GENRE: Solutions

At Mamata Gharana, Bhubaneswar’s first community home for members of the transgender community, Madhuri Kinnar, 38, is happy that she and her mates -- over 70 others who stay here -- now have access to clean water in their own slum for consumption. “Over the last two decades, we have faced lots of problems in getting water. We had to go to Vani Vihar or Rasulgarh, both kilometres away from the Kinnar Basti (transgender slum) to collect water for our consumption and other daily uses,” Madhuri said, “You can imagine how difficult it is to fetch the entire amount of…

Ashwin, Samreen, Shimon and Prem were just a bunch of toddlers when their parents moved to Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd, a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) colony situated in Mumbai’s M-East ward. This ward has seen some of the lowest human development indices in the city and like most R&R settlements grappled with a range of social, economic and civic issues. Rampant drug abuse, sexual harrassment, high drop-out rates among children and other safety concerns were a regular feature and the residents, reeling under dire poverty, were too caught up in the struggle for day-to-day sustenance to actually address these issues…

Did you know that apartments are at higher risk of fire hazard than factories producing combustible materials like firecrackers? Twenty nine percent higher risk, to be precise. And most of us live in apartment complexes. The fire tragedy at Carlton Towers nine years ago, brought to the forefront the perils of fire in high rise buildings dotting the Bengaluru skyline. To mark the ninth anniversary, Beyond Carlton, a group of citizens working towards fire safety in Bangalore, has partnered with the Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) to do a fire risk assessment of registered apartments in the city absolutely free. Cheryl…

Mass transit such as BMTC, Namma Metro, or even cabs and auto rickshaws no longer dictate the convenience or time of your commute. A valid driving license and digital photo is all it would take for you to drive away with your choicest brand of two-wheelers. For over a year now, popular rent-a-bike services have been offering ‘rides’ to Bengalureans, catering to their local and hyperlocal commute. With low security deposit, online payment options, and no parking hassles, these app-based services make you think twice about owning a two-wheeler. Bounce, Drivezy, Vogo, Twic, ONN Bikes, Royal Brothers and Wheelstreet are…

Reports about a third desalination plant, with a capacity of 550 million litres a day (MLD), have raised hopes among Chennaites. Convinced that their water woes can be successfully addressed with advanced technology, citizens welcome the state government’s proposal of the plant that would make sea water potable. But, are desalination plants really the solution we need? Environmentalists are often deeply critical of pollution caused by desalination plants. But, even if we put aside the concerns around environmental damage  for the present discussion, desalination plants themselves do not appear to be economically viable for the city. An extravagant affair The…

The number of water bodies in Chennai has been on the decline, as they become victims of encroachment and negligence. Last year, the Chennai Smart City Mission, sought help from corporate organisations to restore these water bodies, especially ponds, within city corporation limits. With funds from the corporates and the civic body, a few environmental organisations collaborated with citizens to work on the restoration. This collective effort has yielded some positive outcomes, as a few ponds were revived and the groundwater table has gone up in these areas. “Chennai is bestowed with hundreds of ponds that play a key role…

As Chennai stares at an impending water crisis due to the failure of monsoons and the decline in ground water and reservoir levels, the city's residents must brace themselves for a tough summer. Currently, Metro Water is able to meet only half of the city's daily demand of 850 MLD, and that too on alternate days. Residents have already begun to feel the pinch, particularly in the western and southern parts of the city. In this situation, Chennaiites need to adopt innovative methods to conserve and reuse water. Though the city had embraced rainwater harvesting in the mid 2000s, monsoon…

Atishi Marlena's soft smiles belie the steely timbre in her voice when she speaks of issues. She is the point-person for education and has made it a central electoral plank for the fledgeling Aam Aadmi Party governing Delhi. Though she was "dismissed" as advisor to the Education Minister Manish Sisodia by the Centre in April 2018, she had by then spearheaded eight key projects, calling for 120 meetings - almost eight per week - since the beginning of the year. Atishi was christened 'Marlena' as a fusion of 'Marx' and 'Lenin' by her leftist Delhi University professor parents, though she recently dropped…

The Prime Minister of India had urged people to use public transportation rather than personal vehicles during the Global Mobility Seminar held in September 2018. This would require public transportation to be incentivised and private vehicle ownership/usage to be disincentivised. Public bus transportation in Bengaluru is ailing, with the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transportation Corporation (BMTC) seeking Rs 260 crores from the state government to sustain its existing level of services. Currently the BMTC is running on a loss of Rs 10 for every kilometer that it operates. There have been discussions by the Transport Department to propose a bus fare hike. This…

Tall fences meet the eyes before one steps into the Sarakki lake premises. Most of the lake is currently dry. One can see the tractors busy removing silt from the lake bed. Walking around the lake can be unpleasant, as there are no walking paths currently and the surface is uneven. Garbage is sprawled across a certain section of the lake, and remnants of burnt garbage is present. Green patches of wetlands in the lake area stand out in the otherwise dry lake. "Birds have already started to come back to the Sarakki lake," says Professor K S Bhat, with a…