GENRE: In Focus

It has been six years since the launch of the Smart City Mission in 2016. Yet its core idea, of creating a participatory model for urban governance, remains elusive. Especially for the urban poor. If people had hoped for a better managed, inclusive city with sustainable and resilient infrastructure, that hope has been cruelly belied. Plenty of projects under the Smart City mission are underway in many cities. But few have achieved the objectives they set out for themselves. Which raises the question, what does the smart city mission provide for the urban poor? Have their lives changed at all…

Flash strikes have plagued Mumbai’s public buses at least five times in the past three years, since private buses were introduced in the Brihanmumbai Electric and Supply Transport (BEST) fleet in 2019. Two strikes by BEST workers happened in Mumbai Central bus and Magathane bus depots on April 2nd and 26th, 2021. This year, Kurla depot saw no buses turn out on April 22nd, 2022 and for three consecutive days on May 17th-21st, 2022. Similar strikes happened on July 17th-18th at Vikhroli, Wadala, Bandra and Kurla depots. After the strikes, the workers were cajoled and convinced or were paid (overdue) salaries to return to their jobs. …

Subashini Durai, Councillor of Ward 173, is relatively new to politics. She is a Computer Science engineer by qualification. Her exposure to politics came through her father, who is a member of the Indian National Congress and has served as the District Secretary of the party.  Her key goals post the election have been fixing issues around stormwater drains and waste management in Ward 173. We caught up with her at her office to speak about her long-term plans for the ward and her vision for Chennai. Map of Ward 173. Source: OpenCity Ward No 173   Name of Councillor:…

The objective of the digital initiative was laudable. A national portal that would enable the 411 million workers in the informal sector (as per the estimates by the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18) to access national and state schemes, offering such workers health, employment and social security benefits. The country had been a mute witness to the devastating impact of the pandemic and unprecedented lockdown on these workers, especially migrant workers, as they faced sweeping job losses, loss in income and hunger. With the objective of preventing a repeat of this human tragedy, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment…

"Most of the meat and fish vendors in Chennai use single-use plastic bags. But today, we have to hide it and use it," said Raman* the owner of a meat shop in Nesapakkam. The plastic ban has caused a major predicament among small vendors of meat and fish across Chennai. The Tamil Nadu government banned a list of single-use plastic items, including plastic bags of all sizes and thicknesses. The Greater Chennai Corporation has also announced that the shops violating the ban will be sealed and their licences cancelled. Almost 98% of people consume meat in Tamil Nadu, according to…

The years 2013 and 2014 stand out in the State of Health report for Mumbai released by Praja Foundation. With a discrepancy of over thousands of deaths in those years in the age group of 0 to 4 for diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis, the data raises more questions than answers. Collected from all the 24 wards under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) through RTIs up until 2015, the data shows strange figures for the cause of death among various age groups. For instance, the data shows that in 2013, 1,612 children in the age group of 0 to 4 died…

In recent months, bulldozers have become symbolic of what German Sociologist Weber describes as the state having the monopoly over legitimate use of force. Whether to punish law breakers by demolishing their homes or to evict people from what are termed illegal encroachments and unauthorised slums in cities, the state is using bulldozers more often than it ever has in the past. While some bulldozing drives in states like UP and MP happened after communal tension in some areas, bulldozing is also being used in the name of urban renewal. For instance, in Ahmedabad, three slum sites in the city…

“People are guarded around us, they keep a distance. They say the men from our area are drug dealers, they do ganja, and they drink and murder people in their stupor. Even very many autos do not come into our neighbourhood. Media reports have spoken of us, as killers and drug addicts”, said Velankanni, a resident of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar in Pulianthope. Long-standing stigma around Pulianthope has marked residents as innate criminals, worsened this neglect, and created a narrative that these are 'undeserving and dangerous' citizens of the city.  Reputation that hurts residents Pulianthope has developed a reputation for…

Critically acclaimed movie Jai Bhim highlighted in great detail the plight of socially and economically disadvantaged communities as they navigate a complex legal system. Chandru, a lawyer working pro bono, steps up to aid the central character Sengeni. What happens to many such individuals in real life? How can those who do not have the means get adequate representation and access to justice in Chennai? Every individual has the constitutional right to get help from the government-sanctioned Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority or the District Legal Services Authority. "Free legal aid is not a charity by the government. It…

This is the second and final part in the series on the history of building regulations in Mumbai. This part continues where the first left off, at the turn of the twentieth century amidst the administration's efforts at slum clearance. The Development Plan Preoccupation with affordable rents and slum clearance remained the mainstay of urban planning and governance in the 20th century. At the same time, efforts to address issues such as access to open spaces, amenities and concerns of over-crowding, traffic on roads were formalised and debated upon. The very first Development Plan was introduced in 1964 and sanctioned…