GENRE: In Focus

Climatic and non-climatic factors intersect and create an entire tribe of marginalized and vulnerable people. Incidentally they form a large proportion of the informal economy of Bengaluru and other cities. This photo essay looks at the living and working conditions of one of the most marginalized groups in Bengaluru namely the waste pickers. The focus is on those who live in undeclared, blue tent, temporary squatter settlements. Our field research revealed that most of the inhabitants in these settlements are migrants from West Bengal, a distinct region in the East of India. For the residents of the informal settlements that…

Why are lakes in Bengaluru polluted? Who is accountable? Karnataka government has recently constituted Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) to oversee the lake conservation. But there are many agencies in the city that are supposed to handle specific issues related to pollution.  But there is a problem. With multiple bodies looking after different systems, there is no accountability for any of them. When the crisis hits, they blame each other and get away, while the lakes emit fire and froth. Here is an explanation of which agency is responsible for what problem, as far as a lake is…

Over the last six months, cab drivers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru have held protests against the policies of cab aggregators Uber and Ola. Uber’s India President Amit Jain had denounced the cab drivers protest.“It is the work of a small number of individuals who do not represent the majority of driver community,” he had said according to a news report. “There is this mix between organic and incentives. Incentives might have come down, but what a driver partner takes home is organic money plus incentives." In his blog post, Amit Jain explained, “individual driver earnings vary widely…

A: “Namaste sir. Calling from Ola cabs.” B: “Yes. Tell me Madam.” A: “Sir, you haven't logged into Ola in last 3-4 months. May I know why?” B: “It’s because of your MGB (Minimum Guarantee Business). You give me Rs 1,800 for eight trips. How does it even work out for me?” A: “There are new offers lately. How can we give you offers if you don’t log in? You log in once and you will see the change.” B: “But I will incur loss. You tell me the same every time.” A: “You log in sir. Offers will upgrade.”…

It was August 2016. I chanced upon a Conservancy worker in Rail Nagar near Koyambedu segregating the 'waste' that was dumped into a plastic packet and suddenly found something like human excreta on her bare hands. I was shocked and asked how she got that. She said she had been asked by officers above her to separate the wet waste (mainly kitchen waste) and dry waste and put them into separate bins. I asked her whether the people who dump all their waste in one plastic bag would not segregate the different types of waste themselves if asked to, and…

In the first part of the series on composting plant in HSR Layout, we shared the citizens’ view on Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant in Kudlu. In the second part, I talked about what I saw in the plant. In this last part, I’ll be getting into the intricacies of what is going on. Every time the residents arose in protest over the functioning of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant in Kudlu, the KCDC and the BBMP would temporarily mollify them with assurances. BBMP would talk of introducing solutions for odour control or shifting the waste elsewhere, and…

If you are in Delhi now, the ink on your fingers is probably fresh still. In about a day from the time you read this, the much awaited results of the elections to the three municipal corporations in the national capital will be known. It has been an intense, high-decibel and often bitter campaign but once the reins have finally been assumed by the newly elected members of the municipal bodies, can Delhiites hope to breathe easy? Not just metaphorically, but literally too? In the years to come, Delhi’s deteriorating air could have disastrous consequences for its population. According to Greenpeace India,…

Karnataka State Urban Development Department and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) submitted an unconditional apology and undertaking in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) hearing held on April 19, 2017, promising to withdraw the circulars and letters that termed the NGT a ‘quasi-judicial body’. This could affect the legalisation of hundreds of building plans, residential and commercial, that followed old buffer zone rules and got sanctions, some of them even before the NGT rule came into effect. The occupancy certificate and completion certificate may be hard to obtain, if the new NGT rule is applicable for all the projects that…

It was a hot mid-afternoon on March 22nd, 2017 - just a few days after the residents of Somasundarapalya and surrounding areas called off their protest demanding the closure of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) waste processing plant - that I visited this plant in Bengaluru. Days after the protest, the work had resumed at the waste processing plant and trucks were lined up to unload waste collected from Bommanahalli and BTM Layout constituencies. It was business as usual at the KCDC plant - a four-decade-old wet waste composting unit developed on a six acres of land (total area owned…

A recent workshop on air pollution, which saw participation from IIT Delhi and Kanpur, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, World Health Organisation, as well as the Delhi Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board, brought to the fore yet again the fact that there are no policy level interventions to stop farmers from burning crop residue. Experts at the event stated that the state government and the central government need to prepare now for a pollution free winter. However, there seems to be a lackadaisical attitude towards applying existing data into a working and effective policy-level intervention. The implementation…