INTERVIEWS

In the upcoming local body elections, many of the contesting candidates are individuals who have engaged in civic activism in the city over the years. Having witnessed the many civic issues in their locality, ranging from flooding to poor waste management, these socially active citizens have entered the fray with the hopes of making a big difference, given their deep understanding of issues in the ward. One such candidate is Meenakshi Sundharam, a prominent activist from Manikam Nagar in Chromepet. He has worked on a number of issues in the area from lake restoration to rehabilitation of stray dogs. He…

Translated by Sandhya Raju எதிர்காலத்தை வளமாக்க அழகாக்க, மீண்டும் நம் பாரம்பரியத்திற்கு திரும்ப வேண்டும்," என்கிறார், தமிழக அரசின் சுற்றுச்சூழல், பருவநிலை மாற்றம் மற்றும் வனத்துறை கூடுதல் தலைமைச் செயலாளர், சுப்ரியா சாஹு, IAS. தமிழக அரசின் மீண்டும் மஞ்சப்பை விழிப்புணர்வு இயக்கம் பிரசாரத்தைப் பற்றி நம்மிடம் பகிர்ந்தார். இவர் தலைமையில் நடைபெறும் இந்த பிரச்சாரம், ஐஏஎஸ் அதிகாரி தலைமையில் நடத்தப்படும் இந்த பிரச்சாரம், பிளாஸ்டிக் பைகளை பயன்படுத்துவதை விட்டு, ஒரு காலத்தில், குறிப்பாக திருமணங்களின் போது மாநிலத்தில் பரவலாகவும் பிரபலமாகவும் இருந்த, ​​சுற்றுச்சூழலுக்கு உகந்த பாரம்பரிய மஞ்சள் துணிப் பைகளைப் பயன்படுத்த மக்களை ஊக்குவிப்பதை நோக்கமாகக் கொண்டுள்ளது. கடந்த சில மாதங்களாக, சென்னையில் பிளாஸ்டிக் உபயோகத்தை கட்டுப்படுத்தும் நடவடிக்கைகள் மீண்டும் செயல்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. இதன் முயற்சியாக, ஆசியாவின் பெரிய மொத்த விலை காய்கறி மற்றும் பழ சந்தையான கோயம்பேடு சந்தையில், பிளாஸ்டிக் பை உபயோகத்தை தடை செய்ய முடிவெடுக்கப்பட்டது. ஒரு…

“In order to do something beautiful for the future, you need to go back to the roots,” said a beaming Supriya Sahu, IAS and Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu, as she spoke of the Meendum Manjapai Vizhipunarvu Iyakkam (Back To Yellow Cloth Bags) campaign of the state government. The campaign, which is spearheaded by the IAS officer, aims to motivate people to quit the use of plastic bags and go back to using the eco-friendly traditional yellow cloth bags, which were once widely used and popular in the state, especially during weddings. …

Homes in Siddharth Nagar, a slum in Andheri West, might soon get water connections after a 9-year long struggle. Members of Pani Haq Samiti, an organisation fighting for universal access to water, held a ‘Jal adhikari satyagraha' on November 15th, after which the Assistant Commissioner of the K West ward promised to write to the Municipal Commissioner (MC) for the connection. The approval of Iqbal Chahal, the Municipal Commissioner, is imminent. 2 million people in Mumbai are denied a legal water connection. This dates back to a policy by the Maharashtra Urban Development Department (UDD) in 1996 that cut off…

With intense spells of rain over the past month, there has been widespread flooding in Chennai. Areas such as T. Nagar, Guduvanchery and K K Nagar are among the many localities that experienced extreme waterlogging. Residents raised their concerns and requests to the civic body on social media by posting photos of water-stagnation and the damage caused by it.  Care Earth Trust, a city-based environmental organisation, saw here a need for better information at the ground-level for proper flood mitigation measures. And this information needed to be sourced from citizens themselves. Seeing as many in the city were taking to…

55% of Mumbai’s population lives in slums, and is routinely excluded from urban planning. Dr Lalitha Kamath, an urban planning expert, has found that it is precisely by design that this structure is created and maintained. The State does not treat all residents of the city equally, and this is just another form of violence. Its instruments are the seemingly technical project and development plans. Lalitha is an associate professor at the Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Her work includes Participolis: Consent and Contention in Neoliberal Urban Governance (2013) and the forthcoming…

Located south of Mumbai is Panje, one of four neighbouring villages, Panje, Funde, Dongri and Bokadvira spanning 289 hectares of wetland. Every winter, 1,50,000 migratory birds of over 50 species return to roost here. Of them, the Indian skimmer was recently upgraded from vulnerable to endangered. To some, however, this land is prime location to acquire for constructions, due to its close proximity to all forms of transport, including the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport. In 2019, Reliance Industries (RIL) sub-leased 4000 acres, including Panje, from the Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (NMSEZ) to develop the area into a "Global Economic…

On October 16th, close to 50 families residing on the pavements near the Egmore Railway Station were evacuated and shifted to a temporary shelter near Pattalam, by the Chennai Corporation and the city police. The pavement dwellers alleged that they were evicted without any prior notice and that they had been forcefully moved. Several activists in the city had condemned this incident and also questioned the need for such hurried eviction without any prior notice and in the absence of any kind of arrangements made to permanently house the people. The irony is that this incident took place exactly four…

In March 2020, when the pandemic set in and lockdown was first imposed, spread of the virus, lack of adequate medical care, the lack of vaccines and loss of livelihoods of millions of citizens were the primary concerns among the government and the people. However, as time progressed and the radical changes to lives, livelihoods and lifestyles became more pronounced, increasingly, the discussions – both at a personal and at policy level – turned to the pandemic's impact on mental health. Add to that the several reports about skewed access to education and problems related to online education among children…

Juned Shaikh’s Outcaste Bombay: City Making and the Politics of the Poor traces the history of Bombay, from the plague epidemic and rise of the textile mills to their dissolution. Assembled together from government archives, poetry, fiction, and translated Marxist literature, the book chronicles Dalit lives, identity, culture and politics in the city. The book challenges the notion that Bombay is devoid of caste, and instead, reveals that it is the orchestrating force facilitating the city’s industries, landscape and culture. Juned is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Below is an…