GENRE: In Focus

Bengaluru’s stormwater drains made headlines last year when the city witnessed its worst floods. The August-September 2022 rainy season saw 7700 houses inundated, over 170 houses partially damaged, and over 12 informal settlements submerged. It once again exposed the faultlines: lack of vision in imagining the city, encouraging haphazard growth, rampant constructions on wetlands, building infrastructure with complete disregard for natural systems, incompetent planning and lack of governance.  “Every time it rains, it floods” Lakshmi, a former bone waste collector, has lived with her family of five in a small 100 square feet house in Cement Huts, JC Road, for…

Arun Kumar’s daily commute from Ashok Pillar to Thiruvanmaiyur is fraught with danger. “I am at the risk of being hit by one or the other vehicle while walking on the road,” he says. "With the stormwater drain work, many footpaths that existed earlier have vanished. Now that we are forced to share road space with vehicles," he says. Vulnerable groups such as pedestrians, cyclists and persons with disabilities share these harrowing experiences navigating the city. Data released by the Greater Chennai Traffic Police in February shows that 35% (179 of the 508 people) of casualties caused by road accidents…

In 2017, 3Wayste-- a French firm--submitted a proposal to the Government of Karnataka (GoK) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to implement an integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management project at Chikkanagamangala.  Using the company's proprietary, patented waste-to-energy technology, the plant would generate electricity from processing MSW, i.e refuse derived fuel (RDF), converting the existing MSW-processing plant to an incineration-based WTE plant.   The plant was intended to process 500 tonnes of mixed waste (300 tonnes supplied by the BBMP, and 200 tonnes from other sources). 3Wayste proposed to process refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to generate 9.2 MW of power.   After 3Wayste…

Plastic wrappers, soiled diapers and sanitary pads, food waste, and sometimes a used syringe. The bare hands of Ramesh*, a conservancy worker in Chennai, sift through these items inside discarded by residents as he tries to segregate waste on a daily basis. "We do not always use gloves because our hands sweat and become clammy," says Ramesh. This is one among myriad issues faced by a majority of the city’s conservancy workers who work under harsh conditions for meagre pay. Commute a key issue for conservancy workers in Chennai A majority of the conservancy workers are assigned work in areas…

The land in the hill towns, not just in Joshimath, is sinking. Unusual climate events are a distinct probability. Earthquakes cannot be ruled out, given that that the entire state of Uttarakhand lies in a highly sensitive seismic zone. All this adds up to the possibility of a worst case scenario in case of major natural disaster, which experts do not rule out, especially once the rains set in. And the state government is ill prepared to meet such a calamity if it occurs. One indication of this lack of seriousness is the proposal to appoint an engineer as the…

A study by ActionAid Association found several problems with the sewage treatment plants (STPs) managed by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). The quality of treated water is not being monitored at STPs despite it being mandatory, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The study raises doubts about the efficacy of BWSSB’s STPs; the findings can be read in Part 1. Worryingly, even the functional BWSSB STPs appear to have several issues. The ActionAid report highlighted that BWSSB had lower water quality standards compared to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), and was completely ignoring certain…

Ravindra Jhagde, 42, has a story to underscore how well-respected his father’s job as an operator in Standard Mill, Prabhadevi, used to be. “My cousin’s husband had to pick between two job offers. He could be a teacher in a government school in or around Bhor in Pune, or he could be a mill worker in Mumbai like my dad. He chose the latter.” Jhagde is a vegetable and fruits wholesaler in Dadar, barely a stone’s throw from the slum home he grew up in, where his mum and sister operated a khanawal, a traditional Maharashtrian eatery, from where they…

The quality of treated water is not being monitored completely or accurately at several major sewage treatment plants (STP), managed by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), according to a study by ActionAid Association. At least 13 STPs were found to not be monitoring important water quality parameters. The study was conducted between November and December 2022 and the report was submitted to BWSSB on February 20, 2023, according to Raghavendra Pachhapur, senior project lead at Action Aid India. The media reported on the issue the very next day. I checked the BWSSB portal to see if some of…

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), has conducted the Swachh Survekshan survey annually for the past seven years. The survey assesses the cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation of India's urban local bodies (ULBs). The survey looks at the collection of waste, segregation at source, processing and disposal of waste and sustainable sanitation. While Chennai's performance has seen an improvement over the years, the city is far from meeting the criteria on parameters such as going binless, banning the use of plastic and achieving a reduction in the quantum of waste being landfilled. Reporting…

Citizen Matters Chennai organised a Citizen Clinic on Fixing Civic Issues in Chennai with a panel of civic activists providing guidance and sharing their experience in engaging with civic authorities. The panel considered questions on issues such as waste management, water supply, parking and drainage and offered suggestions on the steps to be taken to solve these issues. The panel comprised Raghukumar Choodamani, a resident of Perambur and the Founder of Community Welfare Brigade, a civic engagement forum; Sridhar Venkataraman, a resident of Mylapore and a social activist and Vasanthi Kannan, a civic activist and Secretary of the Kodambakkam Residents…