Civic

Mumbai is rife with markers of its colonial past. One building emblematic of the British architecture, which we frequently come upon in South Bombay, is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) building.  In 2021, this building was opened to the public for the first time in over a century, inviting the public to explore where the city is run from. We are guided through the building's architectural history and the foundation of the municipal corporation through a tour held every weekend by the heritage foundation Khaki Tours, in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).  Built in 1893, the building was designed…

Changes in door-to-door waste collection system proposed The door-to-door waste collection system may undergo drastic changes. BBMP may deploy one garbage contractor for every three wards, instead of one per ward. The Palike may also increase the garbage contract period for a minimum of three years, and introduce four-wheel tippers that are mostly electric or CNG-enabled. There will be no separate vehicles for collecting wet and dry waste; instead, each tipper will have separate compartments for wet and dry waste. The proposed changes will be discussed in the next board meeting of the BSWM (Bengaluru Solid Waste Management) Ltd. Once…

Chennai experienced its hottest day of the year this week On Tuesday 22nd March, Chennai residents experienced high humidity and searing heat.  The weather stations in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded a maximum temperature of 37.6 degree Celsius and 38 degree Celsius respectively, around 4 degree Celsius above average for the day. According to experts from the Meteorological Department, the extreme heat has been triggered by the Westerlies and Northwesterlies from the land. In addition, there was a deep depression that crossed Myanmar, which could have contributed to the heat. Sea breeze was also obstructed on Tuesday by a trough that prevailed in…

Cases of tuberculosis decline, but vigilance high On March 25th, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that Mumbai reported 60,000 cases of tuberculosis (TB) in 2021, compared to over 43,000 in 2020. But, despite these numbers, there seems to be a marginal decline in cases of TB since before the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, when cases were at 60,440. The BMC was vigilant of TB cases during the pandemic since those suffering could have been overlooked despite their increased vulnerability to the virus. Services for TB patients were kept running through the pandemic years, and officials…

Bandh against hijab order partial, peaceful Several parts of the city were deserted on Thursday in response to the bandh called by Muslim groups to protest the Karnataka High Court’s ruling on hijab. Establishments owned by Muslims on Commercial Street, Shivajinagar, Yarab Nagar near Banashankari, Mosque road, JC Nagar, Central Business District (CBD) and Chamarajpet were closed and people’s movement was low. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant oversaw security arrangements in Kadugondanahalli, DJ Halli, JC Nagar and RT Nagar police station limits. The bandh passed off peacefully. Before the High Court pronounced its verdict on Tuesday morning, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of…

New Stormwater drains worth 28 crores to come up in parts of the city The tenders for constructing new storm water drains (SWDs) in Chennai have been floated under the Singara Chennai 2.0 funding and by the Greater Chennai Corporation. These drains are to be constructed in central areas of the city such as Nungambakkam, Virugambakkam, T Nagar, Gopalapuram. Prior to this, tenders for SWD projects in Kodambakkam, Teynampet, Adyar and Santhome were floated by the GCC. The SWM projects in the central areas will be constructed in Radhakrishnan Salai, Kannadasan Street, Virugambakkam Street, Kaliamman Street and Reddy Street.  All…

COVID hospitalisations at an all-time low For the first time since the first wave of COVID hit the country in April 2020, hospitalisations due to the virus dropped to below 100 in Mumbai between March 14th and 19th. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), only one person was hospitalised on March 18th, taking the total count to just 74, of which seven were critical. “Even when the first and second waves were waning, the city’s daily caseload did not drop to what we are seeing now. Hospitalisations, therefore, were also on the higher side,” said additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.…

The lack of enough accessible public toilets has long been an issue in Chennai. Lessons from the pandemic and the emphasis on hygiene has made clean toilets all the more important for the city’s many residents. Recycle Bin, an NGO, has multiple ideas to make Chennai’s public toilets accessible and clean, in addition to a larger toilet masterplan at the policy level. Citizen Matters spoke to Ganga Dileep C, Founder-CEO and Principal Architect and Urban Designer at Recycle Bin on the various programmes in place and the possible roadmap for change for Chennai public toilets.  What does Recycle Bin do?…

BMTC slips to second rank in fleet strength The BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) which held the top spot for running the country's largest bus fleet for several years, has lost it to the DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation). DTC's fleet strength is now 7,001, whereas BMTC's is 6,911. BMTC had recently inducted 90 e-buses, of which 60 are not operational due to the delay in setting up charging infrastructure. A senior BMTC official said that 300 non-AC e-buses will be inducted under lease model by October, and 900 aged buses will be scrapped in a phased manner. The state government's…

Temperatures on the rise due to urban sprawl The urban and peri-urban parts of Chennai Metropolitan Area are affected by rise in temperatures and increasingly experiencing heat island effects as a result of urban sprawl. The built-up area in the CMA stands at 48.7%, according to a case study by the Centre for Water Resources, Anna University. The vegetation cover has shrunk to only 6.7% of the area under study and stands at 7,288 hectares as of 2017. The reduction of vegetation cover is evident as the same stood at 14.9% in 1988. Water bodies have also shrunk to cover…