Civic

Rajasthan HC: Declare heatwave a national calamity There is a need to declare the current heat wave as a national calamity, said the single-judge Bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand, Rajasthan High Court (HC), on May 30th. He took suo motu cognisance of the 61 people who have died due to the scorching heat. He added that heat waves and cold waves should be declared as national disasters, so that the state is prepared to deal with them. The Bench asked the state government to compensate for deaths, sprinkle water on congested roads; provide cooling spaces, shades at traffic signals,…

A survey conducted in 2021 by Project Mumbai, a non-governmental organisation, and Ministry of Mumbai’s Magic collective in conjunction with MCGM found that there is only 1.24 sqm of open space per person in Mumbai. But, the draft Development Plan 2034, which aims to shape the growth of Mumbai over 20 years, earmarks 2 sqm per person. Public space is a precious resource in the urban realm. According to research conducted by UN-Habitat, well-managed cities have 50% of their area allotted for open spaces — a pipe dream for Mumbai. An environment that fosters recreation, rest and community bonding is hardly…

In early January, Dahisar resident Pankati noticed garbage being thrown behind one of the electric junction boxes in Kandarpada, her neighbourhood. It had accumulated over a few weeks. This was not a garbage collection point and it used to be clean before. She decided to raise a civic complaint on that garbage issue using the ‘MyBMC Assist’ WhatsApp Chatbot, which is run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Pankati, a volunteer with the Blue Ribbon Movement, found garbage being dumped behind an electric junction box in Khandarpada. Pic: Aniruddha Gaonkar After waiting for over a month, the garbage was still…

Delhi ranks 350 in global index; no Indian city in top 300 Oxford Economics’ new ‘Global Cities Index’ report ranks Delhi at 350, the highest among 91 Indian cities. This was the first edition of the index, released on 21st May by the global advisory firm, Oxford Economics, which is assessing metropolitan cities across 163 countries on five parameters - economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. The top three cities in the list are New York, London and San Jose. In the category of human capital, which “encompasses the collective knowledge and skills of a city’s population,” measured…

(In part 1 of the series Srinivas Alavilli and Vikram Rai wrote about their experience of moderating the masterclass, 'Is there burnout in civic activism?’, at the India Civic Summit, organised by Oorvani Foundation. Part 2 covers the discussions and insights by the participants)  The 35 plus participants in the masterclass-'Is there burnout in civic activism?', at the India Civic Summit, organised by Oorvani Foundation, were divided into six groups, who shared their observations and solutions to civic activism apathy. While nine questions were put to vote, the following six got the maximum votes in the following order:  Is there…

There is a sense in our city that civic activism, which was once thriving with street protests and events and mass mobilisations like #SteelFlyoverBeda, is disappearing, particularly post COVID. 'Is civic activism dying?' – when we were asked to moderate a masterclass on this topic at the India Civic Summit, organised by Oorvani Foundation on March 23rd, it led to an animated discussion. We agreed that while the masterclass title has to be provocative, the ultimate objective is to understand the trends, get more people to become active citizens by sensing citizens' motivations and fears, and understand the role of…

Mumbai billboard collapse throws light on sorry state of civic safety At least 16 died and 74 were injured when a 100-foot-tall illegal billboard collapsed in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar in Mumbai, during a thunderstorm on May 14th. It fell on some houses and a petrol station, disrupting life in the region. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) allows a maximum hoarding size of 40×40 feet, but this billboard was 120×120 feet. Last week itself, BMC had recommended action against Bhavesh Prabhudas Bhinde, 51, director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, which owned the contract for the hoarding on a 10-year lease.…

A nurse-turned-politician, J Kayalvizhi, Councillor of Ward 179 in Chennai, studied nursing at Christian Medical College in Vellore. Until 2006, she worked with an MNC in Saudi Arabia. Since her return in 2006, she decided to take up social service to help people in need, especially in the field of education and health. Her husband, Jayakumar, has been in politics for many years now and holds the position of divisional secretary of Ward 179 in DMK. When Ward 179 in Chennai was reserved for women, Kayalvizhi's husband encouraged her to contest in the polls to channel her interest in social…

Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida to be 'financial' cities The Uttar Pradesh government aims to partner with the private sector to project Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Noida as ‘financial cities’ and make the state a preferred investment destination in South Asia. The investment potential in the UP real estate and housing sector has been pegged at $25-$30 billion. A concept paper by the Yogi Adityanath government explains further that medi-cities have also been planned in Gorakhpur, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly and Chitrakoot districts and film cities are visualised in Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Lucknow. The key enablers of these targets are the new township…

Showers break 150-day hot spell Sources from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said that dry weather may prevail in the city till May 5th, but light showers on May 2nd brought relief. It had been a zero rainfall month in April, a first since 1983 - and one of the longest dry spells of nearly 150 days since November 2023. The rains also brought in the usual issues of water logging, power outages and traffic bottlenecks. May Day was the hottest of the month so far in 40 years, touching 38.1 degrees Celsius. Kempegowda International Airport showed the highest…