GENRE: In Focus

Two large drainage holes almost incessantly vomit filthy, stinking, dark liquid into what has become a cesspool. Wild vegetation and slum pockets encircle its peripheries. While just a few metres away are tall residential and commercial structures that have mushroomed in recent years. The cesspool is the Makarba lake in Ahmedabad. Today, this sprawling pit is where rainwater and sewerage converge to create a veritable breeding ground of mosquitoes and stray dogs. And this is not an isolated instance of a once clean lake in the city being turned into a foul water body.  Makarba is a historical natural lake, which…

Yeshwanthpur APMC yard is one of the biggest markets for onions in South India. Pic: Mohit M Rao In September end, M Dasappa loaded the onions harvested on three acres of his farm in Seegehatti in Chitradurga district, and headed towards the APMC yard in Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru. There is a foreboding of disappointment in the trip this time around - he normally produces 300 quintals of onions; this time, heavy rains had led to losses and he is selling only 220 quintals. At the APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) yard, the truck unloads the bags of gleaming onions. Byaravishwara…

In July 2018, the AAP Government’s flagship scheme ‘Happiness Curriculum’ won commendations from different corners of the globe. This scheme, intended to transform school education completely, tries to shift focus from the fierce competition and marks-oriented teaching-learning that dominates the Indian system, to cognition, language, literacy, numeracy, and an arts-based learning model. Happiness Curriculum is a scientifically-designed curriculum based on the principles of the “Happiness Triad” model given by philosopher Agrahar Nagraj Sarman. It aims to make the learners more aware, mindful, and focuses on how we can bring sustainable happiness in children's lives which will eventually result in happier…

Three decades ago, 65-year-old Jayamma had an opportunity to buy a small plot of land at Hosahalli, on the fringes of Bengaluru, where she worked as a tailor in a small garment shop. The area reminded her of her village back in Holenarsipura in Hassan district: a clump of thatched-roof houses, fields of ragi and rice, and small ponds locally called gokattes and kuntes.  Much of the peri-urban life in Hosahalli revolved around the small water bodies: herders brought cattle to the banks, homemakers washed clothes, farmers cultivated lands near its outlets, children used it for their bath or a…

World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10, with the objective of raising awareness about mental health issues. According to World Health Organisation's (WHO) World Health Report of 2001, one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, etc) at some point in their lives. It is estimated that currently, at least 10 percent of the world’s population is affected. (Photo: Fernando on Unsplash.com) Citizen Matters caught up with Malathi to find out what prompted her to make a film about mental health, her experience as a first-time film…

“Delhi air quality has never met WHO criteria,” says Dr T.K. Joshi, Director, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), Maulana Azad Medical College and part of the 16-member Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) set up by the government. “It is even more stressed now and is expected to worsen”. The worsening mostly happens during November-December, and lingers on, largely due to paddy stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana to get their fields ready for the winter wheat sowing. Now, with satellite remote sensing data from the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) showing  a five-fold increase in the number of farm…

It’s been over four months since Abdul Sattar left Bengaluru, driven out by the lockdown.  “We will leave somehow, even if there is a delay,” he had said. That was when Cyclone Amphan was about to make landfall, on May 20. Still, Abdul and his friends were prepared to brave the long 1,800-kilometre journey home to Chak Lachhipur, their village in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal.  It had been barely a few months since Abdul had come to Bengaluru from Mumbai, sometime in January or February, he says. His wife Hamida Begum, 32, a homemaker, and their children, Salma…

In cities, flyovers and elevated walkways enable movement of vehicles and people. In the hill regions, tunnels perform the same function, as can be seen in Europe and Scandinavia. Shimla is no exception to this. “When Britishers conceptualised Shimla, they considered tunnels an important component of mobility, especially for pedestrians and built five such tunnels in the town,” says Rakesh Sharma, a retired IAS officer. “The importance of the tunnels still remains a key component of urban mobility plans in the hills”, adds Sharma, who was associated with the framing of Shimla’s Interim Development Plan (SDP), which was first finalised…

Just a few weeks back, Pune’s health authorities were battling a severe shortage of hospital beds for COVID patients. Now, they are faced with an acute shortage of medical oxygen and oxygen-equipped beds. “We require three times more oxygen supply during the pandemic than in the past,” says Prof Dr Dhanaji Jadhav of MIMER Medical College and Dr Bhausaheb Sardesai Talegaon Rural Hospital. “Besides COVID patients, other patients – pregnant women, cancer patients, those who suffered from heart attack, critical infants and those who have to undergo emergency operations – also need oxygen. What we are seeing now is a shortage…

Punkaj Bajaj, who retired as CEO and MD of Steel Authority of India’s Durgapur Steel Plant, thought he had all the time to finish the renovation work  of his  8th floor two bedroom apartment, in time for his son’s wedding slated for end April. Familiar with the ways of labour and  everything else that such renovation entails, Bajaj had factored in four days to break the old mosaic floor and lay new vitrified tiles in the living room of his flat built by the Ghaziabad Development Authority almost 30 years ago. With that calculation, Bajaj got the old floor of the living…