GENRE: Report

Mumbai’s L Ward, covering Kurla, Chandivali, Saki Naka, and Powai, has been quietly heating up, and not just metaphorically. It is a ward of extremes: dense slums on one side, luxury high-rises and malls on the other. But when the mercury rises, the contrasts fade, and everyone feels the burn. With urban heat on the rise across the city, L Ward is emerging as one of Mumbai’s hotspots where everyday life is increasingly being shaped by climate stress. The heat problem Spread across 15.6 sq km, L Ward is home to more than nine lakh people, packed into one of…

In 2015, when her infant daughter began wheezing, Subashini R purchased a machine she had only ever seen in hospitals. Daily trips from Kattukuppam in north Chennai to Tondiarpet Hospital were expensive, costing at least ₹500 then. Although the nebuliser cost four times her daily healthcare expenses, it reduced long-term costs in a region struggling with the lasting effects of pollution. “Every doctor tells locals to leave the region due to the chemicals here,” says the activist, part of the Save Ennore Creek Campaign. A decade later, nearly every household in Ennore has a nebuliser. Her younger daughter now suffers…

Thirteen-year-old Rohan (name changed), a little shy and very happy, envelops his mother in a spontaneous bear hug as three of his teachers and therapists compliment and tease him playfully. We are at Rohan’s house in one of the bylanes of a bustling informal settlement in Dharavi. His mother, Mayadevi Jagannathan, cradling a two-year-old daughter, beams proudly as she says that now Rohan even helps her by keeping an eye on his younger siblings. This is significant for Mayadevi and Rohan’s therapists. Born with intellectual disabilities, he has come a long way, from not attending school as a child to now…

On October 30 this year, Bengaluru municipal authorities dumped garbage on the doorsteps of 218 households. This was part of an awareness drive, 'Kasa Suriyuva Habba' (Garbage Dumping Festival) by Greater Bengaluru Authority and Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML). The agencies also collected a fine of ₹2.8 lakhs. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is a major problem in the city. Blackspots are making the 'garden city' dirty and affecting public health. They are also a cause and consequence of poor segregation, which could affect the waste processing. And, experts agree that stricter enforcements are needed to deter street dumping…

The constant looking over one's shoulder, being followed on the street, inappropriate touch and harassment on public transportation — every woman is familiar with this narrative. It was these issues that were highlighted when groups of young women in Mumbai were asked to create tableaux, depicting their everyday experiences, during a  recent theatre workshop. While the workshop facilitators did not set a specific theme, something striking happened. Group after group independently chose to portray the same issues: street harassment, eve teasing, gender discrimination and domestic violence. These were no longer just abstract concerns but pressing realities shaping how young women…

Temple Bells, a 900-flat residential community in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru, transforms nearly 4–5 tonnes of organic waste into compost every month. By prioritising segregation at source, the residents have drastically reduced what goes to the landfill and turned recyclable waste into a revenue stream. This not only generates income through sales but also saves on the Solid Waste Management (SWM) cess. The community follows the two-bin, one-bag system for collection — separate bins for wet and dry waste and a bag for sanitary waste. This ensures efficient source segregation. “In the beginning, getting everyone to follow it was challenging,” says…

For the residents of Tansi Nagar in Velachery, Chennai, the arrival of the rains signals not relief, but a looming threat of flooding that damages their homes, property, and hard-earned possessions. These families are forced to vacate their houses, needing boats, tractors, and other makeshift transport to relocate. This grim reality affects more than 10,000 families living in the Velachery area, including neighbourhoods such as Annai Indira Nagar, Anna Nagar, Balamurugan Nagar, Venus Colony, Sarathi Nagar, Bhuvaneshwari Nagar, VGP Selva Nagar, Seshathripuram, EB Colony, and Balakrishnan Nagar.  Rainwater from this entire locality drains through the canal adjoining the Perungudi Railway…

Thirty-year-old Yallamma Shankar migrated to Bengaluru from Koppal district in northern Karnataka 14 years ago. She settled in Sumannahalli, in the western part of the city, and took up free-roaming waste work to make ends meet. Initially, she was glad to work outdoors in a city known for its good weather. Every day, she left her home at 5 am and worked till 2 pm, walking up to 10 kilometres a day to collect waste. “But in the last decade, summers have become unbearable. I feel giddy, dehydrated, and often lose three days of work each month because I fall…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has released the draft Zonal Master Plan for the eco-sensitive zone of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The civic body is inviting suggestions and objections till October 17. However, environmentalists have raised concerns about potential ecological damage in the name of development, through the master plan. They allege that commercial activities are planned very close to sensitive ecosystems. Meanwhile, communities living in and around the park fear displacement, loss of livelihood and erosion of their cultural identity. They are also finding it difficult to submit their feedback, as the draft plan is in English. Background SGNP…

Anagha Satam's* son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at the age of six and a half, following a suggestion from his private writing tutor to get him evaluated. But Anagha's initial attempts to share the results with her son's school were dismissed. Though the school authorities eventually acknowledged her concerns, Anagha found that the special educators there lacked the right approach and were focused on the child reaching a certain rank in class. “He has ADHD,” she says, “and the special educator's job is to help him manage his symptoms and to teach him that it is…