GENRE: LN

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is on a mission to recover arrears of property taxes worth about Rs 20,000 crore. The BMC is auctioning articles like helicopters, cars and air conditioners, seized from a private company in 2020, to recover Rs 4.1 crores. They've sent notices and acted against 11,661 defaulters. Though the BMC always had the power to disconnect water and/or electricity connections, seal lifts and entrances of properties, they’ve rarely executed this authority. Now, owing to COVID-19, the richest municipal corporation in the country is feeling the pinch.  However, the focus has been on wealthy defaulters, and the common…

Citizens from Marol are going door-to-door with a signature campaign against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its failure to retrieve gardens from three hotels on the Marol-Juhu belt near Mumbai airport. The hotels were supposed to hand over the garden plots to BMC for public use. “That these three garden plots, with a cumulative measure of approximately 1.3 lakh sq ft of area, are yet to be accessible for public use, should give us a clue about how public open spaces occupied by private groups, star hotels in this case, are inaccessible in Mumbai’s highly urbanised and congested landscape,”…

Imagine all that unused space underneath a massive flyover being converted into a public square with a bus stop, parking area, a children’s park, food stalls and other commercial establishments? That’s exactly what the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) is working on with regard to the multi-modal Kathipara urban square project in Chennai. Located at Alandur, where various prominent city roads such as the Grand Southern Trunk Road, Inner Ring Road, Anna Salai  and Mount - Poonamallee Road intersect, the Kathipara junction is probably one of the busiest and most important junctions in Chennai. Along with its geographical importance, the…

It’s early morning, and the PfA Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Kengeri receives a call. A small bird with blue, green, and black wings is lying immobile on a terrace, said the caller. The roof, wet from incessant drizzle, is bespeckled with a handful of orange and white down feathers. Feral cats are on the prowl. The caller says he picked up the bird and placed it indoors, in a warm corner. He has no clue what this spectacular, multicoloured bird is, but the rescuer, already racing on his bike, knows only too well. A visiting Indian Pitta. Now…

Swara Madav, a Lower Parel resident, lives with Spina Bifida, a birth defect in which the spine and spinal cord don’t develop properly. The condition affects the ability to walk. “Barely any places in Mumbai have proper slopes and railings in place for us, not even places that are deemed essential, like grocery shops, banks or clinics.” Swara says. Construction work adds to the obstacles in her daily commute around town. A survey in 2017 found that Mumbai lacks in infrastructure for those with any form of disability and the situation doesn’t seem to have changed much since. “Even if…

How Bengaluru households can reduce their water demand and consumption, especially through internal water metering, was the focus of a webinar on water management co-organised by Citizen Matters, Biome Environmental Trust, and the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) on November 20th. Rajiv K N, Additional Chief Engineer, BWSSB, explained why water management was critical for Bengaluru. Once the Cauvery Stage V project is commissioned in 2023, the city will get its maximum allocation of 2225 MLD (Million Litres per Day) from the Cauvery river. However as per BWSSB's estimates, the city's water demand is expected to increase to…

With torrential rains lashing Chennai since early November, which left several areas in the city such as T Nagar, Velachery and parts of North Chennai like Pulianthope inundated, the recurring and infamous phenomenon of unregulated and illegal construction in the city is back under the spotlight. Several reports and experts have pointed out yet again that along with faulty drains and blocked canals, rampant encroachments and illegal construction, especially along the banks of the Adyar and Cooum rivers and the Ennore-Kosasthalaiyar basin, have prevented water seepage, thus causing severe inundation. According to a recent report in The New Indian Express,…

Officials claim that they’re constructing public toilets in the city and allocating funds, but previously built toilets in Mumbai are inaccessible and pose risks to diseases.  In October, Jagdeep Desai, wrote on twitter, about a public toilet constructed in Talvali Gaon, Navi Mumbai by the NMMC, claiming it has low ceilings, narrow doors and entrances, and no water. “The lack of consideration in making these roadside restrooms is apparent. Some are made only so they (the authorities) can audit the budgets assigned to them.” Jagdeep said. Short and narrow public toilet in Talvali gaon. Photo: Jagdeep Desai The cost of…

Rarely do government circulars not raise a controversy. And the latest one by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is no exception. The circular mandates “Retrofitting of Emission Control Devices/Equipment to all Diesel Generator (DG) Sets with Capacity of 125 KVA and above in Karnataka”. Based on a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order on controlling air pollution, the circular specifies a minimum mandated Particulate Matter capturing efficiency of at least 70%, with a corresponding increase in fuel efficiency. The order makes it compulsory for DG users to get their emission control devices certified by one of five laboratories empanelled…

Translated by Sandhya Raju from the original Tamil Press Release by GCC Chennai District Election Officer and Chennai Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi jointly released the draft electoral poll list for Chennai, in the presence of the party representatives, earlier this week. The electoral list includes eligible voters from the 16 constituencies, as of January 1st, 2022. This list is available at 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13 zonal offices for public view. The public has been requested to check the draft list for addition, modification or deletion. First-time voters whose names have still not been included or who…