GENRE: In Focus

If you just happen to drive along the wide, tree-lined Southern Avenue -- aptly named for its location in the southern part of the city of Kolkata and the giant trees that form a canopy along much of its stretch -- you may not be able to fully fathom the beauty of the 192-acre lung space of the city that you have just passed by. But if you have a moment to spare and enter the sprawling precincts of the Rabindra Sarobar Lake to the south of the main thoroughfare, you will undoubtedly be drawn forever to this verdant sanctuary…

They are always a familiar sight – MCD workers patiently sweeping the tiny green leaves that rain down in a never-ending shower from the evergreen trees that line Delhi’s neighbourhoods; children playing with the long brown seed pods scattered on pavements; lovers resting against its muscular trunk. If ever a tree has ‘gone native’, it is the vilayati kikar (Prosopis juliflora). The Mexican tree species was first brought into the city by the British who wanted a hardy tree that grew fast in Delhi’s arid soil to best implement their idea of an ‘ideal’ colonial capital with avenues lined by…

Every day, thousands of residential homes and apartment complexes across suburban Chennai, which are not connected to the underground drainage network of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), are at the mercy of the private sewage lorries which remove the sewage water from their septic tanks. The lorry-owners demand anywhere between Rs 750 - 1000 per tanker load. Not satisfied with this, and driven by the sole objective of maximising their profits, they illegally dump the entire raw sewage water from the lorries into open fields, lake beds and storm water drains. The capacity of a tanker…

The lesser known 200-year-old Buckingham Canal which was used for navigation once by the Britons is nothing today, but just a canal that carries sewage water within the limits of Chennai, largely due to the poor waste management and rampant encroachments that prevail in the city. The canal flows the entire longitudinal length of the city of Chennai in varying forms and uses. The width of the canal between the Cooum and the Adyar River has been reduced to less than 6 metres, which used to be almost 60 metres in the past. Just on top of the canal runs…

முதல் பாகத்திலே, எனக்கு Bala Vidyalaya பள்ளியை நடத்திடும் அந்த மூன்று பெண்மணிகளைக்  காண வேண்டும் என்று சொல்லி இருந்தது ஞாபகம் இருக்கிறதா? நான் கேட்டவுடனேயே பள்ளியை நடத்திடும்  ஒருவரான திருமதி டாக்டர் வள்ளி அண்ணாமலை அவர்கள், என்னை  அவர்கள்  இல்லத்திற்க்கே அன்புடன் அழைத்து,  திருமதி சரஸ்வதி  நாராயணஸ்வாமி உடன் இருக்க , மிக பொறுமையாக, செவித் திறன் குறைபாடு உடையவர்களுக்காக அவர்கள் செய்து வரும் தொண்டினை பற்றி விளக்கமாக எடுத்துச் சொன்னார்கள். திருமதி சரஸ்வதி  நாராயணஸ்வாமி, அவர்களுக்கு தெரிந்த மூன்று குழந்தைகளுக்கு இந்த குறை பாடு உள்ளதை பார்த்து , இவர்களுக்கும், இவர்களைப் போன்றவர்களுக்கும் உதவ வேண்டும் என்று  48 வருடங்களுக்கு முன் நினைத்தார்.  USIS  நூலகம், பிரிட்டிஷ் கவுன்சில் நூலகம், இவற்றில் இது பற்றி வெளி வந்த புத்தகங்கள் அனைத்தையும் படித்து, இவர்களுக்கு உதவ முடியும் என்ற நம்பிக்கையைப் பெற்றார்கள் . அவர்கள் நம்பிக்கை வீணாகவில்லை. அந்த முயற்சி இன்று ஆல மரமாக வளர்ந்து நூற்றுக்கும்   மேற்பட்ட…

It’s not every day that you hear of a municipal waste dumping ground that is a tourist attraction. But in Vengurla taluka, a half-hour drive from India’s tourist hub of Goa, it isn’t just the pristine beaches that are drawing people. In 2017 so far, the municipal waste dumping ground, where every piece of waste is recycled, has received 7,000 visitors. They’re travelling to see how the small municipality is recycling 7 tonnes of waste generated each day and transforming their community. It is earning a hefty income, which is being ploughed back into municipal activities. In 2015, under the watchful eye…

There’s a new sound enlivening the streets of the busy, populous city of Mysuru in southern Karnataka, and it goes ‘Trin-Trin’. The city recently launched the country’s first city-wide public bicycle sharing system (PBS) under a project jointly funded by the World Bank, the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), the Mysuru City Corporation and the state directorate of urban land transport, better known as DULT. Branded ‘Trin-Trin - Pedal with Pride’, the initiative sports a dense network of hubs consisting of bicycles, which individuals can share on a short term easy-rental basis. The Mysuru City Corporation owns and maintains the bicycles,…

It was in the year 2015 that reports of unwarranted hysterectomies in Kalburgi district of Karnataka began to appear in several media. A number of private hospitals in Kalburgi wilfully provided unscientific misinformation and instilled fear of cancer and pushed thousands of poor Dalit women to undergo medically unwarranted hysterectomies. Two subsequent detailed enquiries, one by the department of health and family welfare and another by the Karnataka State Women’s Commission, squarely indicted the deliberate misconduct by private hospitals. The National Human Rights Commission took suo moto cognizance of the issue and issued a notice to the state government. After…

On Sunday, June 18th, Chennai Trekking Club (CTC) and Environmental Foundation of India (EFI) in association with The Hindu and Casa Grande organized the 8th edition of the Chennai Coastal Cleanup (CCC), a South India-wide awareness drive on our growing garbage footprint and the impact on the environment. 5000 volunteers and 130 organizations, schools, NGOs in 10 large cities removed 41 tonnes of garbage from lakes, rivers and beaches. In Chennai, 4600 volunteers participated in removing 32 tonnes of garbage from 20 km of Chennai's shoreline between Lighthouse and Uthandi. Volunteers segregated garbage in 69% recyclables (glass, plastics, etc) taken…

In 2015-16 the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had conducted a survey, in which Alappuzha in Kerala came out on top as the cleanest city in the country. Panjim in Goa came second. However, in the recently concluded Swachh Survekshan 2017, the government survey to rank cities on the basis of cleanliness and sanitation, Alappuzha was ranked 380 - among the bottom 100, and the worst among cities in Kerala. Panjim, which has achieved complete segregation and has successfully done without a landfill, was ranked 90. The Alappuzha system Alappuzha, which had a centralised system of waste collection and…