GENRE: Voices

Submission of self declaration forms for revised property tax has been in the news for more than a month now. Despite multiple reports and clarifications by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials, there is still palpable uncertainty among citizens about the whole procedure. In an earlier article on the topic, Citizen Matters Chennai had explained the nitty gritty of self declaration and the procedure to submit these forms. Since then, the last date for submission of forms, has been revised to September 16th. As several questions continued to pour in from our readers, we met R Lalitha, IAS,  Deputy Commissioner,…

During my college days in the pre-Metro rail era, travelling in the DTC buses in Delhi was a common choice. Rather, it was the only choice available for youngsters. Then came the automobile explosion in our cities, and the four-wheeler entered our lives too. We moved to Gurgaon eight years back and with almost non-existent public transport, we had to have two cars for just two of us in the family. It was only recently with the rapid metro reaching the city, about a ten-minute walk from our doorstep, that we started using it, especially on my trips to Delhi.…

Samarth Mahajan does not match the common man’s imagination of an IIT-ian. While exceptions may not be all that rare, India still associates IIT with successful corporate careers, fat salaries and most recently, Sundar Pichai! One doesn’t really think of a 24-year-old graduate from IIT Kharagpur giving up a coveted FMCG job on a whim, getting up on unreserved compartments on trains and taking a 17-day journey across the length and breadth of the country, capturing through his camera the voices and lives of a vast majority of people from its cities, towns and villages. Samarth’s documentary The Unreserved, winner…

Not by a long shot, but I am glad you are willing to hear me out. Undoubtedly, the Supreme Court judgement was a victory for us all - you and I. We have been declared free of an irrational and arbitrary law that has no place in our society today. Now, we regroup and get to work. The judgement has laid the groundwork for things to come -- leading everyday lives of dignity and free of discrimination outside the bedroom. It has left us with a clean slate to write upon a set of binding policies that will truly ensure…

It was a day filled with obvious contrasts  - the kind that would ideally help make right decisions about the nightmare that we know as urban transport in Bangalore. The question of mass transit versus private vehicles was never answered more effectively for me. On Friday, the last day of August, I was slated to cover the Rail Yatra that was being organised by Citizens For Bengaluru, to reiterate their demand for a suburban rail service for the city. The 3 pm train was to start from Yeshvanthpur and reach Heelalige, a picturesque little station (reminiscent of R K Narayan’s Malgudi…

On August 7th this year, transport workers waged a nation-wide strike in protest against the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was passed by the Lok Sabha and is awaiting passage in the Rajya Sabha. The stir saw support from two state transport corporations of Kerala and Haryana as well as unions across party lines through the country. While the proposed law has largely been welcomed by experts as one that will bring about greater focus on road safety, several proposed changes to the existing Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 do not seem to have gone down well with the opposition parties and transport workers.…

Growing up in Bengaluru is no guarantee that you know the city. Though I have spent all my life here, there are parts of it which are still unfamiliar, and once in a while, I get to experience a facet of the city that I had not seen before. The #ModaluTrainBeku Rail Yatra, organised by Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) on August 31st 2018, allowed me a glimpse into Bengaluru’s local train network. The Yatra, from Yeshwanthpur station to Heelalige station, was organised as part of ongoing campaigns to introduce commuter trains for local commutes. On August 31st, I joined the…

Transport is the only development sector that worsens as incomes rise. While sanitation, health, education and employment tend to improve through economic development, traffic congestion tends to worsen as pro-growth forces tend to demand and influence policies. Transport is not a technical problem, It is not an infrastructure problem, It is not even a financial problem, Most often, it is a political problem. The proponents for elevated freeways planned to be built cutting across the city claim many benefits, but the theory behind these has gaping loopholes. Let me analyse them one by one, objectively. City has just 1,500 km…

Bengaluru’s water story is full of paradoxes. After all, this is a city where even a lake catches fire. A few hours of rain can wreak havoc on the city. However, come summer, the city faces acute water shortage. It’s not even Bengaluru alone. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Census 2011 numbers indicate that Delhi meets the water requirement of 82% of its households (population: 17 million). However, the same census numbers show that only 51% of slum-households in Delhi have access to water within their premises. The average level of ground water exploitation in Delhi is 137%,…

Through this article, I would like to counter a previous article by Nitin Seshadri, a resident of Koramangala, that recommends elevated roads as a solution to our traffic jams. Here are my points: 1.The debate is based on unreliable data. We do not have the accurate road capacity data, and the OD matrix. Apparently Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has carried out some transportation forecasting, but it was never shared in public. So the entire debate is based on questionable data. Before any elevated roads are proposed, the relevant data must be shared in public domain. 2.The elevated roads are neither…