City: Kolkata

Ably guided by an aware and responsible citizen, a group of kids from a Kolkata apartment complex undertook a novel summer project — educating themselves and elders in the community about saving water, energy and the environment in general.

Kolkata’s green index is in a downward spiral. But the builders, organisations and residents are waking up to the reality, and that’s the hope for better future.

A reality check on the plastic waste management practices of major Indian cities shows that there has been limited success of anti-plastic policies, even as the country gears up to host World Environment Day 2018, with the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

It’s clean and beautiful, and offers good choice. Visitors love the ambience too. Yet, sellers in the unique Floating Market in Kolkata are staring at an uncertain future. Why?

Water fountains installed in the city for beautification, in the run up to the recently held FIFA U-17 tournament and the Book Fair, now lie abandoned. Mosquitoes breeding in the filthy, stagnant water pose a definite health risk.

From relatively unknown operators to high profile firms, travel agents have been known to bungle or even cheat customers outright. These cases, from Mysore to Kolkata, will tell you what to look out for.

Close to 450 driving school trainers from Kolkata and other districts have been trained under a programme piloted by the premier institute under the ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign of the state government. The mission: to promote a culture of safe driving by training the trainer.

Pune tops the fifth Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems conducted by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, while Bengaluru is in the last position. A summary of the key findings from the survey.

HLRN report lays out details of forced eviction in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other Tier I cities in 2017; finds beautification, ‘slum-clearance’ and smart city projects to be the top cause, followed by infrastructure projects.

The recent strike by MTC drivers in Chennai over demands for a wage hike, and in several cities in the past, raises an important question: how are these key drivers of the urban public transport system remunerated?

The Kamala Mills tragedy in Mumbai has suddenly led to fire safety inspections in restaurants and eateries in many cities, but there are reports aplenty to show that fire preparedness anywhere in these cities is abysmal.

Transportation services provider Ola has revealed several telling facts on mobility patterns in Indian cities in 2017. A summary in five interesting infographics