Civic

Viral infections engulf Mumbai This monsoon, severe bouts of illnesses have gripped the city. While COVID cases have dropped, there is an increase in cases of swine flu. Authorities have decided to reduce the prices of swine flu tests - currently standing at Rs 2500-3500. “It costs around ₹2,500 for the swine flu throat swab. For those who are not undergoing the test, we are clinically diagnosing with upper respiratory tract infection and high fever. The fever subsides as soon as we start the anti-viral (Oseltamivir),” said Dr Shekhar Shirvaikar, a family physician from Goregaon. Source: Hindustan Times Environmentalists oppose…

International Chess Olympiad inaugurated in Chennai The 44th International Chess Olympiad was inaugurated in Chennai by PM Modi, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. . The Olympiad is scheduled to take place from July 28 to August 10 at Poonjeri Village in Mamallapuram. A five-tier security arrangement was made in view of the PM' visit, with the Greater Chennai Police also deploying 22,000 police personnel. The Olympiad was handed over to PM Modi and CM Stalin by five-time world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand. The Olympiad is being held in India for the first time. There has been…

Given Bengaluru's building boom, the city has a vast number of Residents Welfare Associations (RWA). But few RWA members are aware of the complex laws and rules that have to be complied with for transfer of ownership of the building complex from the builder to the RWA. The process of financial, legal, operational and other technical issues regarding the handover can be a long and tedious process.  On June 25th, ADDA, an Apartment Society Management & Accounting Software, in collaboration with Citizen Matters and the Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF), organised an event consisting of two panel discussions and sessions on…

Rise in post-COVID brain disorders Post-COVID-19, there has been a rise in reports of brain disorders, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, Bell’s palsy, insomnia and other behavioural and cognitive issues, said Bengaluru-based neurologists. Neurological complications affecting the brain seem to be the second most common effect. The SARS-CoV-2 virus could affect the lungs and the brain and lead to many complications, including severe headaches, epilepsy or arterial strokes due to altered clotting mechanisms and cerebral venous strokes, peripheral neuropathy, Bell’s palsy, and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). On July 22nd, World Brain Day, this year's theme is “brain health for all”. As part…

GCC plans pedestrian plazas on KNK Road and MC Road Khader Nawaz Khan Road (KNK Road) in Nungambakkam and MC Road in Old Washermanpet are slated to become the sites for the next two pedestrian plazas after Pondy Bazaar under the Mega Street Project. The civic body has drawn plans to revamp MC Road into an open mall and parking space. No vehicles will be allowed to pass through the road. However, there will be a path for cyclists. The pedestrian plazas on MC Road and KNK Road would be implemented at a cost of Rs 23 crore and Rs…

Maharashtra government lifts stay on construction of Metro car shed On July 21st, the new Maharashtra government announced the lifting of the stay on the construction of the Mumbai Metro-3 car shed at the controversial site in the Aarey Colony, a day after Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, at a meeting with the Consul General of Japan in Mumbai Fukahori Yasukata, assured him that Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded projects would be fast-tracked. The Metro-3 car shed is one of them. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had ordered a stay on the car shed construction in the Aarey Colony on…

When the railway pedestrian subway at Perambur Loco Works was opened to the public we as residents were hopeful of it solving many issues. The size of the subway was also impressive and the fact that the work had been completed despite the pandemic was commendable. However, two years down the line, there have been many persistent issues around the subway that makes the experience of commuters quite an unhappy one. Broken tiles and inundation bother subway users Over the past year, pedestrians have raised complaints over the subway being inundated and not fit for use during rains. The subway gets…

Year after year, images of people wading their way through knee-deep water, potholes, and building collapses are splashed across newspapers and TV screens as soon as monsoons begin in Mumbai. Mumbaikars endure unsafe commutes without many choices. They register complaints on various platforms, and while Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities claim to take note of their grievances, little materialises. A new report analysing councillors' performance confirms this. BMC's Councillors "do not appear to be interested in permanently solving day-to-day civic problems", states the report, released to the public earlier in July ahead of the civic body elections. "Instead, they show…

In the past few months, the Tamil Nadu Government has taken certain steps to create platforms for democratic participation in an urban setting. These include the formation of Area Sabhas and Ward Committees. They had been envisioned to function similar to Gram Sabhas, a constitutionally approved platform that exists in rural parts of our country, where people come together and deliberate on developmental issues. They also pass resolutions to achieve their developmental needs. Every village panchayat performs various functions as well as conducts social audits which are then approved by the Gram Sabha to ensure transparency and accountability. Area Sabhas…

The Supreme Court deadline of eight weeks starting May 20 to complete Bengaluru’s ward delimitation exercise was looming. That perhaps left little time for the subcommittee led by Special Commissioner Deepak K L to seriously consider all the 3833 objections that the public had filed on the ward delimitation draft prepared by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Experts, civic groups and individuals had shared their feedback, suggestions and concerns over the ward boundaries in the proposed plan. Concerns included understanding who initiates the ward delimitation process, the shortcomings in relying on 2011 census data and the absence of a…