GENRE: In Focus

On September 23 2022, a seven-year-old boy was killed when the battery of the Electric Vehicle (EV), which his father had kept for charging, exploded on him at their Vasai residence. While this unfortunate incident led to the loss of an innocent life, electric vehicle fires have been regularly reported in newspapers raising concerns about EV safety. Exact figures of EV vehicles (cars and bikes) catching fire or their batteries exploding are not available for Mumbai. Earlier, fire in a Tata Nexon EV at Vasai on June 23, 2022 had prompted the Union government to issue notices to all EV…

All of Chennai is in different stages of 'dug-up' due to stormwater drain (SWD) work across the city. Residents have faced various inconveniences over the course of the work such as traffic jams, blocked roads, limited access to entryways and safety hazards. Despite this, there has been widespread cooperation for the work, as most residents recognise the importance of completion of the work to prevent flooding. But the alarming pace of tree felling in K K Nagar to make way for it has made residents concerned. Unwitting victims of SWD work A consequence of the work happening across the city…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began the demolition of illegal structures inside the 800-year-old Mahim fort on October 13th to begin restoration work. However, not all of the 267 families are happy about the decision of the civic body to rehabilitate them to Malad or Kurla. Many believe leaving the G/North ward, under which Mahim fort falls, would deprive them of their livelihoods and make access to schools difficult for their children. 38-year-old Samir Sheikh, who has been living in the area all his life, points at a demolished house inside the Mahim fort and says his family lived there…

The Right to Information Act of 2005 allows individuals to seek information from elected governing bodies. However, another facet under Section 4(1)(b) of the Act signifies the disclosure of particulars of organisations, including their functions and duties. This includes details concerning the duties and functions, roles and responsibilities of its officers and employees and the decision-making process of the organisation. Section 2 of the RTI Act defines public authorities as “any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by or under the Constitution, any other law made by Parliament, any other law made by the State Legislature and…

This is the second and final part of the series on the impact of the total ban on use of diesel gen sets by residential, commercial and industrial establishments in Delhi and NCR. In an earlier article, we discussed the revised rules under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that has been formulated to tackle Delhi and NCR's infamous winter pollution issue. The ban on diesel gensets is one component, though everybody has to do their bit. In the very first stage, the 24 actions to be taken will begin with the strict vigilance and enforcement of Pollution Under Check…

If someone from the city were playing Pictionary, and they had to guess from a drawing of floods or inundation, they would probably guess "Chennai" and be right. Flooding and Chennai have become synonymous with each other. No wonder the civic body is hurrying up with storm water drain (SWD) work in Chennai. Will SWDs be the panacea for urban floods? "No city in the world can rule out inundation [due to rains]. However, it will be much lesser than before in Chennai," says Gagandeep Singh Bedi, the Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation, when questioned if the current monsoon…

Translated by Sandhya Raju “எனக்கு ஒரு வீடு வேண்டும்,” என்கிறார் ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு படிக்கும் தனஸ்ரீ. “கதவு வைத்த கழிப்பறை, கால் நீட்டி தூங்கக்கூடிய அளவிலான ஒரு அறை மற்றும் ஒரு சமையலறை,” என மேலும் அவரது விருப்பத்தை கூறுகிறார். இது அவர் கனவு மட்டும் இல்லை, கண்ணப்பர் திடலில் உள்ள நூற்றுக்கணக்கான குடும்பங்களின் விருப்பமும் ஆகும். இவர்கள் இருபது ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் ரிப்பன் மாளிகை அருகில் உள்ள தெருக்களிலிருந்து வெளியேற்றப்பட்டவர்கள். ஆக்கிரமிப்பு, நீதிமன்ற ஆணை, வளர்ச்சி திட்டங்கள் என பல்வேறு காரணங்களை சுட்டிக்காட்டி, சென்னையில் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு அகற்றல் அமல்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. பல வருடங்களாக வசித்த இருப்பிடங்களை விட்டு சென்னையின் புறநகர் பகுதிகளில் இவர்கள் வசிக்கின்றனர். இந்த வெளியேற்றம் இவர்கள் வாழ்க்கையில் பல இன்னல்களை உருவாக்குகிறது, ஆனால் இதைப் பற்றி அதிகாரிகள் அதிகம் அக்கறை கொள்வதில்லை. Read more: Life beyond the murals in Chennai’s Kannagi Nagar நிறைவேற்றப்படாத…

There is an emerging policy consensus around promoting cities as engines of economic growth (XV Finance Commission, 2020, pg. 169). NITI Aayog, in its May 2022 report, proposed developing comprehensive economic plans for Indian cities. The 74th amendment also allows Urban Local Bodies to integrate and implement economic development schemes through the master plan. Cities across the world use economic data to understand and identify target areas for investment in transportation or economic infrastructure (for example, Sao Paulo) or setting up targeted investment funds (such as London’s Regeneration Fund and Growing Places Fund) or improving poor neighbourhoods’ access to better…

This is the first of a two-part series on the impact of the total ban under the new GRAP rules on use of diesel gensets by residential, commercial and industrial establishments in Delhi and NCR. Shiv Dayal, an electrician in charge of a few high rise buildings in the Ghaziabad area of East Delhi is these days focussed for most of the day on a website on his phone. But then, that is part of his job now — he is keeping track of the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital city, Delhi. The minute the AQI goes…

For the last ten years, Sunita Sutar has been looking after the well-being of slum dwellers near Bandra (West) railway station. From September 26th to October 12th, Sutar and nearly 4,000 Community Health Workers (CHW) like her were on the ground conducting door-to-door tuberculosis and leprosy survey for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) health department. The survey is part of India’s plan to eliminate TB and leprosy by 2025 and 2030 respectively. It covered over 49 lakh people in 9 lakh houses across 24 wards under BMC. "When this area was initially assigned to me, it was difficult to navigate.…