GENRE: LN

After a steady reduction from 2017 to 2020, the city witnessed an increase in waste collection from 5500 Metric Tonnes per day (MTD) in 2020-21 to 6300 MTD in 2021-22, says a report released by Praja Foundation. The highest contributor is wet (food) waste which comprises 73% of the total garbage collected at the landfills. The report on the status of civic issues in Mumbai, highlighted challenges in solid waste management, sewerage and water bodies. Moreover, due to the deteriorating sanitisation facilities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) failed the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 5-Star Rating of 'Garbage Free Cities' in…

Residents around Saul Kere woke up to a rude shock one December morning last year. A flex banner, with the former Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavalli’s face, had been put up at the entrance to the lake, announcing its development. The lake would be drained, desilted and developed by the BBMP. The banner welcomed residents to attend the inauguration of the lake’s development by Arvind Limbavalli on December 12th. A group of concerned birdwatchers turned up at the lake on the designated day to ask the MLA and BBMP about their plans. But nobody showed up. Citizens learnt about the plan…

Only two things come to mind when one mentions Orlem, the sprawling fish market and the splendid church. However, it is making news for another issue over the past few months. The citizens of Orlem have been putting up a brave struggle and resisting a polluter in the region. Over the past six months, Orlem has witnessed massive air pollution emanating from a Ready-Mix Concrete plant (RMC) operating in the vicinity. The plant, located opposite Orlem Church in Malad West, is a severe health hazard, say residents.  A ready-mix concrete plant operating at Orlem, Malad West. Pic- Pooja Bhatia Dealing…

There has been a spate of suicides by students in Chennai's colleges in recent months. Four students have died by suicide in a span of three months at IIT-Madras this year. The 2021 NCRB report states that one died by suicide every 42 minutes in India. Tamil Nadu had the third-highest number of instances of student suicide, which is 9.5% of total student suicides across India. Mental health support for students has been sorely lacking in institutions of higher education. Without adequate support and mechanisms to address grievances on college campuses, students are left to lonely and uphill battles by…

Anyone who has visited a government office to obtain certificates or documents is aware of the daunting process it entails. With the aim to cut out long queues of disgruntled visitors, e-sevai centres were launched across the state in 2006 to provide IT enabled-services to the public. This came long before the formulation of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). Despite the pioneering move, government-run e-sevai centres in Chennai face myriad issues that prevent their effective functioning.  Working of public and private e-sevai centres in Chennai According to the Tamil Nadu e-governance agency, around 92 different kinds of services are provided…

Councillor Murugesan was born and brought up in Semmanchery. His political journey began in 1996. He started off as a Youth Wing Leader with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Then he climbed up the political ladder and became a Panchayat Councillor of Semmanchery in 2006 when the area was not part of GCC. This is his second stint as a councillor, representing Ward 200 of GCC. "Yes, very glad to hear that," says A Murugesan, the Ward 200 Councillor of Greater Chennai Corporation. He was on a call when I entered his office. "We won the court case and now…

As polling ended on May 10th, it became clear that Bengaluru would have one of the lowest voter turnouts in the state. Election officials estimate that the entire state had a turnout of 73.19%. In Bengaluru however, only around 55% of the registered voters showed up to the polls. Representational image. Pic: Public Resource Org on Flickr/CC BY 2.0 BBMP South recorded 52.80% voter turnout, BBMP Central recorded 55.39%, and BBMP North had 52.88% voter turnout. Bangalore Urban district, which comprises the peripheral constituencies like Yeshwanthpur, Byatarayanapura and Mahadevapura, recorded around 56.98% voter turnout. As headlines condemning the city’s apathy…

On April 28, the villagers of Aarey Colony’s Prajapurpada village woke up to the piercing loud noise and the vibration of chainsaws as they witnessed hundreds of trees being cut down behind the barricades set up by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MMRCL) for Metro-3 car shed. A huge police force, wood cutters and officials from the MMRCL began gathering at the project site around 5:30 am and felled more than 500 trees, claim locals and activists, even though they had permission to cut only 177.   They also alleged manipulation in the numbering of the trees that were the…

A lot has changed in Bengaluru in the last 20 years. Millions of people moved in and made the city their home in the last decade. Lakhs of jobs have been added. Infrastructure too has been added to keep pace with the growing population. Municipal wards went from 100 to 198 to now 243. A new BBMP Act has been enacted that extended the Mayor's term from one year to 2.5 years. The BBMP Act also brought in Zonal level Commissioners and Zonal Councils. We saw so many Chief Ministers, Bengaluru Ministers, Commissioners, and Mayors but one thing remained more…

An analysis of BBMP's work order data over the last five years shows 74% of funds were meant for roads and drain works. From "Remodelling of stormwater drains, culverts-bridges and allied works" to "White Topping on selected roads" - the packages range from a few lakhs to many a crore. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru’s city government, administers an area with a population of around 12 million and has a budget of around Rs 11,000 crore as of 2023-24. In spite of its massive expenditure on civic works, BBMP is often in the news for all the wrong reasons,…