Roads | | Citizen Matters

Rs 15 crore spent on potholes over two years, yet Mumbai roads continue to be death traps

November 27, 2019 Jahanvi J

An RTI filed by a social activist shows that the civic body spent over Rs 15 crore to fill 8,879 potholes on Mumbai roads in the last two years; yet, accidents due to bad roads are on the rise, with three fatalities in October alone. Is citizen action the only solution?

Commuter lives at risk as rains leave Bhopal roads riddled with potholes

November 22, 2019 Shuriah Niazi

Heavy rains have affected nearly 300 km of roads in the city. Innumerable potholes dot most roads which have become death traps for commuters, especially two-wheeler users. However, it is anybody’s guess when restoration work will begin in most of these areas.

Will Mangaluru’s ‘Selfie with Pothole’ campaign yield results as new local council takes office?

November 19, 2019 Harsha Raj Gatty

The campaign was launched ahead of the recently conducted local body elections in the hope that citizens would remember the state of road infrastructure when they cast their votes; it is now to be seen whether elected council members will take note and act on it.

Many problems, one humble solution, yet Indian cities continue to ignore that

October 1, 2019 Dattatraya T Devare

Lessons learnt globally point to the many benefits of cycling — whether in terms of health, reduced congestion or even greater equality. Yet, whether in Kolkata, Bangalore or Pune, a sustained thrust to promote cycling in our cities is clearly missing.

Mitigating the curse of the car in Indian cities

September 2, 2019 Dattatraya T Devare

On one hand, there is a thirst for bigger and more expensive cars. On the other, there is the state’s inability to provide strong enough disincentives and efficient alternatives. Together these are destroying our cities and our communities slowly but steadily. What is the way out?

Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru, our cities treat pedestrians as second class citizens

August 21, 2019 Dattatraya T Devare

In 2018, pedestrians comprised more than 50% fatalities on Mumbai streets; the numbers for Delhi and Bangalore stood at 44% and 40%. Our streets have turned into a battlefield between cars and citizens, and citizens almost always lose.

Where cars are king and pedestrians their slaves

August 17, 2019 Dattatraya T Devare

Thanks to lack of political will and unfortunate US-style aspiration, we have arrived at a sad state of affairs as far as urban mobility is concerned. In this first of a four-part series, the author explains the latent inequality and hierarchy in our city streets.

Ludhiana’s bridge of chaos makes life miserable for commuters

July 31, 2019 Raj Machhan

The old British built Jagraon bridge, that shared the traffic, has been closed since 2016, so that the new bridge sees pile up lasting for hours at peak times. Work on a new bridge, however, remains in limbo, as do many other infrastructure projects in the city.

12 years and 1100 crores behind it, Pune BRTS fails to solve commuter woes

July 25, 2019 Ekta Joshi

Flawed design, poor implementation, and the near absence of a centralized authority has left the bus rapid transit system in shambles, with infrequent buses, shabby and ailing infrastructure, and road mishaps on these corridors being the norm.

City Buzz : Fani hits Odisha and W Bengal | BMC’s plastic headache | Charminar suffers damage…and more

May 5, 2019 News Desk

Catch your weekly dose of some of the most important local news from cities across India.

Infrastructure and environment battle it out in the maximum city

April 28, 2019 Nikhil S Dixit

Several infrastructure projects are coming up in Mumbai, that could irrevocably damage the city’s coastline and green spaces. While environmentalists allege that projects were announced without public discussion and ignoring the environmental impact, political parties brush aside these concerns

Why addressing pedestrian concerns is key to making Bengaluru liveable

April 22, 2019 Vimal Simha

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?

City Buzz: Delhi bid to end manual scavenging | Rs 6500 crore for Mumbai Metro | Pune resilience plan..and more!

March 4, 2019 News Desk

Will Delhi finally be able to end manual scavenging with technology? What are Mumbai Metro’s plans with the historic loan from ADB? And why is Kolkata Metro causing serious concern among commuters? Catch a recap of some of the important headlines from our cities last week.

City Buzz: Hate grips cities post Pulwama | Urban jobs scheme in MP | ‘Connect Delhi’ project…and more

February 23, 2019 News Desk

MNREGS-like scheme launched for urban youth in MP, Delhi aims to provide neighbourhood-level public transport, while Kashmiris face threats in some cities as the nation boils over in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pulwama. Catch the most important happenings across cities this week.

Meet Hyderabad’s road doctor who has wowed hundreds, even Amitabh Bachchan!

February 21, 2019 Lalita Iyer

Gangadhara Tilak Katnam. A retired engineer who has used his personal savings to fill 1359 potholes in Hyderabad till date, with or without assistance. What makes this possible? And can this be a sustainable solution to a problem that plagues most of our cities?