Pollution

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had on January 21st released new tenders for Solid Waste Management( SWM) in Bengaluru city. However, the tender faced criticism from different quarters including several BBMP Corporators, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and BBMP Contractors. As a result a committee was been constituted to study the tender and recommend changes, and the committee has now decided to go ahead with no changes in the tender. What does the new tender say ?  The new tender calls for proposals in all 198 BBMP wards for daily "Primary door-to-door collection and transportation of segregated wet waste,…

Take a quick look around you and it should not be too difficult to identify some of the most pressing issues in your immediate surroundings. Waste management, air pollution, water scarcity, plastic pollution: these and other issues pose a direct threat to the quality of life as we know it in the city today. But what is your solution to these problems? How would 'you' propose to address these civic issues? While some may flounder a bit when confronted with this question, the same cannot be said of the bright young minds participating in the Sarvalokaa Hackathon 2019, where they came…

https://twitter.com/Dr_RVS/status/1074696228447899650 This tweet from a resident asking the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) if they have planned to kill residents near the Karnataka Development Compost Corporation (KCDC), sums up the despair of the residents over the years who have been residing in the area. A group of 23 petitioners including the Kudlu, Hosapalya, HSR Layout, SomasundaraPalya, Parangipalya( KHHSP) Residents Welfare Association (RWA), have filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 demanding the closure of KCDC citing it to be a major source of pollution. The residents have run out of patience with the government. "Filing…

Translated by Sandhya Raju மரத்திலான சமையல் உபகரணங்கள், பேப்பர் மற்றும் துணியிலான பைகள், ஸ்டீல் பாத்திரங்கள் ஆகியவை பிளாஸ்டிக்கு மாற்றாக வலம் வரத் தொடங்கிவிட்டன. வணிகர்கள், உணவு விடுதிகள், மக்கள் என சென்னையில் எந்த மூலையில் பார்த்தாலும் அனைத்து தரப்பினரும் படிப்படியாக சுற்றுச்சூழலுக்கு உகந்த பொருட்களுக்கு மாறத் தொடங்கிவிட்டனர். வணிகர்களை பொருத்த வரை, மாற்றத்தை ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள பல்வேறு கலவையான ஒரு வித குழப்பமான சூழலே நிலவுகிறது. அடையாறு ஆனந்த பவன், ஃபசோஸ், ப்லாக் பாக்ஸ் போன்ற பிரபலமான நிறுவனங்கள் இந்த தடையை ஏற்று உடனடியாக துணி, காகித பை, அட்டை டப்பா, மர கரண்டி என மாறினாலும் சில நிறுவனங்கள் மாற்றத்திற்கு இன்னும் முழுதாக தயாராகவில்லை என்பது தான் நிதர்சனம். மாற்றம் இந்த தடை சிறு மற்றும் நடுத்தர நிறுவனங்களில் பணி புரிபவர்களுக்கு ஆபத்தாக முடியவில்லை. ஆனால் உற்பத்தி நிறுவனங்கள் அதிலும் காகித உற்பத்தி நிறுவனங்கள் நிறையவே வரத்…

Bangalore International Centre in collaboration with Citizen Matters and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, had organised 'Right to breathe- Fixing Bengaluru’s Air', a discussion under Bengaluru Solution Series, on January 11th. This was the second installment of the Bengaluru Solution Series. The panel for the discussion comprised of Randeep D, Indian Administrative Officer and Special Commissioner - Solid Waste Management, BBMP, Anjali Saini, a member of Whitefield Rising, Pawan Mulukutla, Bosch India and Shashank Atreya, a Research Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The panel was moderated by Meera K, Founder, Citizen Matters. The quality of Bengaluru’s air is…

In the ongoing Amsterdam Light Festival, illuminating the city’s waterway, a Serbian artist duo’s installation of an LED version of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic painting ‘The Starry Night’ has drawn attention to the growing menace of light pollution in urban areas. 7000 kilometres away, in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, Nilesh Desai is steadily working on a public interest litigation on light pollution-disturbance due to excessive, inappropriate and misdirected artificial lights. For the last couple of years, Desai, who holds a day job in the information technology sector, has been fighting against the excessive and obtrusive glare of floodlights in his neighbourhood. He has fired…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities Chennai residents woke up to choking weather on Bhogi morning, as thick smog covered the skyline post the regular ritual of burning garbage, old furniture and tyres in the city. The air quality indicators, within permissible levels till 4 am in the morning, shot up to hazardous levels and remained severe till at least 9 am on Monday, January 14th. Already reeling under unabated industrial pollution, Ennore was among the worst hit areas during the Bhogi festival, as PM 2.5 levels here soared up to 640 µg/m3 between…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities A Arumugam lives on Raman Street in Manali. For years, he has not only been fighting respiratory and skin problems himself, but also seen his neighbours do the same. “The entire street has at least one person from each house who is sick at any given point of time,” says Arumugam. Lives in this North Chennai neighbourhood are lived in the shadows of the petrochemical and fertilizer industries in the area, with pollution from these industries causing several health issues for the residents. In and around the industrial units…

City transport scene The European Investment Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have agreed to lend €500 million and €300 million respectively to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to execute the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase II of the project. A proposal to realign the Metro line to the airport through Hebbal junction was approved by the Karnataka cabinet.  The state cabinet also approved the proposal for four suburban railway corridors that will have 81 stations, on a total route length of 160.50km. TenderSURE work is set to begin on K.G. Road in Gandhinagar and Margosa Road in Malleswaram and…

The steel flyover project is an ugly manifestation of our unbridled urbanisation mindset. This is yet another myopic economic proposal to exacerbate urbanisation; it seems to us, and is mindlessly espousing the following: Covering the soil which has lower heat conductivity, with an impermeable layer of concrete which has much higher capacity to conduct heat. Replacing life sustaining trees with air conditioners Spewing billions of tons of toxic gases into air by vehicular movements and industrial activities, so as to choke the city. Generating colossal quantities of solid waste to convert the garden city into a garbage city Facilitating concentration…