URBAN POOR

Co-authored by C S Sharada Prasad and Isha Ray November 19 is World Toilet Day. India's massive five-year all-hands-on-deck Clean India Mission to construct latrines for all has just ended. The Government reports that 100 million additional toilets have been constructed via this campaign; these are mostly not connected to waterborne sewer systems. Just over 30% of India's urban population has access to sewers, though most city plans include elaborate plans for sewerage. Sewers are supposed to be underground and unseen, and are not supposed to need manual labour to dispose of the waste. But sewers get blocked and have…

On a scalding hot afternoon, a petite, dainty woman stands at a small shop in R A Puram, counting the change she has to return to her customers. Her bangles clink as she swiftly wraps some eggs and then hands it over to the customer along with the change. With her saree pallu tied at her hip, she toils to the sound made by the jangling of her armlets. “I had sold bangles like these to buy this shop. They were made of gold. It has been 10 years now, but I don’t regret it,” says Ponnarasi, recalling times past.…

Like many metropolitan cities in India, Bengaluru is facing a dire water crisis. There is an imminent need to manage the city's water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner. With population projection of 13.6 million in 2020, Bengaluru is experiencing high growth rates and predatory geographical expansion that subsumes surrounding peri-urban and rural areas. But necessary infrastructure is not established to meet the basic needs of housing, water, sanitation, and so on. Lacking access to formal housing, majority of residents in informal settlements are forced to rely on water from private vendors, neighbourhood sources, or illegal networks of accessing…

Bengaluru is rapidly losing its groundwater. The city’s water bodies have shrunk, to give way to buildings and infrastructure projects. Come summer and Bengalureans can be seen obsessively discussing water, or rather the lack of it. Though rains bring momentary relief, what about the long-term demand? Access to water is a human right - how can we provide every citizen with enough water for their needs, at a price they can afford? Little has been done to find local solutions. Rainwater harvesting had been implemented in just 1.2 lakh buildings as of May 2019, according to the BWSSB. Meanwhile, big…

Today, the BBMP Council elected M Gowtham Kumar as Bengaluru's new Mayor. Kumar, the BJP corporator from Jogupalya ward, replaces Gangambike Mallikarjun of the Congress. Here is a look at Gangambike's accomplishments, and the causes she had taken up in her tenure as Mayor. Pushing for ward committee meetings: In BBMP Council’s monthly session in November 2018, Gangambike announced that ward committee meetings should mandatorily be held in all 198 wards on the first Saturday of each month, starting immediately. Her announcement came after the city’s civic activists ran several campaigns for the cause over the years. Ward committee meetings…

In a bid to regularise the posts of 4000 pourakarmikas in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) called for online applications in a circular dated 27th August. There are 18,000 pourakarmikas in the city who have been receiving their salaries under the direct payment system since January 2018, and the state government had earlier promised to regularise all of them. The pourakarmikas therefore are frustrated that only 4000 workers may be regularised instead of all 18,000. In this context, the BBMP Pourakarmikara Sangha, affiliated with the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), organised a protest on…

If you drive along ECR, you can’t fail to notice how a once distant village in Tamil Nadu has changed into a thriving potpourri of activities. From being a village road that was accessed only to reach Mahabalipuram, today ECR is a buzzing hub of cafes, multi-cuisine restaurants, theme parks, art villages, multiplexes and educational institutions. With all this comes free access to clean beaches, where one can indulge in water sports as well. In the midst of all this, lives a family of cane furniture weavers. This family has seen a lot of things change around them, but their…

The Garments and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) staged a protest on 12th September, to oppose the apathetic attitude of the government and the factory owners. The protest, held in front of the Labour Department office at Dairy Circle, highlighted the inordinate delay in the fixing of minimum wages in the garment industry. It also pointed to the discrimination towards garment workers by the minimum wages committee, which had recommended extremely low wages. The Karnataka garments industry employs 3.5-4 lakh workers, and 85 percent of the workforce is female. These workers manufacture textiles for international brands and export them, earning substantial…

“In your opinion, what is the most prevalent problem faced by the residents of your area?” three of us from the non-profit IT for Change, asked the youth of Old Baiyappanahalli a few months ago. It didn’t take long for the youth to unanimously respond – the traffic at the railway gate, which had been the bane of their existence. “It’s becoming impossible by the day!” they said in exasperation. Further discussions revealed that Baiyappanahalli road was underserved by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). This stretch connects Swami Vivekananda Road metro station (along Old Madras Road), to Maruti Seva…

Have you ever organised a party, and discovered that you have a lot of extra food at the end of it? And did you hate seeing that food go to waste? There are organisations in Bengaluru that collect excess food or dry rations, and redistribute it to those in need. Some of these organisations are purely run by volunteer efforts. If you want to donate food or volunteer for the cause, here are some organisations that may interest you. The Robin Hood Army (RHA) collects excess food from restaurants, parties and other events, and redistributes it. Founded in Delhi in…