GENRE: Voices

As Tamil Nadu went into a total lockdown on March 24th, many individuals in the city found themselves helpless and in dire need of assistance. From migrant workers looking to get back to their hometowns to senior citizens who resided by themselves, the lockdown impacted scores. The situation would have been several times worse had not NGOs, civil society organisations and some individuals taken it upon themselves to come to the aid of those affected. Thus, when a migrant worker stuck in Chennai with his family and twins, just a few months old, ran out of milk and supplies for…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. The series is published in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] The COVID crisis has forced behavioural changes in Indian society that would never have happened in the normal course. It has also taught us three important lessons. The first: Put a pause on our pre-Covid modern lives, and suddenly distant mountains become visible, rivers flow cleaner and hard-to-spot wild animals are seen walking through human habitation.  The second: The scale of inequity and lack of a support net for a…

2020 has been full of uncertainty. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown have had us struggling to adjust to changes like never before. First it was days, then weeks, then months. Now we are not even sure. There’s a meme doing the rounds on social media these days, about the most widely asked questions right now. Received on Whatsapp Those of us who are working from home and attending virtual meetings will be quite familiar with the last two questions. In fact, so will our children, who have been having virtual school for the last several weeks. Every weekday, we ensure…

A recent (2019) survey of mobility practices among India’s urban population by the New-Delhi based Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) found that 37% of respondents used public transport more than once a week. A vast majority of the people travel distances less than 10 km for work and education, and walking continues to be the most dominant mode of transport for urban India.  The study, which captured all the modes used by individuals in a week, revealed that two wheelers were the second most preferred mode of transport, followed by public transport. Strikingly, the share of people relying…

Ever since COVID-19 took over our lives, we have all been looking for ways by which we can save ourselves from getting the virus. Face masks and shields, hand hygiene – washing and sanitising, social distancing – avoiding people and staying home. A COVID-19 Viewpoint report by the University of Minnesota (30th April 2020) says, "we must be prepared for at least another 18 to 24 months of significant COVID-19 activity, with hot spots popping up periodically in diverse geographic areas. The report also says that given the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, 60% to 70% of the population may need to be immune to…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. This series is pubished in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] Before the onset of COVID, BMTC was already struggling with very low share of traffic, and personal vehicles were clogging Bengaluru roads. Towards the end of this article, I have mentioned a few Key Success Factors (KSFs) that would help BMTC increase ridership. While these KSFs are still important, BMTC has been facing a new set of challenges with the onset of COVID, and hence must think of additional measures…

Historically there have been many ways of isolating patients with infectious diseases. The ill can be removed to a place where they cannot infect others. If they are treated at home the residence itself can carry a warning sign – a method that has been in place since the time of the plagues. The most disturbing however, and even traumatic for those living in such houses, is the prospect of being barricaded in. And yet, this is precisely what the city’s civic body is doing, and this is now being copied by other cities too. The modus operandi, so we learn,…

“Read up. You really should. There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before.” These are famous lines from Arthur Conan Doyle’s 'A Study in Scarlet'. A problem or its solution have all transpired before. But have we missed the lessons? It has been nine months since the first case of COVID-19 was reported from Wuhan, China in November 2019. The problem took a life of its own and knocked on India’s shores through Kerala in January 2020. It became Bengaluru's problem in March of 2020. While Bengaluru started out well in keeping the pandemic under…

Recently, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) conducted an online dialogue on Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus service. The dialogue was part of a national campaign (Lakh ko 50) by the Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net India), which asks the government to ensure that there are at least 50 buses per lakh population in our cities. The idea was to hear from commuters to understand what is needed to improve the bus service. Transportation experts also spoke on how the MTC’s fleet strength is inadequate for the number of passengers it serves, and pointed out that there…

During the day, they look like black plastic garbage bags blown onto trees by a strong gust of wind. As darkness falls, their arms unfold and they take off, flying between the multi-storied buildings in our Lokhandwala Township in Kandivali East. As you might have gathered, I've spent quite a few hours over the last few years watching bats, amazed at how similar they are to vampires in movies. Or maybe it's the other way round, vampires in movies are inspired by the wide black wings of bats. Hundreds of bats hanging like plastic bags. Photo: Arathi Manay Since the…