RPB

Jagruti Devi is a waste picker and lives in the slums of Rangpuri Pahadi in Delhi. Her husband collects waste in the mornings and sells vegetables on a pushcart in the evenings, while Jagruti Devi segregates waste at home. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the lockdown was put in place, her husband hasn’t been able to go out to collect waste or to sell vegetables. “We haven’t been able to work since March. We have no savings left. If we can’t go back to work, I don’t know how we are supposed to survive,” Jagruti says. The lack of…

Among the many contributions the remarkable Annie Besant made to Indian nationalism was the establishing in 1914 of the Young Men's Indian Association - a challenge to the YMCA. The purpose of the YMIA was to serve as “a political gymnasium as it were, to equip the youth with a strong body, an informed mind and a noble character". The following year, the YMIA's HQ opened - Gokhale Hall, on Armenian Street in Madras. Annie Besant paid for the construction herself. It took the name of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants…

In the AC (After Corona) times, waste management systems across cities have borne the brunt, especially in developing countries where robust collection and processing systems are not streamlined. One area, which requires a lot of attention and work is plastic waste management, more so, because, addressing plastic waste leakage and gearing up to shift mindsets towards sustainable consumption of this resource material has become a challenge. In addition to this, are the faulty municipal systems that do not support segregation and sorting. In the Indian context, we are clearly seeing an increase in plastic waste consumption. While earlier in January,…

In the aftermath of the devastating floods of 2015 and the drought that hit Chennai, the focus on conservation of water bodies has been amplified. The many lakes of Chennai that have suffered years of neglect have begun to get a fresh lease of life with restoration efforts taking place across the city. The Environmentalist Foundation of India is an NGO that has been playing an active role in the restoration of lakes along with other non-profits and civic agencies including the Greater Chennai Corproation and Chennai Smart Cities Limited. While lake restorations of this scale are multi-year, ongoing activities,…

Historically there have been many ways of isolating patients with infectious diseases. The ill can be removed to a place where they cannot infect others. If they are treated at home the residence itself can carry a warning sign – a method that has been in place since the time of the plagues. The most disturbing however, and even traumatic for those living in such houses, is the prospect of being barricaded in. And yet, this is precisely what the city’s civic body is doing, and this is now being copied by other cities too. The modus operandi, so we learn,…

In the ongoing Covid crisis, accessible green, open spaces are a dream for many city dwellers. And yet, there is burgeoning work on the profound positive impacts of urban green spaces on the physiological and psychological health of city dwellers. Despite being polluted, dammed, encroached and thwarted, rivers continue to be free and open public places. Today more than ever, rivers, riverbanks, floodplains and bridges are an invaluable resource for any Indian City. This momentous service is ignored in our riverfront development projects, metro and road plans and city development plans which encroach upon rivers. Green, open riverbanks in India…

Dharavi, often termed Asia's largest slum cluster occupies 525 acres of prime land in the heard of Mumbai. Photo: YUVA When you walk the streets of Dharavi today, it’s hard to imagine that its crooked but solid houses, informal but sophisticated business networks and heterogenous but distinct culture have been built over the remnants of a Koli fishing village. At the end of the nineteenth century, when industries like leather, waste-recycling, etc. were deemed too hazardous for colonial South Bombay, the peri-urban, swamp land which was home to the Koli fishing community became the saving grace for the displaced industries.…

Even when the howling wind and torrential rain brought by Cyclone Amphan was causing havoc around her on May 20, Sabita Sardar was not afraid. “We are used to dealing with bad weather. I wasn’t feeling scared. In fact, those who live in concrete homes were more scared,” she said. For 40 years now, Sabita has been living on the streets of Gariahat, a popular market area in south Kolkata. That day, when the super cyclonic storm passed through West Bengal’s capital city, Sabita and a few other homeless women sat huddled together in her tricycle cart under the Gariahat…

In an era of vanishing footpaths and widening carriageways, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has been introducing a host of initiatives prioritising pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users — giving these social heroes their due. From adopting a progressive policy that makes walking and cycling its priority in 2014, to rigorously implementing the policy through its Chennai Street Design Project and the Smart City Mission over the last five years, the city has been transforming itself from a car-centric to a people-friendly city. Scaling up the street transformation work in Chennai, the Greater Chennai Corporation launched the Chennai Mega Streets…

India is undergoing rapid urbanisation, the pace of which poses significant challenges to urban governance. India’s urban population has expanded from 26 percent of the total population in 1991, to 31 percent (or 400 million people) in 2011. It is estimated that by 2030, more than 40 percent of the Indian population will be living in cities. The question is: Are local urban governance structures in India equipped to respond to the needs of their citizens and tackle future problems? Why is local government important? Local governments are the closest to understanding the problems and requirements of their citizens, and are therefore best equipped to make…