GENRE: Voices

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country amidst rising COVID cases and states resorting to lockdowns, curfews and more to contain its spread.  As a young person, I was drawn toward one statement from the speech: "I call upon the youth of India to form small committees and help in COVID administration in their areas. If that happens, the government will not have to put containment zones or lockdowns..."  The PM's comment made me ask myself: are Bengaluru’s youth totally disconnected from social realities? Are they doing nothing about this health crisis? The answer is a resounding NO.…

In the short span of 10 days, around 600 citizens of Bengaluru sent an email to the Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bengaluru Urban), seeking an extension to send objections/suggestions to the double tracking of the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur railway line. The double tracking project that will pan out over 48 km around Bengaluru is part of the Government of Karnataka's special purpose vehicle Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Company (K-RIDE) developing a plan for the extension of the suburban railway network.The double tracking project seeks to cut 1034 trees between Baiyappanahalli and Hosur. The forest department issued a public notice calling for objections and…

Like every civic body, BBMP had its moment of truth in 2020 because of the pandemic. Revenues plummeted as commercial activity slumped during the lockdown. Public health and medical demands soared. Employees were shunted around for emergency tasks, throwing administrative controls into disarray.  Dividing lines between State and civic duties were blurred: BBMP became a government department delivering welfare services to migrants under a lockdown. State departmental heads monitored and supervised civic functions. Ad hoc staff was hastily added to run COVID contact and testing facilities.   Formal citizen involvement was undermined, social distancing hampered protests and courts became dormant. The government used the opportunity…

Yes, indeed! We need decisive action now, of deferring any and all non-essential activities (of little or no immediate economic repercussions) involving any kind of congregations in closed spaces, along with very strict blanket enforcement of COVID-appropriate protocol and behaviour in whatever socio-economic activities that may be permitted henceforth. Else, we are staring in the face at national distress with numbers already spinning out of control at over 2 lakh per day. Or even worse, a national disaster if we get more virulent strain(s) due to a much higher & longer second wave. In my earlier article published in The…

The recent TN Assembly Elections saw the lowest voter turnout in the state in the past three elections. Chennai’s overall voter turnout stood at 59.06%, with only four constituencies registering turnout higher than 60%.What could explain the low turnout is that many eligible voters chose to sit it out on polling day and also that the inaccuracies in the voter rolls contributed to the issue. There have been instances of unexplained deletion of names of voters who found themselves unable to exercise their franchise in the assembly elections. Names of entire families who voted as recently as the Lok Sabha…

On March 22nd, I opened the  Aarogya Setu app on my phone to book our appointment for the second or booster dose of the Covishield vaccine. My husband and I had had our first shot before noon on March 1st, when the union government rolled out the programme for senior citizens like us. We were told we could take the next shot after 28 days. A few days' delay would not matter, added the doctor at the vaccination centre. The earliest appointment I got (confirmed via SMS) at our preferred centre, Yashoda Multi Specialty Hospital, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, where we had taken…

O Delhie Mahra Pahda ra dil Shimla, mahra desha ra dil, o delhie, mahre desha ra dil Shimla----A pahari dialect song sung across the Himachal, meaning: “hey Delhi, the heart of the mountains is Shimla, hey Delhi, our Nations heart is also Shimla”. The first reaction was one of joy and pride. For one who has lived there and served for five years as its deputy mayor, Shimla’s number one all-India ranking in the Ease of Living (EOL) index recently released by the union government in the less than one million population category, sounded stupendous. But it was not long…

Bengaluru has a planning history spanning more than fifty years. The first step towards planning for development of Bengaluru City was initiated with the Outline Development Plan prepared by the Bangalore Development Committee in 1952.  The city’s planning got statutory backing in 1961 when the Karnataka Town And Country Planning (KTCP) Act, 1961 was enacted.  The history of planned development in Bengaluru is seen in the timeline below. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is entrusted with the task of preparing a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) as per the KTCP Act. Throughout Bengaluru city's planning history, thought to its future industrialisation,…

My first memories of Hyderabad are the long evening walks watching the sunset along Necklace Road, as a young architecture student welcoming the millenium new year. Now twenty years later, the city has been my home for almost three years, and those memories remain preserved even as the city has grown rapidly, not just in size but aspirations too.  Hyderabad Metropolitan area has been consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in India with The Mercer Quality of Living Rating 2019 ranking Hyderabad and Pune as the top cities in India, making it one of the emerging investment…

The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike has urged the government to make ‘affordable service for all’ a key goal in its bus rejuvenation plan for the city. In a petition addressed to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, the BBPV elaborated the impact of pandemic on the public transport corporation and made suggestions for the government's proposed rejuvenation plan for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Over the past year Bengaluru saw diminished bus operations. People struggled with long wait times, crowded buses and costly commutes during the pandemic. BMTC struggled with low revenues and was unable to provide timely benefits and social…