OPEDS

Forests become an easy scapegoat for urban infrastructure development. Recently, the National Highways Authority of India blamed meteorological events for triggering landslides in Himachal Pradesh, but such events are not the only cause of environmental degradation. With the reckless cutting of 23, 785 trees to four-lane the Shimla-Kalka highway and excessive cutting of thousands of other trees to facilitate several hydroelectric projects, it is evident that excessive human activity in Himachal Pradesh is leading to degradation and deprivation of forest quality, which, ironically, would only impede the development that the state is hoping for. The recent water woes in Shimla…

From being a much vaunted city of firsts, Chennai certainly appears to lag right behind everyone else when it comes to heritage conservation. The latest metro to steal a march over it is Kolkata, which is close to completing the restoration of two magnificent structures, both built in the colonial era. What is more, there are creative programmes in place for both the buildings, so that they are kept in continuous use. You just need to compare this with what is happening here in Chennai. Our city has sadly lost it on matters concerning heritage. The Currency Building in Kolkata,…

India has one of the largest road networks in the world; yet, year after year, citizens bear the brunt of poor road quality, especially during the monsoons. From Mumbai to Guwahati, from Gurgaon to Bangalore the rains turn roads into rivers and when they do resurface, it is difficult to classify the ravaged, pothole-ridden stretches as roads! This may be an annual affair but the quality of roads in Indian cities continues to remain poor due to lack of accountability mechanisms in place. Why does such a situation persist for years on end and what might it take to fix…

In our deeply undemocratic traffic system, we need to call out how strong the automobile lobby is, how suppressed pedestrians are and how small is the resistance from pedestrians and public transport uses. Consider this: peaceful, democratic protesters are not allowed by a force-wielding police to come anywhere near Mantralaya. They are confined to a corner some 2 km away in Azad Maidan, in a corner, rendered invisible to the people. But axe-wielding men of the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) could easily dig up the footpath right in front of the state government headquarters, supposedly to protest the presence of…

In our deeply undemocratic traffic system, we need to call out how strong the automobile lobby is, how suppressed pedestrians are and how small is the resistance from pedestrians and public transport uses. Consider this: peaceful, democratic protesters are not allowed by a force-wielding police to come anywhere near Mantralaya. They are confined to a corner some 2 km away in Azad Maidan, in a corner, rendered invisible to the people. But axe-wielding men of the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) could easily dig up the footpath right in front of the state government headquarters, supposedly to protest the presence of…

Dear parents, I am sure you have been as shocked and appalled as I, by the reports of repeated rape of a 12-year-old hearing impaired girl in Chennai, by as many as 22 men, some old enough to be her grandfathers, over a prolonged period of seven months. It is also equally, if not more, disturbing that her parents didn’t suspect anything for seven months. The onus of protecting a child from sexual abuse lies primarily with parents -- and then to a lesser extent with teachers, school authorities, other care givers and government authorities, in that order. So, to protect…

Living and practising medicine around the IT corridor in Chennai, I get to see many young women, who come to me seeking help for their gynaecological problems. These are women whose educational qualifications would be, at the very least, a basic bachelor’s degree. Many of them hold responsible positions and have a promising career ahead. And yet the one thing that strikes me as completely discordant is their complete lack of education and awareness about their general health, and more specifically their reproductive health. I emphasize on reproductive health not simply because I am a gynaecologist, but because a majority…

Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts were introduced by the Congress in 2013 and received the President’s nod to become law in 2014. The Act made it mandatory for states to set up a Lokayukta within one year of constitution of the Lokpal at the centre. However, Tamil Nadu (TN) and Jammu & Kashmir, are the only states which have not even constituted the Lokayukta yet through the passage of the Lokayukta Act, way past the one-year deadline. In 2015 the High Court pulled up the TN state government in response to a PIL for not setting up the Lokayukta. At that…

Govindaa hari Govindaa.. Munirathna Naidu Govindaa! A video clip starts playing on the mobile. The middle-aged man watching it bursts into laughter. An imitation version of the popular chant that is chanted by people climbing up the Tirupati Hills in Andhra Pradesh has been used to project the misdeeds of Munirathna Naidu, a contestant from Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency in Bengaluru. The constituency had been perceived as sensitive by the Election Commission, and the voting was postponed to May 28, instead of May 15. The political material that lands up on WhatsApp like this is entertaining and opinionated, and makes people form…

A high-decibel campaign followed by exit poll bets and now onto resort drama? Political pundits exclaimed it was a “waveless” election and it was hard to predict who would win. Exit polls predicted both ways, though the majority predicted a small lead for the BJP. Bettings favoured the BJP, while stock market rallied predicting a BJP victory. But what did this election mean to the citizens of Bengaluru? On one hand you had Siddaramaiah who had launched a number of welfare schemes targeting the poor and on the other side, a prime minister seen as a decisive ruler with bold…