GENRE: Solutions

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship #PlasticsGottaGo seems to be the rallying cry in cities across India as it is globally, and for obvious reasons too. Attempts to raise awareness about the hazards of plastic waste and its disposal are on an overdrive as climate change and waste management become the key challenges faced by cities. Yet, not everyone thinks that an entirely plastic-free world will be feasible or even desirable. K Ahmed Khan, Managing Director, K.K.Plastic Waste Management Ltd asserts that that they believe in saying 'yes' to plastic but only after ensuring its eco-friendliness,…

Bella, an 18-month-old mixed breed therapy dog in Bengaluru, boasts of a busier calendar than many of ours. Apart from working as a therapist at the Paws and Hooves Project at Wag-ville, her one-acre sprawling therapy center, Bella also visits schools and homes for one-to-one therapy sessions. Her patients are kids or adults with behavioural issues, ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), severe disability and autism. In her one-year career as a therapist, Bella has added many feathers to her cap. “Bella was my father’s therapy dog for a little over two months. She was helping him deal with speech and mobility issues…

The Mumbai Marathon is a special race. Great weather, flat course, the sea breeze and  wonderful crowd support from the cheerful Mumbaikars during the race -- all this is rare to find in any other Indian city. The city which never stops, halts completely for a few hours so that runners can have the roads to themselves. I have run this race many times. Every time I come back with some great memories. Procam organises the race efficiently and participation is higher every every year. But if there is one thing that I have not seen any improvement in—and it…

Silicon Plateau Volume 2 is a collection of essays where contributors responded to the question: what does it mean to be an app user today—as a worker, a client, or simply an observer? Stories about contemporary life in Bengaluru, of conversations spoken and typed, of deliberations and connections, through a simple a tap on our mobile devices find a place in this book.  This is edited by curator Marialaura Ghidini and artist Tara Kelton, and published by the Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru. Below is an edited excerpt from the book, from the chapter written by Nicole Rigillo, a…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities "Even though a mechanised sweeper is being used along the arterial roads of Mahadevapura Zone, the roads accumulate dust in no time, and it feels like they have not been cleaned in the first place", says Anu Govind, a volunteer with the citizen's group Whitefield Rising (WR). Dust is something we see everyday, but never think about controlling it outside our homes. A study done in 2010 titled Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory and Source Appropriation Study for Indian Cities, found that road dust accounts for 20 percent…

[The article has been co-authored by Devanshi Chanchani, an independent social science researcher based in Bengaluru.] Poor air quality is a topic that is dominating minds and discourse throughout the country, especially now that winter is around the corner. To people with experiences from cleaner environments abroad, the contrast in air quality becomes ever more palpable and stark upon returning to India. To examine the possibilities of breathing healthy while on a visit to the city of Raipur, we decided to try out an air purifier from a company called Smart Air. The DIY Air Purifier from Smart Air appealed…

Translocation of trees has been hitting headlines these days a lot. The recent public statement by the Managing Director of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Ajay Seth that BMRCL will prioritise translocation, before deciding to fell any tree, is a ray of hope for citizens, at least along Metro alignments. Before going into the merits of translocation, compensatory planting and other issues, the question to ask is: does Bengaluru have enough trees for its size and population? No physical count of trees in the whole city has been done as yet, so we must look for other sources to…

"I was nine when the Naxalites killed my father. I love libraries. I want to be a doctor." These were three hard facts of her life that 15-year-old Sumanwati declared in an excited rush of words when we spoke to her. Piecing Sumanwati's confused sentences together builds up a narrative that reflects the lives of almost all students in Education City at Jawanga, Chattisgarh. Sumanwati was nine when she lost her father and was enrolled into Aastha Vidya Mandir, a school for children who have lost either or both parents to Naxalite attacks.  Over the years, she picked herself up, immersed herself…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities Five out of 15 Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses that the Regional Transport Office officials from the Transport Department had randomly inspected had failed the emission tests.That was in 2016. Recent reports said that BMTC bus breakdowns have considerably reduced compared to previous years due to an improvement in their maintenance procedures. Would that also mean that there is an improvement in BMTC buses following emission standards? What are the measures taken by BMTC to ensure that their buses follow emission norms? What are the external measures…

The recent movie Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shale Kasaragod gives an excellent insight into what’s wrong with the government education system. The infrastructure is under stress, teachers are underpaid, and the quality of learning is dismal. With the Right to Education process in place, admission to private schools is being preferred, resulting in limited demand for state-sponsored education. India may be spending 3% of its gross domestic product on education, but the impact of this expenditure is rarely seen. Karnataka government, over the past decade, has implemented many schemes to improve its schools. Through these schemes, spending on school infrastructure and…