Series: Sustainable Cities Fellowship

In Kolkata’s Dhapa and other neighbouring municipalities, open landfills lie filled to the brim with unsegregated waste. Biomedical waste disposal too does not uniformly conform to the rules formulated. A lax administration merely looks on and introduces token measures in select pockets.

For many Mumbaikars, ‘air pollution’ is a Delhi or at most a North Indian problem. Yet, Mumbai air itself says otherwise on many a day. But are city authorities really aware and equipped to take the steps they need to?

From flawed solid waste management to vehicular emissions, Kolkata’s abysmal quality of air has many causes. When will the government wake up?

Government and policy makers assume solving Mumbai’s congestion and traffic problems solves everything else. But half a dozen new projects could have far reaching impact on the environment and people’s livelihoods.

Evicted Kathputli Colony residents struggle with water shortage and lack sanitation in their temporary homes in Anand Parbat. As they wait for the new homes, the sordid conditions in the transit space create grave implications for the environment.

For decades, waste has been Mumbai’s teeming, unsolvable problem. Slums around the city’s dumping ground are now Asia’s largest, exposing ragpickers and the general population to serious health risks. All plans and commitments to waste management, meanwhile, appear figurative.

Not so long ago, residents and visitors alike gushed over the pleasure of walking along the fragrant tree-lined avenues of Bangalore. Today walking in the city is a nightmare. What changed, and what can be done to encourage and protect pedestrians?

As election discourse heats up, many political parties promise to make urban mobility, public transport key areas of focus. But do they walk the talk? What does the proposal for an elevated corridor in Bengaluru say about the search for sustainable mobility solutions?