GENRE: In Focus

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on January 10, 2019 with the stated aim of reducing air pollution and bringing down harmful PM2.5 and PM10 levels by 20 to 30 percent from 2017 levels by the year 2024. The NCAP has provisions for the formulation of city-specific action plans to combat air pollution. The programme focuses on 102 non-attainment cities whose ambient air quality was found to be in violation of the national standards during the monitoring between 2011…

You see them every morning, all across the city. Pourakarmikas, pushing their rickety handcarts, sweeping the streets and collecting the garbage that residents, shops and others have just left by the roadside for them to clear. Bangalore actually needs many more of these unrecognised and overworked workers, who provide a truly essential service, keeping the city clean. But have you ever wondered what does their work mean to them? Is it a choice or a compulsion? Pourakarmikas toil in working conditions that are far from perfect, as numerous reports and studies have shown. Hired by contractors selected by the city…

“If these machines had been brought in before, my children’s papa would not have left them. Now they are not of any use to me, but they will at least be useful for other women. Their men will not die in the sewers. No one should have to suffer the way I do.” So saying, a visibly distressed Rani Kumari became silent. When I first met Rani late last year, she was sitting on the steps at a conference venue in Delhi, where she had come for an event organised by the Safai Karamchari Andolan, a nationwide movement to eradicate…

There is a spot on the lake land where one gets a 180 degree view of the sprawling 445 acre Varthur lake. The lake is filled with water and emits a strong foul odour. The southern end of the lake is filled with snowy froth. A wire mesh is erected along a section of the road near the lake to prevent the froth from entering the road. "Till the 90s, several migratory birds from Russia, Ukraine, China used to visit Varthur Lake, which acted as food source for them before they headed to the Southern Hemisphere. Once the sewage started…

Translated by Krishna Kumar சென்னையில் கோடை காலம் இப்போது தான் ஆரம்பம், ஆனால் இப்போதுள்ள நிலைமையை பார்த்தால் கொடூரமாக இருக்கும் என்று தான் கணிக்க முடியும். சென்னையின் தேவையை பூர்த்தி செய்ய தேவையான 50% தண்ணீர் மட்டும் தான் நம்மிடம் உள்ளது.பல இடங்களில் தண்ணீர் சேவை வாரம் ஒருமுறை மட்டுமே என்று குறைக்க பட்டுள்ளது. நிலத்தடிநீர் நிலைமையோ கடந்த மூன்று வருடத்தில் குறைவாக உள்ளது மற்றும் ஏரி நீர்தேக்கங்கள் அதைவிட மோசமான நிலை. நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலைமை பொதுவாக ஏப்ரல், மே மாதங்களில் உள்ள அளவுக்கு இப்போதே தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஜனவரி முதல் வாரத்தில் சென்னை சேர்ந்த 24 கிணறுகளில் எடுத்த கணக்கின்படி நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலை வெகுவாக குறைந்துள்ளது - மூன்று ஆண்டுகளில் இதுதான் மோசம். பெரிய மழை வரும் வாய்ப்பு குறைவு என்பதால் இந்நிலை மேலும் மோசமாகத்தான் போகும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கலாம். குறைந்துவரும் நீர்நிலை மழை மய்யம் (The…

The safety helmet for two-wheeler drivers has become a bone of contention between resistant citizens and firm authorities in two cities this year - Puducherry and Pune. It is compulsory for two-wheeler riders to wear safety helmets under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The rule also says that a helmet should have a thickness of 20-25 mm, with quality foam. It should also have an ISI mark and follow the Bureau of Indian Standards. Yet, the resistance against safety headgear has always been high. Gangotri from Save Life Foundation clarifies that the rule for pillion riders varies from state to…

There appears to be a temporary calm in the north-eastern states, now that the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 has lapsed with the Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die on February 13th. Yet, tension in these states go deeper than the reported protests and violence that occurred over the proposed amendments in the above law. In fact, while the Citizenship Amendment Bill brought the fault lines in the focus of national attention, there are other deep-rooted issues, other laws that are still fuelling ethnic conflict in the region. Whatever motivated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Prime…

Summer has just started in Chennai. But if present indicators are anything to go by, the summer of 2019 will be an arduous one. As things stand, water currently available for distribution is just over half the city's basic requirements, and supply in many areas has been cut to just once a week. Making matters worse, ground water levels are at the lowest in three years. So also are storage levels in the four main reservoirs that supply the city.  Groundwater levels in particular are as low as one would expect in April or May. Data collected from 24 wells…

The Rajya Sabha has listed The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for consideration and passage in the budget session of February 2019. Whether it will indeed be taken up, or whether it will merely lapse and require reintroduction in the next Parliamentary session hosted by the new government remains to be seen, but in any case this is a law, developments related to which have been closely watched by banking entities, telecom companies, fintech businesses and activists. So, why have amendments to the bill been such a contentious issue and how does it really impact us as citizens? The…

The Tamil Nadu Government which did not even provide information to the Central Pollution Control Board, for the latter’s Annual Report for 2017-18, on the action taken to implement the provisions of the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, has jumped into action. The features are: ban on forms of plastic that are not easy to dispose of, punitive measures to deal with non-compliance, and charging local bodies with responsibility for collection, appropriate disposal and law enforcement. The definition of “waste generator” includes individuals, groups, residential establishments, etc.punishable for failure to comply and “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) making producers responsible…