GENRE: Voices

‘Citizens Waterway Project,’ a part of Bengaluru Mission 2022, was launched in December 2020 by Karnataka’s Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to upgrade the city’s infrastructure given its growing population and vehicles. ‘Citizens Waterway Project’, also known as Beautification of K-100 Rajakaluve, aims to develop the city’s storm water drains from KR market to Bellandur Lake. But the project raises multiple questions as it does not follow the Karnataka High Court and NGT orders on the protection of Rajakaluves (major stormwater drains) and lakes of Bangalore. Can beautification of K-100 improve the condition of the storm water drains? The proposed…

Bengaluru has had to cope with water scarcity for a few years now. While many outer areas and slums are not getting enough water, local water resources like lakes remain poorly managed. The Water Solutions Lab, which is part of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at IISc (Indian Institute of Science), is presently working on projects to improve water governance in Bengaluru and is studying the possibility of using local water sources. In this interview with Citizen Matters, Dr Chandan Banerjee, hydrologist and Associate Director at the Lab, explains the current projects and their possibilities. "The core idea behind…

In recent years, Bengaluru’s usually year-round pleasant weather has seen unusual scorching summers and intense rainfall and flooding during monsoons. What’s causing this, and is there anything we can do about it? Responding to these questions in an interview with Citizen Matters is Dr J Srinivasan, Distinguished Scientist at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc. He has been associated with IISc since 1982 and had helped establish the Divecha Centre at the IISc in 2009. He was chairman of the Centre from 2009 to 2016.  A Ph D from Stanford University, Prof Srinivasan has been a lead author of…

As Uttarakhand gets set to elect a new state government, we bring you the first of a two-part series on the state’s urban development challenges and possible solutions Uttarakhand faces a major challenge to develop its cities and towns. In the coming years, urban pressures will increase manifold due to the upcoming Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor, the Char Dham all-weather road and other central projects. To prepare its cities and towns to face these challenges, political parties need to have manifestos and visions that include relevant and sustainable components of urbanization. Uttarakhand is one of the fastest urbanizing states in India.…

In continuation to the charter of demands submitted to the MLA candidates before the Assembly Elections held last year we, the  members of Community Welfare Brigade, are submitting the following Charter of Demands to all the potential candidates who are participating in the Corporation Elections in 2022 on behalf of the Residents of Ward 71 in Zone 6. As a citizen engagement group we would like to build a clean, safe and secure model neighbourhood community. On civic infrastructure and encroachments The traffic density on Perambur High Road, Madhavaram High Road and Paper Mills Road has increased significantly over the…

On January 22nd, a healthy and flourishing peepal tree, approximately 100 years old, was chopped at Azad Road in Vile Parle East. Junior Tree Officer of K East ward, Mr. Pradip Jadhav, arrived at the spot at 9:30 am** with his team to cut the tree. At the sight of this, I asked the officials about permission they had been granted for the operation, and learnt that the notice was given four years ago in December 2017. The permission to cut, after objections, was given in November 2018. Because of it’s outdatedness, in a constrained manner, I requested the officers…

Translated by Sandhya Raju சைக்கிள் ஓட்டும் பழக்கம் சமீப காலமாக அதிகரித்துள்ளது. கொரோனா தொற்று காலத்தில் மேலும் பலரை ஊக்கப்படுத்தியுள்ளது. சைக்கிள் ஓட்டுனர்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பை உறுதிப்படுத்த, பிரத்யேக சைக்கிள் ஓட்டும் பாதைகள் நகரின் சில பகுதிகளில் சோதனை முறையில் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன. இது எதிர்காலத்திற்கு உதவும் என்றாலும், சைக்கிள் ஓட்டுதலை பரவலாக ஊக்கப்படுத்த மேலும் பல நடவடிக்கைகள் தேவை. ECR-இல் சைக்கிள் பாதை மகிச்சியான தெருக்களுக்கான பரிந்துரை - தெருக்களில் தேவயற்ற நடவடிக்களுகு தடை - சைக்கிள் ஓட்டுனர்களிடமிருந்து பெறப்பட்ட இந்த கோரிக்கைகள் வெற்றிக்கரமாக பெசன்ட் நகரில் அமல்படுத்தப்பட்டது. ECR-இல் சைக்கிள் பாதை அமைக்க இது உந்துதலாக அமைந்ததா என தெரியவில்லை, ஆனால் காவல்துறையிடமிருந்து இதற்காக அழைப்பு வந்த்து. இந்த சிந்தனையை முன்னெடுத்து, சென்னையில் சைக்கிள் ஓட்டுதலை ஆணையர் சங்கர் ஊக்கப்படுத்துகிறார். சைக்கிள் ரோந்து படை மூலம் மேலும் இதை ஊக்கப்படுத்த திட்டமிட்டுள்ளார். காவல்துறை மற்றும் பொதுமக்களை சைக்கிள் ஓட்ட மேலும்…

Since 2012, I've been working towards building a strong culture of cycling in Mumbai, way before I was appointed bicycle mayor of Mumbai. I’m not a transport planner, architect or urban planner. My work does not lie in an area where I can bring infrastructural change. But, my years of experience in advocating for non-motorised vehicles has helped me build a dialogue with authorities. The work of bicycle mayors is multifold. We work in different areas. Either you’re building a cycling culture, or you’re in transport planning and infrastructure (installing cycling stands, for example). There is also policy intervention, where…

On January 27th, Citizen Matters hosted a webinar on the state of urban planning in Mumbai to address discrepancies in the city's socio-economic, infrastructure and environmental planning. Moderated by Meenakshi Ramesh, Trustee of Citizen Matters, the panel consisted of people from backgrounds of architecture, urban planning, anthropology and education. The panelists were Rejeet Mathews, program director for urban development at WRI India, Aslam Saiyad, a photographer and documentarian deeply interested in issues related to riparian communities in Mumbai, Akhtar Chauhan, former director of Rizvi College of Infrastructure, Berjis Driver, an urban planner and associate member of the Institute of Town…

As the entire world saw an upsurge in the number of COVID-19 cases during the first and second waves, the necessity for credible information was paramount. In March 2020, I started Covid19Chennai on Instagram and Twitter (rebranded as News of Chennai in 2021) to publish cross-verifiable, fact-checked information such as important helplines, home-based food providers, where to get tested, what to do if someone tests positive and curated FAQs related to COVID-19 from reliable news agencies.  This also gave me an idea to create chennaicovidhelp.in — a web app where all information would be collated. The advantage of a web…