Infrastructure

It's wonderful to come back to Bengaluru. When you land in Terminal 2, you feel you are in one of the world's best airports, one that's aesthetically pleasing, modern, but in line with our cultural ethos. The weather is amazing and I always love the warmth of India when I am back here. However, once you make that road trip from Devanahalli airport to Sarjapur, your back tells you that something is not right. Especially if you do the last leg from Sarjapur road  — Dommasandra to Chambenahalli stretch. Whitefield and Marathahalli are fully built up and techies are now…

Bengaluru has had the Outer Ring Road (ORR) for decades. While it was initially a road around the city, now it is estimated that more people live outside the ORR than inside. Along with the movement of people, traffic has also grown by leaps and bounds and sections of the ORR are in the news regularly for large pile-ups. Outside of the ORR, the NICE road covers a large section of the city from the North-west to the South. There have been talks of other ring-roads to ease the traffic in the city. The premise is that a lot of traffic in…

The atmosphere is lively on a summer Friday evening at the Kathipara Urban Square in Chennai. Despite the oppressive heat and humidity of the coastal city, people find relief in the evening breeze. They are milling about at open café tables, grabbing ice cream, browsing a used book store, or watching their children play on the swings. A toy train circles the plaza, while metro trains and cars speed on the lanes above. This multi-use urban square is situated beneath a busy elevated road junction adjacent to a major metro station. Envisaged as a multi-modal transit hub by the Chennai…

Sujanbai, 46, has been living in Anna Nagar in East Delhi for over six years now, earning her living as a street vendor of seasonal fruits. And yet she laments, "There is no space to live in this Dilli. Not even on the footpath. The police come and shunt you out. This is the only space along the nalla (open drain) where I’m able to put a cot for my family to lie on." This space that Sujanbai refers to is the site of a settlement, perched on the ridge of a nalla or drain in Anna Nagar. This was…

The recent approval for revamping seven Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) complexes into retail, multiplex, entertainment centres and offices has not been well received by citizens. Residents say there have been no public consultations and a total lack of transparency. Sneha Nandihal, founder of I Change Indiranagar, says the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is not available in the public domain. "We filed an RTI but received a convoluted response, so we obtained it from other sources." Ajay Reddy, member of third block Koramangala RWA, says the biggest issue is that no public consultation has been done so far: ”We don't mind redevelopment…

Across India, people have been suffering from extremely high temperatures, with some places experiencing multiple heat waves. The heat stress has been so acute that it has led to several deaths. During such extreme weather events, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issues alerts. Advisories are also given out, asking people not to step out during the hottest part of the afternoon. But for many, staying indoors is not an option and as in any calamity, the worst affected are those that have the least protection — many of whom work in the informal sector. Others face equally harsh conditions indoors,…

A ride on the dusty roads near the vast agricultural lands of Parandur and surrounding villages, and a stroll along the Ekanapuram Kadapan Thangal, one of the water bodies used for irrigation, makes one thing clear. The project site of the proposed Chennai Greenfield Airport, which encompasses more than 10 lakes and smaller water bodies, is rich in biodiversity. So, any construction activity here can have a long-lasting ecological impact. In the proposed Parandur project site, an area of 5,369 acres (2172.73 Hectares) has been earmarked for the development of the Chennai Greenfield Airport. Moreover, more than 36,000 trees will…

It's close to 700 days since residents of Parandur and surrounding villages started their protest against the government’s decision to establish a new greenfield airport at a site in that area in the outskirts of Chennai. People living there allege that authorities did not consult them or listen to their grievances before proceeding with the project.  Just after the Lok Sabha elections, the government sent a notification announcing land acquisition for the proposed airport. Recent news reports indicate that some villagers have decided to relocate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, as their livelihoods are threatened. The impact on the lives and…

Ten lakes, two streams, 3,500 acres of agricultural land, 1,005 families and hundreds of plant and animal species — these are all under threat because of one development project. There has been a considerable buzz regarding the Chennai Greenfield Airport set to come up in Parandur on the outskirts of the city. But, not all the noise is positive. Villagers in Parandur have been protesting for almost 700 days and some have even boycotted the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, asking the government to withdraw the project.   Yet, work is steadily progressing on the greenfield airport and the government is…

(Part 1 covered the components of BESCOM bill, tariff structure and sanction loads. Part 2 delves into electrical system maintenance) With the adoption of electric vehicles, owners are tapping into their existing meters to charge their vehicles, leading to electrical mishaps. If you need to connect a 3.3 kw/7.2kw EV charger, your sanctioned load needs to be enhanced. This leads to cable/wire, MCB (miniature circuit breaker) and RCCB (residual current circuit breaker) replacement, possibly the energy meter too may need to be replaced.  Overall, if every household enhances sanction load, this leads to constant tripping of the transformer and short…