Infrastructure | Citizen Matters

Six ways to make our cities child-friendly

September 17, 2020 Nikita Luke, Rohit Tak, Claudia Adriazola-Steil and Ariadne Samios

The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for safe outdoor areas for children, many of whom have experienced mental and physical health issues due to restricted socialization and activity.

Delhi electric vehicle policy: Ambitious targets, but is the capital ready?

August 31, 2020 Asha Ramachandran

The policy aims to make 25% of all new vehicles in Delhi electric, by the next four years. But it has no answers to some very critical questions that will determine its success.

Delhi fights monsoon flooding with 44-year-old drainage plan

July 30, 2020 Sri Krishna

With a 1976 drainage master plan and multiple agencies managing them at loggerheads, Delhi shows how not to manage the yearly monsoon mayhem.

Why homeless families living under Kolkata flyover don’t want to go anywhere, come COVID or cyclone!

July 10, 2020 Puja Bhattacharjee/PARI

Living on the streets with all its dangers and risks has made people like Sabita fearless about pandemics and cyclones. Few inclemencies match the storms they have battled for survival.

Urban Affairs ministry cites Chennai-Pune examples to push for pedestrian-only markets

June 11, 2020 News Desk

The advisory issued by MoHUA calls for at least three car-free market places in million plus cities, and at least one in others.

Bus-turned-wifi spot; Parking lots-turned-testing centres: How COVID-hit cities are using transport infrastructure

May 29, 2020 Ruchi Agarwal

Around the world, cities are adapting and reusing transport infrastructure to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. What can we learn from them?

Why Pune Metro promises need to be taken with a pinch of salt

March 6, 2020 Amla Pisharody

The first line of the Pune Metro may finally be ready for launch in 2020. But while it promises to be the country’s ‘greenest’ metro, with end to end connectivity and assured rehabilitation for those displaced, there are still many concerns.

Bhopal’s ‘Intelligent Traffic Management System’ shows few signs of intelligence

March 4, 2020 Shuriah Niazi

The traffic management system, launched under the Bhopal Smart City Mission, is meant to regulate traffic, bring violators to book and address infrastructural and design lapses. Unfortunately, none of these are being done efficiently enough.

Scant hope for ‘housing for all’ within Mumbai city

February 27, 2020 Hepzi Anthony

Lack of public housing for low and middle income families has left them with few options in the city. They are forced to move to the peripheries, which lack physical and social infrastructure. Meanwhile, of 193 affordable housing projects listed, only four, including three slum redevelopment projects, are planned for Mumbai city itself.

Dehra’s Rs 295-crore nerve centre to integrate and coordinate civic service delivery: Smart city chief

January 24, 2020 Rishabh Shrivastava

Smart roads, smart parking, green markets, water ATMs and the most celebrated Doon Integrated Control & Command Centre (DICCC) — hear about the various smart city projects underway in Dehradun from the CEO of the city’s smart city mission.

Kolkata plans its first biomining project at Mollar Bheri landfill on eastern wetland

January 21, 2020 Mou Chakraborty

The Rs 21-crore project will be implemented in 55 acres of land near Mollar Bheri, a shallow fishery located in the East Kolkata Wetlands, that has seen a 12-feet-high mountain of waste build up over the years.

Mumbai’s housing conundrum: Unsold houses, sky-high prices

January 11, 2020 Hepzi Anthony

6.48 lakh houses remained unsold across India’s top seven cities in 2019, and Mumbai alone accounted for nearly a third of these. Yet scarcity of affordable housing pushes people further and further away from the city. What could explain this?

18000 crore rupees, nearly 5 lakh jobs lost as Kashmir reels under internet suspension

January 3, 2020 Abid Bashir Wani

Those are just the figures since August 5th, as quoted in a report from the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Underlying these figures is the angst of thousands who did not get their salaries, students who struggled to prepare for crucial exams and many more.

Smart city Dharamshala aspires to be more than a picturesque spiritual retreat

January 2, 2020 Ashwani Sharma

For decades, Dharamshala’s only claim to fame was as the home of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. A recent spurt of growth and the tag of ‘smart city’ has seen the town aiming to emerge as one of the best business and tourist destinations in India. Can it succeed?

Heavy hearts, angry questions as Mumbai prepares to phase out double-decker buses

December 26, 2019 Hepzi Anthony

Running the iconic and popular double decker buses is economically unviable, says BEST. Activists, however, question the transport utility’s myopic approach and the wisdom of phasing out a service that holds such a special place in the hearts of Mumbaikars.