Civic

2021 deadline for 100% waste segregation, collection The state government approved a new SWM (Solid Waste Management) policy and strategy, which sets 2021 as the deadline for segregation of waste at source and for 100% door-to-door collection, as well as laying out guidelines to protect the health and dignity of pourakarmikas. The Karnataka State Urban SWM Policy-2020 lays out a road map for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), including BBMP, to implement time-bound measures. The burning of waste should be stopped by December 2021 and ULBs should ensure that less than 30% of their waste reaches landfills. ULBs should also ensure…

COVID-19: 32% developed antibodies, hospitals resume outpatient services On October 22nd, the city recorded 833 new COVID cases while 13 patients succumbed to the disease. The total number of active cases in Chennai stands at 11,107. The results of the second serological survey have been published. It revealed that of 6,389 samples tested, 2,062 (32%) were positive for the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus. As the total number of cases is seeing a downward trend in the city, the number of containment zones has come down. There current number stood at 18 as on October 23rd. The city had…

Hyderabad lay submerged under the highest ever rainfall since 2003. While the October average has seen around 103.6 mm, October 13th saw the skies discharge 192 mm of rain, followed by another deluge in and around Hyderabad on October 17th. Added to the pandemic, the heavy rainfall made an already bad situation for Hyderabadis much, much worse. Major roads and highways were severely damaged and several colonies were isolated from the rest of the city. Hundreds of families were unable to access basic needs like drinking water, food and power for over three days following the rainfall. About 80 colonies…

Over the past few years, rising temperatures, heat waves, and oppressive humidity have made Mumbai scorching hot. But not all parts of the city heat up equally. Life in some is more stifling than the others.  A recent World Resources Institute (WRI) infographic showed that in October, Dharavi is typically five degrees hotter than Matunga, its immediate neighbour. The study looked at Mumbai’s average land surface temperatures in October over the past three years. Land surface temperature is the radiative skin temperature of land which is recorded using satellite-derived data. Quite simply, it is about how hot a "surface", like a…

COVID positivity rate drops even as cases surge COVID cases in the city have been shooting up at a very fast rate in the last two weeks. On three occasions, there were more than 5,000 cases per day. Despite the rising number of cases, most of the city’s eight zones have reported a drop in both positivity rate and fatality rate over the last four weeks, according to BBMP sources. Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Dasarahalli and Yelahanka zones have recorded a very sharp drop in positivity rates, some nearly dropping by half in four weeks. Only the East zone recorded a slight…

COVID-19: Salary delayed for survey workers, number of containment zones decreases Field survey workers on COVID duty have raised complaints of not having been paid for the past few months by the civic body. The workers, employed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), have been engaged in door-to-door surveillance and checking temperature and oxygen levels since the early days of the pandemic. A GCC official stated that they have employed two kinds of workers -- sector health workers (appointed by the officials at zone level) and volunteers (by NGOs). The official stated that the sector health workers have been paid…

Hyderabad floods: 50 dead; damages worth thousands of crores As the account of horrifying stories were circulated across social media, the death toll reached 50, following the heavy downpour which started on 13th October in Hyderabad. Relief operations were initialized across the city and some other parts in Telangana. More than 60 relief camps have been set up in the city. The government also said that about 1.5 lakh food packets have been distributed to people so far. The government is also utilizing the Annapurna Subsidized Canteen services for people stuck in inundated areas. The Chief Minister has written to PM requesting sanction…

Mallappa Korvi, a lift mechanic, was hopeful. After decades spent in a 6X6 room, a 220-square foot apartment would have been an enormous improvement. Since the early 90s, 390 residents, of a 3,827-square metre plot near Dhobi Ghat in Mahalakshmi, had tried to engage a real-estate developer for rehabilitation. But when no developer was willing, they decided to steer the project in another direction. The residents formed a society called Ganesh Nagar D Co-operative Housing Society with the assistance of Slum Rehabilitation Society (SRS), a local NGO working towards providing "accommodation to hutment dwellers" in Mumbai. From 1998 to the…

It was the low land prices that encouraged citizens to settle in Thoraipakkam in the 90s. More people chose to invest in homes in the locality with the boom in the IT sector around twenty years ago.  In 2011, when Thoraipakkam became one of the areas to be included in GCC limits, citizens here were excited. They hoped that this would bring them good roads, better drinking water supply and an underground drainage (UGD) system -- all things they had been fervently waiting for.  Indeed, several schemes were soon rolled out, raising hope among residents. But most of the schemes…

COVID-19: Second serosurvey begins; fever camps near workplaces The second seroprevalence survey in Chennai to assess the extent of spread of COVID-19 will be carried out over the next 68 days by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The survey will take place in random streets across slums in the city. The first serosurvey, which was done three months ago, revealed that one in five residents of Chennai had contracted the novel coronavirus.  Senior authorities at GCC stated that the number of people visiting the fever camps is down to 51 persons from the daily count of between 70-80 personsduring the…