GENRE: Report

With Urban India alone generating a gigantic 1.5 lakh metric tonnes per day of Municipal Solid Waste, waste management has grown to become a huge burden in urban India. Despite the existence of strong laws -- Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 -- cities are stuck at the implementation level. Now, a new report shows that while smaller cities have done a good job of complying with the major clauses of key environmental legislation, larger cities including Bengaluru and New Delhi are yet to satisfy the basic mandate of waste management: source segregation, or in…

This summer, Jaipur’s temperatures are soaring upwards of 40 degree Celsius. Jaipur witnessed its hottest day (as of June 4, 2018) on April 26 when a temperature of 43.2 degree Celsius was recorded. Of late, at least some parts of the city are beginning to exhibit signs of climate change typical of large cities. With more concrete and asphalt replacing natural vegetation, “urban heat islands” are becoming a reality and Jaipur is a good example of this. Urban heat islands are pockets of densely populated areas in a city where temperatures are higher than the rest of the city, thanks to packed…

The results of the pan-India waste and brand audit was revealed by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific in New Delhi on the eve of World Environment Day. The findings from the audit are based on samples gathered from 15 cities with the help of partner organisations. While a detailed report is due in a few weeks, the abridged version provides a concise view of the results and the recommendations put forth based on them. As per the report, the top most polluting international brands across India are: PepsiCo, with over 20 products in the food and…

The Mysore Grahakara Parishad (MGP) had shared eight problems to be addressed by candidates contesting from Mysuru. MGP made elaborate arrangement to organise first of its kind debate in Mysuru inviting main political party candidates from Chamaraja constituency to interact with the voters. Before launching the initiative, MGP had discussed the concept of public debate with the former Deputy Commissioner, Shivakumar. Earlier we had got a message from Karnataka’s election officer, Sanjiv Kumar that there are no bars to hold such debates. DC was appreciative of our efforts and felt such debates are useful to attract literate voters. But he had…

Human rights activists and eminent members of civil society have come together to raise deep concerns and unequivocally condemn the recent police action against protesters in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), who had been demanding the closure of a plant owned by Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of mining giant Vedanta Resources.  Police violence has left several people dead and many more injured. In a public statement, citizens point out that not only was this tragedy totally avoidable, it appears that the police have even given hot pursuit and shot at women and others in fishing hamlets like Theresepuram. The sheer brutality of the…

As a lead-up to World Environment Day on June 5, environmental justice  groups and citizens  are launching  an unprecedented coordinated waste  and brand audits in key cities in India. Scheduled from May 16 to May 30 in the cities of Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru along with various cities in Goa, Kerala, and 12 Himalayan States, the audits seek to highlight the role of corporations in the global plastic waste crisis, results of which will be published on 4th June. “Through these audits, we want to put the spotlight on corporations who have been responsible for the manufacturing, distribution, and proliferation of…

Elections held in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka on May 12, 2018. https://opencity.in/data/karnataka-assembly-elections-2018-all-state-mla-winners-list-live-update Assembly wise results: Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, All State MLA Winners List

This Earth Day, on April 22 2018 (and the previous day), residents from the Lokhandwala Township of the western suburb of Mumbai, Kandivali East, got together to participate in the “Colour My Township” initiative, organised by We All Connect (wAc) with the support of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. wAc is a community group that was formed to promote bonding and oneness among residents of the township. A few months ago, the group painted a small wall together and members found that painting compound walls together with neighbours was a good way to get to know them. According to Mr Santosh Shetty, founder of…

In January this year, the Floating Market, the only one of its kind in eastern India, came to life in the Baishnabghata Patuli area in Kolkata. With almost 114 boats docked next to the long, winding, wooden jetty, dissecting the Patuli lake through the middle, this Floating Market, selling fresh vegetables, fruits, fish and poultry was an idea borrowed from Bangkok’s floating markets by the state Urban Development Minister, Firhad Hakim. Unlike Bangkok, there is no provision though to shop around in a boat here and neither are the sellers mobile, but that hasn’t stopped people from afar to throng…

West Bengal’s tryst with dengue in 2017 could not have been more deadly. Around 13000 people were affected and nearly 100 people lost their lives to the disease. Among the worst hit was the South 24 Parganas district with every household having at least one person down with the mosquito-borne disease. So, the citizens cannot be blamed for going into a panic mode every time the possibility of another outbreak is suspected. This being the case, you would expect the state government to be on its toes, leaving no stones unturned to ensure another dengue outbreak is avoided. Unfortunately, that’s not the…