GENRE: Solutions

In mid-May, R Shanthi, a resident of CIT Nagar, tested positive for COVID-19 and isolated herself at home. In her 50s, Shanthi had mild symptoms that included fever and cough. It was a time of great anxiety and stress, but what kept her reassured to an extent were the phone calls that she received every second day, from the doctor deputed at Chennai Corporation’s zonal telemedicine department. Telemedicine has indeed been a boon for many patients like Shanthi battling the virus at home. Ever since the pandemic took centre stage, access to medical consultation for both COVID and non-COVID patients…

Even as the entire government machinery was deployed to handle the second wave of COVID, we have seen many gaps in how it was managed. Workers have been struggling without income, and thereby, food. Oxygen shortage left several patients dead and their families helpless. The city's crematoriums, at the peak of the second wave, were unable to handle the increasing body count. In almost every aspect of COVID management in the city, voluntary initiatives played a crucial role in identifying shortcomings in the official response and bolstering it with a hands-on approach. Here are some of those initiatives. A DIY…

In Part 1 of this series, we saw how the anxiety, financial loss, lifestyle changes and death, brought on by COVID, is having an effect on the mental health of citizens. In this concluding part, we explore how to cope with what could be a mental health crisis. A 37-year-old software engineer with a major IT company says, "As a mother, I'm under a lot of stress. Everyone is under stress during the lockdown, but I can't vent out or get upset because I have to prioritise the mental health of my 7-year-old daughter who is also stressed." She is…

The second wave is not just more widespread and alarming, it has completely disrupted systems, and has put pressure on existing waste management operations. Volunteers are stretched chasing beds, ambulances, plasma and more. And the last thing on everyone’s mind is waste management.  News of housekeeping staff, sanitary workers and other informal waste workers testing positive are on the rise. As frontline workers, they are often at the receiving end, sometimes because of how we dispose of waste and sometimes because we don’t care what we dispose of. But in the current situation, there is the added risk of the…

Chennai has seen an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in recent months. This has resulted in many individuals affected by the illness having to be hospitalised or placed in home isolation. During this time, individuals and families have found it difficult to access medicines, groceries and other essentials. Chennai's cyclists have come together in this hour of need to provide this important service, free of cost to those in need. The idea of Relief Riders originated from cyclists in Bengaluru and was later replicated by Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jaipur cyclists. At the end of April, Felix John - Bicycle…

With Bengaluru becoming the most traffic-congested city in the world in 2020, mass transit is the key ingredient for a sustainable, low carbon footprint future and the only solution to decongest Bengaluru's roads. However, the perception that cost effective transport options are primarily for use by the economically weaker section of the society, is a big worry.  The extensive bus network of Bengaluru, with a fleet size of over 6775 buses, is the largest in India, and among the 20 largest in the world. Why then is it not leveraged as a solution to its traffic congestion? Even with the…

One of the characteristic features of a lake is its colour.  You may have noticed that the water in many lakes in Bengaluru is green, and not blue, as you might have imagined it to be. This is due to the presence of algae. Algae are microscopic plants that contain chlorophyll which is the pigment that gives it a green colour. While some amount of algae is healthy for the lake ecosystem, excess algae can be harmful and is an indicator of a polluted and nutrient-rich lake. Lakes rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are called eutrophic lakes,…

Pandemic or no pandemic, when it comes to urban mobility especially in cities like Bengaluru, the reality is that the private vehicle is here to stay, whether powered by petrol or electricity, and along with it, traffic jams. But even if public transport buses and Metros were running normally, is it possible to determine the factors that affect an individual's choice of a particular mode of transport? If such factors are identified, they could then be included in public decision-making. For example, if it is determined that distance to a transit station is the key factor in people using cars,…

When a family is under quarantine, it means no one goes out. Does this include the pets? Well, as there is no evidence of transmission from pets to humans, does that then invalidate the statement for pets? I have wondered for a long time what then should be the procedure? After all, pets are trained to do their business outside. They signal when they want to go outside… Staring at the door, howling, whining, barking, biting, nudging you to take them out;  sometimes by tearing things, scratching the door or under the door.  Apartment complexes have very stringent rules, especially…

“What’s the way forward?” is a familiar refrain among much-harried motorists and pedestrians when negotiating the tortuous Konanakunte Cross traffic signal. To say that “chaos” prevails there at all hours is too modest a description.  Generally, a “Z” crossing cutting across a national highway creates complicated dynamics at any traffic junction. Synchronised traffic lights cannot prevent longer wait periods of vehicles and will only lead to lengthier, slow moving lines of traffic.  Crisscrossing paths of vehicles in motion causes confusion and disorientation, especially for first-timers passing through the busy Konanakunte Cross (K-Cross) junction. Traffic movement at present on Kanakapura Road…