar, playfully chasing her two granddaughters across the sanded area. But there are a few things she is worried about. “It’s hot throughout the year at the park. It has unwatered, withering plants, and this area is often prone to rowdyism,” Rani says, pointing to strewn water bottles and food packets behind some benches. However, as she spends all day sweating in her kitchen, these few hours in the open air are immensely valuable. ​In an earlier article, we…

For Dhanasekaran, a resident of Ezhilmuga Nagar, an area adjacent to the proposed Global Sports City project site, the vast stretch of land in Semmencheri is more than an empty plot waiting to be developed. Every monsoon, he watches it transform into a sheet of water, carrying runoff from surrounding neighbourhoods towards the Pallikaranai Marshland. "We are the poorvakudi (original inhabitants) of this place. Even though we were relocated here years ago, this has become our home," says Dhanasekaran, standing beside the 112-acre site where the project is set to come up. "Officials may not know how much water will…

For Rayyan Monkey, a transgender voter from Mumbai, the SIR does not just threaten her right to vote. It also risks her ability to travel freely and exist as a woman in the country. Raised abroad before moving to Mumbai, Rayyan was left unmapped on the voter lists because her parents did not vote in 2002. The only way for her to complete her progeny mapping is to provide either her grandfather’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) card or her father’s birth certificate. However, after coming out to her family, Rayyan has been estranged from her extended relatives. Her father’s documents,…

Chennai has long had a tradition of public transport usage, with commuters having the choice of the suburban railway network, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses operating in the city and the Metro Rail for their daily transit. Despite the government introducing new services recently, especially electric buses, private vehicles numbers have soared and bus ridership has gone down considerably. Last mile connectivity issues, poor coverage in certain areas and the inability of the government to encourage residents to use public transport are major impediments. In fact, private vehicles make up 65 per cent of all motorised transport in the Chennai…