URBAN POOR

Indira Canteens in Bengaluru are still struggling to iron out the initial problems. In the canteen in Horamavu (ward 25), for instance, only 181 people were served lunch on day 3, despite BBMP’s target of serving 300 lunches per day. While lunch time is 12.30 pm-2.30 pm, here the service started at 1 pm, and ended by 2 pm, as there was no food left. Those who arrived later had to leave disappointed. There were other issues too. The breakfast menu comprises two items, of which one is idli everyday. Public can select either idli or the other option. But…

The development of “smart” cities was one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first initiatives upon taking office in 2014. Launched the next year, the stated focus of the Indian government’s Smart Cities Mission is “on sustainable and inclusive development, and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.” However, as the Mission’s portal candidly acknowledges, “There is no universally accepted definition of a smart city. It means different things to different people.” Given the myriad interpretations of that term in this rapidly urbanizing, hugely diverse country, it comes…

In an essay, ‘A Tale of Three cities and the search for Dharma’, sociologist and author Arshia Sattar examines the three cities depicted in the epic Ramayana. Ayodhya, the human city, Kishkindha, the monkey city and finally Lanka, the rakshasa city, each governed by codes of behaviour depending on who resides in them. As she puts it, in the cities, “ways of being and doing are determined and unalterable”. The ‘codes’ in each city are remarkably different, each allowing for a different kind of morality and way to live. The only similarity between them is that each upholds a certain…

Five years ago, Mohammad Yusuf, a man in his late 20s belonging to the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar, did not have the slightest idea about the existence of a country called India, let alone Chennai as a city. Life, however, had other plans and five years on, today, he has made Chennai his new home as a refugee and loves the city for its hospitality. Nestled in the borders of the city, along Kelambakkam, the Muslim minority community of the Rohingyas have settled down in camps and live, almost indistinguishable, with the locals. As I enter their camp, I…

In January 2017, I joined CAG, specifically to work on solid waste management (SWM) projects. I started with the Mapping Waste Trails project, which aims to gain a better understanding of the lives of the informal waste pickers engaged in waste recycling in Chennai. Furthermore, we will be tracking the movements of certain recyclables, to ascertain the routes by which such materials traverse the city-scape, and the value added within each step in the routes. Although waste management is key to the sustainable development of the city, preventing the issue arising at the source is paramount. As India continues to…

Early in the morning, around 7.30 a.m., on 18 January 2013, BBMP officials, bulldozers, a demolition crew, and a police force consisting of approximately 500 policemen and 20 policewomen reached the EWS housing settlement. When residents tried to resist the demolition, they were subjected to violence. The police arrested 21 women dragging them into their vans, some of them by their hair. They were taken to two police stations, implicated on false charges, and detained overnight. Residents reported that the BBMP Commissioner had assured them that evictions would not begin until the end of the academic year (April). But this…

I have lived nearly all my life in Bangalore and growing up, I remember mentioning at least once a day, that I was proudly Bangalorean. When I was little, my mother and grandmother would haul our cousin bunch into an auto every Sunday to get to Jayanagar 4th Block and back. Those auto-rides filled with remnants of fruit-salad ice cream from Cool-Joint, toothpicks stolen from ShivSagar post lunch and their shopping bags taught me two very interesting things. One, for every auto that says yes to you, there are usually seven that would have said no before. Two, every auto…

The last four stories in the series explained all that has happened and is happening with the Ejipura EWS quarters project. This story, the last in the series, will narrate how uncertain the life has been for a family that is living on pavements following the eviction. Among the two dozen tiny tents pitched on the pavement of Srinivagilu Main Road just next to National Games Village in Ejipura area, is the “home” of Deepa (name changed). Her tent made of bamboos and tarpaulin, though appears vulnerable, has withstood storm and rain in last four and a half years. “My…

In the first and second part of the series we explained how the concept of PPP model for Ejipura EWS quarters evolved and the reasons for the delay in implementation. This part will explore the nitty-gritty of project plan sanction. Why did the BBMP give plan sanction only for half segment of the project but has refused to approve other half of the project that comprises commercial establishment to be shared between the City Corporation and Maverick Holdings? When on May 31st, 2017, the High Court passed an order directing Maverick Holdings - the project proponent of Ejipura EWS quarters…

In the previous story, Garuda Group Managing Director Uday B Garudachar shared his version of the story about Ejipura EWS quarters project. The second part of the series, brings out the chronology of events that happened in connection to the project and where it stands as on today. In January 2013, the world came crashing down for over 900 families that were living in the Ejipura EWS (Economically Weaker Section) quarters near Koramangala, when the BBMP along with the building giant Maverick Holdings began to evict the poor families, to make way for new EWS quarters. It has been over…