GENRE: In Focus

"The work for metro water and drainage connections are underway and we will make sure the residents get all the basic amenities," says J Sherly Thomas, Councillor of Ward 187 in Chennai. Areas that come under Ward 187 include Palaya Garden, Thilagar Avenue, Karthikeyapuram, Senthuram Colony, Iyyappan Nagar, Madipakkam Bus stand, New Guberan Nagar, Deivanai Nagar and Bajanai Koil Street. The areas in Ward 187 were added to the Greater Chennai Corporation limit in 2011. Yet, they remain without any basic amenities to date. Hailing from a family that is closely associated with politics, Sherly says, "My husband has been…

BBMP recently released the data from the street dog survey conducted over July and August 2023. The survey estimates that there are 2.79 Lakh (2,79,335 to be precise) dogs on the streets in BBMP’s area. This is down from the estimated 3.10 Lakh (3,09,975 to be precise) dogs in 2019, a decline of 9.88% over the four year period. Variation within the city The survey report shows that the 2.79 lakh dogs are not evenly distributed across the city. Number of street dogs in BBMP zones in 2023.Src: BBMP street dogs survey 2023. Graphic: OpenCity.in While Mahadevapura zone hosts 21%…

The elderly population in India is rapidly rising. According to the India Ageing Report-2023 released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), those above 60 years of age are set to constitute 15% of the population by 2036 (22.7 crore). From about 10.5% (14.9 crore) of the population in 2022, the population of senior citizens is likely to increase to 20% in 2050 (34.7 crore), thus throwing up new challenges related to their safety, well-being and health. The report also stressed on the need to focus on policies and programmes to meet the needs of the elderly, especially older women…

Sanjay Baikar, a Koli fisherman has three boats parked at the Lotus jetty in Worli. The area, where his boats are parked, along with the many others, will soon be taken over by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the coastal road project. The boats were parked at the north of the jetty before the ambitious project began. They were asked to move to the southern section, when the project took over that section of the jetty.  In August, the BMC asked the fishermen to move the boats to another location as they wish to take up this section too,…

[In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the ongoing practice of manual scavenging in Bengaluru, even though it was officially banned in 1993. Part 2 delved into the main reason for its continuation, which is the lack of awareness about the operation and maintenance of sewage treatment plants (STPs)] In part 3, we explore the functioning of STPs in Bengaluru and how their effectiveness can be enhanced for both the betterment of the environment and to eliminate manual scavenging.  Why are STPs important?  According to Ananth S. Kodavasal, director at Ecotech, who also formulated the STP guide for…

Raja*, a 13-year-old boy, was protesting on the streets along with his mother and neighbours when their houses in Govindasamy Nagar were demolished by the government in May 2022. "The government disconnected the electricity supply to our houses for almost 10 days. We had our annual exams during this time and all the children in the area could not study at home. We tried studying under the street lights, but there were many mosquitoes. But, before our exams got over, the government demolished our houses," he says. Raja and other children in the area were forced to take to the…

[In part three of this series, Citizen Matters spoke to urban hydrologists and researchers, Rashmi Kulranjan and Shashank Palur, about how Bengaluru can reduce dependence on external water sources, like Cauvery, and become water resilient.] In this interview, the researchers say that the first step towards achieving the goal of resilience is to understand water usage by building a water balance for the city. About the researchers Rashmi and Shashank work at the Urban Water Programme at WELL Labs, where they study water flow patterns in urban water systems, especially lakes in Bengaluru. Rashmi is also a PhD scholar at…

This three part series examines rainfall patterns in Bengaluru and the lessons we can learn about water resilience. Part 1: Over 100 years of Bengaluru rains decodedPart 2: Can a little boy affect Bengaluru's rains?Part 3: Deluge or drought: Water researchers explain how Bengaluru can build resilience As I write this, we have entered a wet and 'thunderstormy' October, but please forgive me dear reader if the weather is bright and sunny when you read this. As we found in our analysis of rainfall patterns in the city, rainfall is becoming unpredictable in Bengaluru. As early as February 2023, government…

Part 1 and 2 of the series looked at the transformation of Jayanagar from a quaint neighbourhood to a bustling commercial zone. Part 3 explored the street and transit networks in Jayanagar as well as its land use. Part 4 looks at the increase in Floor Space Index (FSI) and building usage. Figure 4.4 The footprint of the built environment in contrast to open spaces of Jayanagar. Pic: Manojna Polisetty Figure 4.4 The footprint of the built environment in contrast to open spaces: On the left is the figure ground map of building footprints, plot lines and unbuilt spaces. On…

The elderly population in India is rapidly rising with those above 60 years of age set to constitute 15% of the population by 2036 (22.7 crore), according to the India Ageing Report-2023 released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). From constituting about 10.5% (14.9 crore) of the population in 2022, the population of senior citizens is likely to increase to 20% in 2050 (34.7 crore), thus throwing up new challenges related to their safety, well-being and health. The report also stressed on the need to focus policies and programmes on the needs of older women since they were estimated…