GENRE: In Focus

In April 2022, several images of dead fish floating in the Banganga tank, located in Mumbai’s Malabar hill area, circulated on news sites and social media platforms. Clean up efforts were initiated after locals observed the dead fish in the tank and informed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The contractor appointed for the clean-up claimed that four trucks of fish were removed from the site. Officials speculated that the loss of oxygen was the likely cause of the mass fish deaths. This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred. Mass fish death in the Banganga tank has been labelled…

The public transport system in the city has seen a slew of developments in the past year ranging from the commencement of works for Phase 2 of the Chennai Metro project to free travel for women passengers in the ordinary buses of MTC. With the Metro’s presence in the city now close to a decade, how has the system integrated with the public transport landscape in the city? What are the issues that prevent more riders from taking to the Chennai Metro and is that likely to change with Phase 2? Is the bus system, which ferries more people, being…

Chennai’s recent history is marked by a string of disastrous weather events, particularly floods. The city’s water woes are not new, but the erratic nature and increased frequency of floods and droughts have raised questions regarding its in a climatically unstable world and what resilience might look like in the future. A large number of initiatives under ‘Climate Adaptation’ and ‘Urban Resilience’ have been mooted, and designed by bureaucrats, technical experts and consultants. These responses range from watershed management to urban development schemes to ecological restoration of waterbodies. But the story of top-down climate adaptation measures has less to do…

At the beginning of this year, the freshly minted electric Yulu bikes were taking their baby steps in Bandra West. The Bangalore-based company had just started branching out of its base in Mumbai, the commercial Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) district, hoping to become the vehicle of choice for app-based delivery workers. “Because of COVID-19, home delivery has become so common. There suddenly is an explosion of people saying ‘Why should I go out if I can order in with a few clicks on my phone?’,” Hemant Gupta, co-founder and COO of Yulu/the company had told us, explaining the pivot from last-mile connectivity to…

This is the second of a two part series on why health insurance companies refuse to reimburse treatment cost of mental illness despite laws and insurance regulator guidelines saying they must treat mental illness on par with any other physical illness. The cost of regular psychiatric medication can be substantial. A person with a mental illness is rarely hospitalised. But there are no reimbursements for non-hospitalisation treatment, rehabilitation or outpatient services. "Why is there reluctance from insurers?" asks Vijay Nallawala, Founder of Bipolar India and Co-Founder of the Mental Health Support Foundation. "Unlike somebody with a cardiac problem, the treatment…

Bengaluru will soon have 8600 CCTV cameras monitoring activity in public spaces. While the city currently has around 1,100 such cameras, another 7,500 would be added as part of a new 'Safe City' project. One key objective of the project, financed by the Center's Nirbhaya fund, is to monitor, detect and prevent crimes against women. What would this massive surveillance project entail - who will look at the footage, how will it be used, and what are the expected outcomes? Here's what we found, based on the tender documents for the project. The Centre had approved Safe City projects for…

The recent formation of a new Maharashtra government and the appointment of a new chief minister has quickly led to abrupt policy changes for Mumbaikars. On June 29th, ex-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned from his post, and on the next day, Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the new CM of Maharashtra. The new government, a coalition of BJP and rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, is set to bring in policy changes, especially in the face of the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.  The result of a widely publicised and unpredictable political conflict was sudden changes in government decisions, particularly the controversial reversal of Uddhav…

"In my class, if a girl got her periods, two other girls stood behind her as human shields, so that nobody would see her holding a sanitary pad in class. If someone saw her with a pad, she feared being judged,” recalls 19-year-old Keerthana Srinivasan. This attitude is all too common among young people shielded from learning about themselves and their bodies. "Pads are not missiles to be afraid of!," says Sharath Sathya, founder of Karpom Karpipom, an NGO working towards sex education in schools. Keerthana finished Class 12 in 2020 from a school in Chrompet sans any kind of…

There have been various developments around public transport systems in the city over the past year.  The work on Chennai Metro Phase 2 has been underway for a few months, with stations and lines coming up across the city. The proposal to merge the MRTS with CMRL has also moved forward with assent from the government.  The Metro’s rapid development has meant various traffic roadblocks in the city as the necessary infrastructure is being put in place. There have also been issues with the CMRL taking over green spaces such as Thiru Vi Ka Park and Panagal Park.  In addition…

This is the first of a two part series on why health insurance companies refuse to reimburse treatment cost of mental illness, despite laws and insurance regulator guidelines saying they must treat mental illness on par with any other physical illness. "I bought a health insurance policy from a well-known insurance agency in 2014,” says V Naresh, 73, (name changed on request). “In January 2020, my 39-year-old son, who was diagnosed with a psychiatric illness, was admitted to rehab for 25 days. In March 2020, I put in a claim of around Rs. 2.75 lakh for the treatment, but it…