GENRE: In Focus

On the occasion of Gudi Padwa on April 2nd, two new Mumbai metro lines - Line 2A and 7 - made their debut. They interconnect at Dahisar and parallelly extend into the suburbs: to DN Nagar in Andheri West and Andheri East respectively. The two yellow and red lines were first proposed and approved in 2015. Construction started in 2016 with a deadline of 2019, and yet, only Phase 1 of the lines is operational today, cutting the journey short to Dahanukarwadi, Kandivali on Line 2A and Aarey, Goregaon on Line 7. The remainder will launch as Phase 2 in…

BBMP has spent over 100 crores on fixing, remodelling, and maintaining drains in just one ward – HSR Layout. Their Stormwater Drain Department does not maintain records like work registers or the progress reports of works. BBMP has been indicted for ineffective and inefficient collection of waste, non-compliance with waste management rules, and lack of scientific processing facilities at landfill sites. These are just three instances of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies. All these are issues that citizens should demand accountability from their elected reps and officials. One easy way to be aware of such issues is…

Vandana Borse, hailing from Jalgaon, is exhausted from rounds to three hospitals in a day. Her son Prem, 7, underwent surgery for a brain tumour at JJ Hospital in Mumbai in early March. She recounts a two-month-long ordeal starting in January when Prem - a cheerful child, fond of cricket - started showing symptoms like headaches and vomiting. An MRI scan at a local hospital in Jalgaon found that he had a brain tumour. After their doctor recommended a doctor in JJ Hospital for surgery, they made the trip to Mumbai. What they thought was a two-week procedure stretched to…

Taufiq, an electrician in Shivaji Nagar, sits in his shop surrounded by wall-mounted fans. Despite other shops like his in the area, he gets at least 2-3 fans for repairs daily. As Mumbai is headed into summer with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius in March, it’s no secret why Taufiq gets business everyday. The general ceiling fans, he says, are not cutting it anymore. “Most people here don’t have ACs or coolers, so they look for a fan that is fast,” explains Taufiq, showing me a fan unlike any other in the market. “We assemble this here. The motor comes…

Kumaran S has been collecting waste from spots in Zone 9 of the Greater Chennai Corporation for over a decade now. But like most other informal waste pickers in Chennai, he has seen a sharp fall in his earnings from waste,  as a large portion of what they collected and sold are now handled by conservancy workers with the Greater Chennai Corporation or the private contractor in charge in most zones, Urbaser Sumeet. “I have been engaged in this work for over a decade. Things have never been as bad for us as it is now. During COVID-19 lockdown I…

Rekha, a fruit vendor in Kandivali east, has been selling fruits in the area for over 6 years now. Parked under a large umbrella that offers shade from the sun, she awaits customers. "The heat this year has been the worst in a long time, and it is only April. It will get worse," she exclaims, adding that the recent heatwave in the city has also affected her business since customers don't come out much and her fruits get spoiled in the scorching heat during the day. Rekha is also one of the many street vendors in Mumbai who conduct…

This is the second and final of the two-part analysis of the new Act passed by Parliament, merging Delhi’s three municipal corporations into one all-powerful Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) under the control of the union government. The first part can be read here. The trifurcation of the Delhi local body in 2012 could no doubt have been better thought out. The three MCDs together had 94.23% of the NCT area — 1399.26 sq km of the total area of 1484.97 sq km. As per the 2011 Census, the three MCDs had 97.81% of Delhi's population under all the local bodies…

The end of life of textiles is creating a huge cost that no one is bearing right now. Only strict EPR in which textile industries take back or pay for storage or own the end of life costs will this very problematic textile waste be treated in a more sustainable manner. This is the second of a two part series on the mounting textile waste that Bangalore generates and the various issues in disposing-recycling-reusing them. The first part can be read here. The current destinations for textile waste, post sorting at DWCCs are Clothes in wearable conditions are first used by…

This first of a two-part series looks at the new Parliament Act merging Delhi’s three corporations into one all-powerful Delhi Municipal Corporation. For Delhi’s citizens, the hope is that creation of one omnibus municipal corporation for Delhi will improve the quality of services provided. For all those employed by the municipal corporations in different segments and capacities, from  teachers and sanitation workers to doctors, nurses and health workers, to name a few, the hope is that they may at last get their salaries, arrears and pensions which the present trifurcated MCDs have been unable to pay. Not surprisingly, all sections…

Shanti Nagar is a popular shopping destination in Mira Road, a suburb just north of Mumbai. Shops and hawkers line both sides of the narrow lane, selling all manner of goods including clothes, shoes, utensils, bedsheets, jewellery, etc. Inevitably, a crowd gathers in the area every evening. But on Mondays, this equation shifts. Mondays are for the 'Monday market'. Since most of the shops are closed for their weekly day off, a wave of Monday-only hawkers descend on the street in the evening. They spread their goods on the porches of shuttered shops and in front of footpaths. Their biggest…