GENRE: Voices

Recently the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) slapped heavy fines on multiple apartments in the city. The reason: "STP is not running properly", "treated sewage does not meet some quality parameters". Some apartments have rightly questioned KSPCB's sampling method, the inordinate delay in sending test reports, and the fact that the apartments' own monthly tests (conducted at NABL-accredited labs) had never shown any problem with the treated water quality. While these objections are valid, the ugly truth is that many STPs may really be unable to treat sewage fully. In a previous article, I explored why this happens, and how some reforms…

The draft proposal for BBMP ward delimitation has been notified in the gazette. The idea is to improve services and fund allocation in the newly-added areas of BBMP, but this can't be achieved through the current proposal. Why delimitation? According to the 74th Constitutional Amendment, urban local bodies (ULBs) with population of more than three lakh were mandated to constitute wards and ward committees. Wards and ward committees provide a mechanism for participatory democracy at the grassroots level and ensure services and resources are allocated on an equitable basis for good quality of life to citizens. To ensure equitable services and…

Today, a large number of apartment complexes, malls and tech parks in Bengaluru have their own STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). If an STP is working properly, its treated water would look just like tap water - clear, without any odour. In addition, it must meet the specifications set by the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). If the treated water looks dark brown, or stinks, the STP owner knows that the STP has some trouble. But even if the treated water looks clear and odour-free, it may still not meet specifications; and the owner may not be even aware that his STP…

Dear BBMP, How are you doing? Hope all is well with you. Things haven't been going so great with me for a month now, as I have been bedridden after being injured on a faulty footpath. But that's another conversation for another time. I write to you today because of a tweet by the BBMP Commissioner that caught my eye about a week ago. B H Anil Kumar tweeted that the Palike had identified 35 junctions in the city for "beautification" to raise the standards of Bengaluru. The Mayor of Bengaluru, Gautam Kumar, then elucidated that the idea was to…

Chennai has an abundant wealth of water bodies, big and small. Small ponds in neighbourhoods help recharge ground water. Lakes attract many life forms and have an ecosystem of their own. Temple tanks have been around for centuries and help in water conservation. However, the entire network of water bodies that have been the source of life for the city has come under attack from rampant encroachment and various forms of pollution over the years. The floods of 2015 and the drought faced by the city in 2019 are proof of the mismanagement of water in the city and the…

“Chennai Airport incurred a loss of Rs 4 crore last financial year due to a multitude of reasons,” said C V Deepak, General Manager, Finance and the former Officiating Airport Director, Airport Authority of India (AAI), Chennai International Airport. In this exclusive interview, C V Deepak talks about ways to make the airport profitable and about crucial infrastructure projects such as multi-level parking, construction of a new terminal and the second airport.  Where do we stand in regard to the construction of the second airport? There have been media reports about the government zeroing on a site at Parandur in…

Last week, Amulya Leona, 19, a journalism student, was arrested and charged with sedition for sloganeering "Pakistan Zindabad" at a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the city. In January, another student Nalini B was charged with sedition in Mysore, after she held up a placard that said "Free Kashmir". But do such slogans or placards really qualify as sedition? As a law student I was introduced to ‘sedition’ while reading Gandhi’s statement during what is known as The Great Trial of 1922. In his concluding remarks, Gandhi invites the judge to convict him of sedition, with the…

Atithi Devo Bhava – the guest is God! While it is cited ad nauseam in both academic and popular conversations on Indian culture, never does the concept become as real and palpable as when important heads of state visit us. Cities are decked up like a bride on her wedding day; streets get cleaned, riverfronts along the route are beautified, walls and facades are decorated with paintings depicting the culture of the two countries…and so on. We have seen it in Varanasi ahead of the 2015 meet between Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi, or when the French President…

How often have we thought about how safe our food is or how sustainable our food practices are? What regulations exist to make our food secure? Who is enforcing these regulations, and how efficiently? Everyday food is often laced with pesticide residues, as shown by the crippling attack of arthritis in over 300 people in Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts. In another instance, excessive levels of poisonous fungi were found in flour sold in parts of Karnataka. The fungi could cause a range of disorders - from jaundice to gastrointestinal bleeding. Besides, India already faces a triple burden of malnutrition due…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsLGX74M128 (Interviewed by Laasya Shekhar) Among the various portrayals of illegal drug smuggling in Tamil movies, the more realistic depictions are actually seen in the film Kolamavu Kokila, a fact endorsed by none other than the Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), A Bruno. In a real incident reminiscent of one of the scenes in the movie, a recent tip off received by the NCB passed on information about a bus driver and conductor who tried to smuggle cocaine in a tiffin box by handing it to a woman commuter for safekeeping, hoping to avert suspicion. Unlike in…